The all-Republican Manatee County Board of Commissioners will discuss re-installing a 22-foot monument to Confederate soldiers that was removed from the Bradenton courthouse lawn in 2017.

Driving the news: Most commissioners approved of discussing the idea at a future meeting after three residents, including one representing a conservative group called Manatee Patriots, raised the issue last week, the Bradenton Herald reports.

• Two commissioners were opposed, with one objecting because putting it back up would "start a firestorm."

What they're saying: "I don't like ignoring our history. It is what it is. Some things about it are good, some things aren't, but it's our history," said Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who voted against taking the monument down in 2017, per the Herald.

• "We shouldn't be changing our history."

The idea drew both support and outrage from community members during public comment at Tuesday's county commission meeting.

• "It is a complete and utter slap in the face as a Black woman that lives in this community," said Sarah Parker, who leads Women's Voices of Southwest Florida, per WFLA.

Flashback: In August 2017, Manatee County's memorial was removed following a clash of protesters and counter-protesters in downtown Bradenton.

• It was broken during removal and put in storage. It will cost around $40,000 to fix, the Herald reports.

Context: The marker was erected in 1924, some 60 years after the Civil War, during the Jim Crow era and the second rise of the Ku Klux Klan following the release of DW Griffith's film "The Birth of a Nation."

• The year before, 120 miles north, neighboring whites burned the Black town of Rosewood and killed six residents.
• "Throughout the years, this shaft of eternal stone will stand as a witness for the men who fought, suffered and died for the South," Bradenton Mayor Whitney Curry said at the time.
• No Civil War battles occurred in Manatee County, and no Confederate volunteers from Manatee are known to have died during the war.

What's ahead

When Gov. Ron DeSantis says things like, "We reject this woke ideology," and, "Florida is where woke goes to die," at least one important group of voters is left scratching their heads.

What's happening: Some Florida swing voters are confused about what DeSantis means when he uses the adjective "woke," according to two Axios Engagious/Schlesinger focus groups.

• "It's an extreme of some kind?" guessed Katie, 42, an unemployed registered Republican in Bradenton.
• "I'm sorry, I don't know what woke means," said Rosario, 37, a registered Democrat in St. Cloud who works two jobs and would vote for former President Trump in 2024.

Driving the news: Engagious/Schlesinger conducted two online focus groups on Tuesday with 13 Floridians who voted for Trump in 2016 and then President Biden in 2020.

• Six are registered as Democrats, four as Republicans, and three as independents.

Of note: While a focus group is not a statistically significant sample like a poll, the responses show how some voters are thinking and talking about current events.

Quick take: "When Gov. DeSantis declares, 'Florida is where woke goes to die,' many of these swing voters have no clue what ideology he's trying to bury," said Rich Thau, president of Engagious, who moderated the focus groups.

Meanwhile, when the groups were shown a clip from DeSantis' inauguration speech in which he vowed never to "surrender to the woke mob," few swing voters felt the same way.

• "I understand he's pandering to his base, but it's just a little bit too much," said Jason, 51, a registered Democrat from Palm Beach County who voted for DeSantis in 2022.

⚖️ Civil rights groups are demanding criminal charges against Lakeland police officers who they say repeatedly punched a man during a December arrest that was captured on video. (WFTS)

🚘 Gulfport police are seeing an increase in thefts of Kias and Hyundais after viral YouTube and TikTok videos demonstrate how to take advantage of design flaws to steal the cars. (Gulfport Gabber)

🐢 Charlotte County is hiring a trapper to cut down on predators in order to protect sea turtles and shore birds. (North Port Sun)

Quote du jour:

"When you separate a person from their creator and reduce their identity to a group, sexual preference, or skin color, you often create a victim in search of a villain, which becomes a community organizer euphemistically, an agitator historically, and a Marxist ultimately."

How popular is Prince Harry's new memoir "Spare" in Tampa Bay?

By the numbers: Here's a look at the demand for hardbacks at local libraries where the book was available as of noon yesterday.

• Hillsborough County Public Library: 37 copies, 371 holds
• Pinellas Public Library: 26 copies, 360 holds
• Sarasota County Libraries: 24 copies, 209 holds (1 large print copy, 72 holds)
• Manatee County Public Library: 8 copies, 102 holds
• Citrus Libraries: 9 copies, 77 holds

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⚽️ Pelé, the Brazilian superstar and one of the greatest goal-scorers in soccer history, died on Dec. 29, at age 82.

• Here's a flashback to 1977, as Pelé, playing for the New York Cosmos, celebrates a goal against the Tampa Bay Rowdies in Rutherford, N.J.