By Mike Schneider
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) --For the first time in more than a year, the monthly board meeting of Walt Disney World's governing district on Wednesday was back to being what many municipal government forums often are — boring.
There were no rants against Disney by the board's chairman nor demands by local opponents for board members appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to resign immediately. Instead, board members approved contracts for the installation of pipelines for chilled water, sediment removal, the replacement of a wastewater lift pump and the removal of compost waste.
What made this meeting different from most during the past year or so was that it came a month after Disney and DeSantis' board appointees reached a deal to end their state court lawsuits over DeSantis' takeover of the district. The district provides municipal services such as firefighting, planning and mosquito control, among other things, for the theme park resort.
"We're doing the people's business," said Charbel Barakat, the board's vice chair.
Not even a group of Disney supporters who regularly speak out against DeSantis' board appointees bothered to show up during the public comment period on Wednesday.
Until last year's takeover of the governing district, it had been controlled for the entirety of its five decades by Disney supporters.
The takeover by DeSantis and the Republican-led Legislature was sparked by Disney's opposition to Florida's so-called Don't Say Gay law, which bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. DeSantis championed the 2022 law and repeatedly took shots at Disney in speeches until he suspended his presidential campaign.
Lawsuits in federal and state courts followed. The state lawsuits have been dismissed, and the federal lawsuit is on hold pending further negotiations over agreements between Disney and the DeSantis appointees.
During Wednesday's board meeting, the only reference to the lawsuits was a housekeeping matter that resulted from the deal. Board members approved an amendment to a labor services agreement, shortening it to 2028 instead of 2032.
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
Weinstein,... Read More