DeSantis targets Disney and hits Biden on Cuba. Public worried about housing. A lot.

Call it Florida's fault line?

This week, Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted President Biden on Cuba, stiffened penalties on opioid abuse, put more pressure on Disney and picked a loyalist as the state's next elections chief.

Across Florida, communities grappled with a worsening housing crisis, abortion protests continued to mushroom, and worries about violence, race and school safety as other families desperately sought scarce baby formula.

Let's start there.

Frantic parents scramble for disappearing baby formula supplies

The state's parents weren't buffered against a nationwide shortage of infant formula as moms and dads frantically drove from store to store in search of supplies as retailers rationed sales.

"I ended up getting it, I want to say it was six days later," said this nerve-wracked mom from the Treasure Coast. "And I was down to, like, the last four scoops of formula. So I was in panic mode."

Two Florida lawmakers, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, introduced legislation to invoke the Defense Production Act to, in part, ease the shortages and stock shelves with formulas from Europe.

Lawmakers eye property insurance crisis, but mum on housing emergency

Florida's housing crisis only deepened, even as Florida lawmakers prepared to meet next week to address one piece of the mess, the meltdown in the property insurance market.

But that's no balm for the skyrocketing costs in home and rental leases.

The housing crisis is not limited to the state's major urban centers in south and central Florida. Escambia County saw a 25% rise in the median price, Leon County, home prices rose by almost 20% and Okaloosa housing prices rose by 18.9% too.

In Sarasota County, where an increase in household incomes may not help some, affordable housing is a state of emergency for many residents.

All that before rising interest rates also put more pressure on people looking to buy a place.

Tallahassee hasn't said much, and that's put the onus on local governments.

Brevard County took its first formal steps to address the growing problem of affordable housing on the Space Coast. A Brevard County charter review panel started public hearings on a housing trust fund for the workforce and vulnerable families.

Sarasota County is debating rules to allow developers to build taller buildings because higher density would help mitigate a housing crisis as Sarasota's rents soar faster than other U.S. cities.

Plans to build 140 townhomes, perhaps including workforce housing, in this Palm Beach County city have elicited opposition, however.

One area getting attention is advance notice to renters by landlords planning sharp increases in rents, as proposed in Collier County. There, Naples city officials went ahead and enacted their own 60-day alert rule.

This Palm Bay resident has been scouring for a new home to live in after her landlord told her she had to go — with just a few weeks' notice. “I haven’t been sitting on my hinny,” said Louise Rosevelt.

In Leon County, housing groups received short notice – a little more than two days – that the state's rental assistance program would end.

Something to consider: Desirability and affordability were reasons Florida cities dropped in this list of best places to live.

One good news for Florida consumers is this cheaper E15 fuel blend might be at gas stations – if they can find a pump dispensing it.

'Bans Off Our Bodies' protests go on, but will Florida be abortion safe haven?

Pro-choice demonstrations continued across Florida. But anti-abortion activists got some potentially disconcerting news.

Florida could become a "haven state" for those seeking abortions if Roe v. Wade falls as the state's new 15-week ban would be relatively lenient.

Nonetheless, advocates decrying the U.S. Supreme Court's apparent impending strike-down of Roe sparked more "Bans Off Our Bodies" protests in Okaloosa, Volusia, Gainesville, and Brevard counties.

“I’m here because I’ve never had to live in a world without Roe v. Wade, and I don’t want that for her,” said one protester in West Palm Beach, referring to her infant daughter.

Guns, race and schools — a worrisome mix for parents, officials

Concerns over gun safety and community unity renewed after a “straight-up racially motivated hate crime” mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket last weekend.

In Sarasota, officials held a moment of silence before a city commission meeting. West Palm Beach's mayor said it is "mind-boggling where our society seems to be going."

The day before, there was a scary police-involved shooting at a school in West Palm Beach.

Also worrisome was a seemingly close call with the arrest of an Alachua middle schooler who took a gun to school.

And a Martin County school district probe into a "concerning" photo circulating on social media. County school officials later said a surveillance video at Hidden Oaks Middle School confirmed the authenticity of a racist photo that began circulating on social media.

Tension over race and education flared up in Marion County where a complaint has been filed against a school board member who reportedly said  "concrete doesn't cure well in Black neighborhoods" and that "if there was a KKK hood sitting on that chair right there and nobody had it on, does it really exist?"

Moms for Liberty, unruliness at schools probed by feds?

Unruliness at school board meetings in Florida continues to be a hot button. Sarasota school officials concluded a meeting suspended roughly a month earlier over disruptive behavior.

Officials said a woman accused of disrupting a school board meeting in Ocala won't be prosecuted for her actions.

A group that has taken a very active role in school oversight is Moms for Liberty, which recently sought the removal of Slaugherhouse-Five saying it is “depraved, immoral, psychotic, vulgar, and anti-Christian.”

Moms for Liberty hosted this county's school superintendent at one of its meetings. But the organization's members have reportedly been under scrutiny. The group said the FBI and Department of Justice have investigated some of its members over their role in mask-mandate debates and actions at school board meetings — gatherings that often became heated and tense.

A 17-year-old gay student activist said school officials in this county are retaliating against him, and his activism, by barring him from running for senior class president.

One sign of restored normalcy in state schools' new normal: State education officials have OK'd Escambia county K-5 math textbooks for next fall after, last month, rejecting about 40% of the books submitted by local school districts for the 2022-2023 academic year.

DeSantis blasts Biden on Cuba, still taking aim at Disney

In Miami, the governor blasted the Biden administration's easing of Cuba commerce restrictions, a rollback of Obama-era easing by the Trump administration.

DeSantis also signed a bill that stiffened penalties for the illegal sale of opioids, including fentanyl, in Florida. Florida House Bill 95 also increased the penalty for trafficking methamphetamines to first-degree felony murder if the user dies.

In Okaloosa County, the governor touted $3.2 million for economic development in Crestview on the Shoal River Ranch property that extends both sides of Interstate 10.

DeSantis also announced that state Rep. Cord Byrd will serve as secretary of state, calling him an "ally of freedom." Critics call it a "frightening appointment." Byrd will replace Laurel Lee, who this week said she will run for Congress.

The governor is still battling Disney, saying the state would take over the role that the Mouse's soon-to-be no-more Reedy Creek self-governing district handled. On that end, DeSantis got support from this U.S. senator who wants to cancel Disney's copyright rights.

The governor likes to bash China and its human rights, foreign and trade policies — but now this major DeSantis donor is said to be an agent of ... you guessed it ... China.

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That's all for this week. Keep reading for this week's top headlines in politics.

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What is the split between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking out?