Central Florida Post’s coverage exposing a power-hungry Muslim professor targeting a Christian student went viral, and leads the list of our six most-read stories of 2017.
By Jacob Engels
The Central Florida Post had one hell of year. Time and again, we scooped the mainstream media locally and abroad. This, of course, did not stop the tired and trite journalists of yore from trying to take us down a notch.
Fortunately for us, and the people of Central Florida, we persisted and prevailed.
While they are stuck wondering if they are going to get the next pink slip at the Orlando Sentinel and WFTV, we were busy reporting the news in a way that you wanted. Instead of dictating the news, we give you the facts and let you reach your own conclusions.
Our coverage garnered attention that dwarfed our competitors and withstood the barrage of being labeled “Fake News” by Snopes, which relied on an opinion piece from the Orlando Slantinel as their “smoking gun.” A pathetic and unimpressive digital lynching.
Enough chest beating and reliving our conquests…. here are our biggest stories of 2017… all made possible by our dedicated readers and fellow truth-seekers.
1). Rollins College Controversy: The Central Florida Post was the first to uncover and report on an out-of-control Muslim professor with terror ties, who viciously targeted a Christian student. Our six-part series exposing the professor for giving revenge grades, filing false police reports, and the cover-up lead by school administration went viral. It was carried by hundreds of news organizations around the world and forced the school to end its relationship with the professor and to apologize/reinstate the student.
The Orlando Sentinel sniveled and snickered as we hunted for the truth, always one step behind and without a leg to stand on. In the end, we were able to prove that the Professor, Areej Zufari had an anti-semitic past, ties to known terrorist groups, and used her position as a professor to exact revenge on a Christian student who challenged her.
In the end, we were proven right, yet again. Even death threats from radical Islamic extremists on several continents weren’t enough to stop our pursuit of the truth. This series proved to everyone that the Central Florida Post is all about the facts and giving those facts to you in a way that is both entertaining and engaging.
Relive our battle against one of the most powerful private colleges in the Southeast by clicking here.
2). Orlando Sentinel Reporter Puts Source In Danger: After years of break-ins to her Avalon Park jewelry store, entrepreneur Tiffany Bayley faced another robbery attempt on Easter Sunday. Bayley, who had survived dozens of robberies since 2011 in the sleepy East Orange County suburb thought talking to the Orlando Sentinel might help the police find the criminals and stop the break-ins.
Unfortunately, Bayley was instead put at tremendous risk by Orlando Sentinel reporter Caitlin Doornbos, who revealed to the whole world that Bayley lived above the jewelry store.
“I was happy to speak with her, but I made it very clear that she was not to print that information about my current residence, or that I was planning on moving in the near future,” Bayley told the Central Florida Post.
Bayley, who recently became a Grandmother and regularly hosts family and friends in the condo above her Avalon Park business, is livid about the Orlando Sentinel revealing her location to the public.
“Years ago, another news organization outed me, and we subsequently faced numerous break-ins. It’s been a wild time, they have even used huge axes during robbery attempts. I told Sentinel I already don’t feel safe, and they still included that information in the final copy.”
Good job Orlando Sentinel, not only is your content extremely boring… but one of your talentless scribes did not respect the wishes of her subject. A juicy story was more important to Ms. Doornbos, to hell with the business owners safety and humble request.
Shame on you. Yet another reason to stop feeding the beast and look to alternative media publications for your news.
3). PAY UP: Seminole School Board Chairman Pushes Tax Hike On Elderly & Poor: Amy Lockhart has become well-known as “Madam Tax & Spend” by Seminole County voters. Since being elected to the school board, Lockhart hasn’t seen a tax increase she doesn’t like, but wants residents to believe she is the tax-axing second coming of Ronald Reagan.
In the summer of 2017 during a bizarre exchange at a school board meeting, Lockhart pushed for even more taxes on elderly apartment dwellers in Seminole County. She actually reasoned that the 55+ communities needed to pay exorbitant impact fees to fund the school board.
This left Lockhart heavily exposed among Republican voters in deep-red Seminole County, just weeks after announcing a bid for the Seminole County Commission. Her performance was dumbfounding, and reminded residents of her penchant for increased revenue through extreme taxation, rather than frugal management of county funds.
Her campaign outlook for 2018 has not improved since last summer, as former Longwood Mayor Joe Durso continues to outwork her with his common sense approach and conservative bonafides.
Find out why they call her “Madam Tax & Spend”.
4). Heroin At Sixteen: Defining The Epidemic & Fixing It: This was one of our most personal articles of 2017, where one of our ace contributors told us the story of his friends struggles with addiction, and provided valuable insight into how we tackle the opioid epidemic.
Written by one of my high school classmates, it matched blatant honesty with a deep dive into the world of drugs facing our students in modern America. No matter who you are or where you’re from, this story should teach you something and make you mad as hell.
5). Top Clinton Donor Quits Party, Won’t Fundraise For DNC: As far as mega-donors go, Orlando based trial attorney John Morgan is one of the greats. For decades he lined up millions for local politicians and presidential candidates alike, serving as a major bundler for Barack Obama and then Hillary Clinton in 2016.
He funded the successful constitutional amendment to legalize medicinal marijuana in 2016 after failing to get it over the hump in 2014, and continues to toy with the idea of running for Governor. However, his biggest move in 2017 was his announcement that he was bolting the Democratic Party, blaming the rigged election process that allowed Hillary Clinton to steal the nomination for President from Bernie Sanders.
This is a major blow to Democrats locally and nationwide, and Morgan recently did very well as an independent candidate for Governor in a shock-poll released by local pollings outfit Gravis Marketing.
6). VIDEO: Las Vegas Shooting From Top Floor Of Mandalay Bay: Covering tragedies like this is never something you look forward to or hope for. When a radical Islamic extremist targeted Pulse nightclub in Orlando, we were the first news outlet to report that the shooter had targeted other clubs.
Our sources are what help us give real time, honest, and blunt reporting. As chaos broke out in Las Vegas in early October, we obtained exclusive video footage from the top floor of the hotel where the shooter was stationed. Paired with eyewitness testimony, we were able to give readers around the world an angle on the story that nobody else had.
From thousands of miles away, the Central Florida Post exclusive yieled over 200,000 video views across our social media platforms and gave readers a unique view into the horrible tragedy and how it unfolded.
Thank you to all our readers and supporters… WE LOVE YOU!
Jacob Engels is an Orlando based journalist whose work has been featured and republished in news outlets around the globe including Politico, InfoWars, MSNBC, Orlando Sentinel, New York Times, Daily Mail UK, Associated Press, People Magazine, ABC, and Fox News to name a few. Mr. Engels focuses on stories that other news outlets neglect or willingly hide to curry favor among the political and business special interests in the state of Florida.
