TALLAHASSEE — Opponents of a congressional redistricting plan pushed through the Legislature by Gov. Ron DeSantis are fighting an effort to shield key lawmakers from testifying in a constitutional challenge to the plan. Attorneys for voting-rights groups and other plaintiffs urged a judge this week to reject a request by six lawmakers and five current […]
TALLAHASSEE — After pushing a congressional redistricting plan through the Legislature this spring, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is fighting to prevent the release of documents to plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the plan. Attorneys for the plaintiffs this week asked a Leon County circuit judge to reject a DeSantis administration request to shield it from […]
TALLAHASSEE --- A major-disaster declaration that President Joe Biden issued early Thursday will be expanded to more areas as Florida tries to recover from Hurricane Ian, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday. “We are here to support this recovery. We know we’re still in the very active response stage,” FEMA Administrator […]
TALLAHASSEE --- A legislative panel Friday approved money for more than 230 local projects and programs across the state, after receiving a detailed analysis of Florida’s financial picture from a top economist. The Joint Legislative Budget Commission, with little comment, signed off on a list of “local support grants” totaling $175 million. The grants are […]
By Jim Saunders TALLAHASSEE — As the state continues to struggle with a shortage of correctional officers, a legislative panel next week will consider a plan that would activate Florida National Guard members to help at prisons, according to a document published Friday. The Joint Legislative Budget Commission is slated Sept. 9 to take up […]
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has filed a lawsuit alleging that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not complied with a public-records request about the state’s proposed program to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Tampa, came after state Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary […]
TALLAHASSEE --- Florida health officials have released a highly anticipated rule setting THC dosage amounts and supply limits on products doctors can order for medical-marijuana patients. The emergency rule sets a 70-day total supply limit of 24,500 mg of THC for non-smokable marijuana and establishes dosage caps for different routes of administration such as edibles, […]
TALLAHASSEE — On the eve of the primary election, an appeals court Monday overturned a ruling that would have blocked Democrat Rebekah Jones from running for a Northwest Florida congressional seat. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected a ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper that said Jones was […]
TALLAHASSEE --- Tourism in Florida during the first half of 2022 was up 20 percent from the same period last year and was higher than during the first six months of 2019, the last full year of travel before the coronavirus pandemic. Visit Florida, the state’s tourism-marketing agency, posted numbers online late Monday that estimated […]
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Monday that $50 million is headed to South Florida to help protect low-lying neighborhoods from sea-level rise and storm surge. Harris said the money is part of addressing a growing “climate crisis,” with Kentucky in recent days hit by deadly flooding and California battling wildfires. “The climate crisis is here. […]
TALLAHASSEE --- Despite increased concerns about layoffs and a looming recession, Florida’s unemployment rate dipped in June. The state Department of Economic Opportunity on Friday released a report that said the June rate was 2.8 percent, down from a revised 2.9 percent in May. The June number represented 303,000 Floridians unemployed in a workforce of […]
TALLAHASSEE --- With both claiming to be Florida Democrats’ best bet to defeat Gov. Ron DeSantis in November, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried traded barbs Thursday in their only debate before next month’s primary election. The verbal sparring came amid an increasingly acrimonious contest between Crist, who won three statewide races […]
TALLAHASSEE — A federal appeals court Wednesday refused to reconsider a decision that struck down measures passed in Palm Beach County and Boca Raton to ban the controversial practice known as “conversion therapy.” The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request by the county and city for a rehearing after a three-judge panel […]
TALLAHASSEE — Pointing to broader implications of the case, Georgia is backing Florida in a fight about a 2021 elections law that a federal judge said is unconstitutional. Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr filed a brief Monday at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals supporting the Florida law, which, in part, placed additional restrictions […]
Gov. Ron DeSantis called it “wrong” and a “fraud on the donor” to deceive people into giving campaign contributions after he was asked Monday about allegations that a Republican congressional candidate in Northeast Florida raised money off the names of DeSantis and former President Donald Trump. The question came after a Politico report about fundraising […]
TALLAHASSEE --- As they battle over a 2018 Florida law that raised the minimum age from 18 to 21 to buy rifles and other long guns, attorneys for the state and the National Rifle Association (NRA) are trying to use a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling to bolster their arguments. The Supreme Court on Thursday […]
TALLAHASSEE — Seven plastic surgeons are asking an appeals court to block a new state emergency rule that placed additional restrictions on procedures known as “Brazilian butt lifts.” The surgeons, who practice in Miami-Dade County, and the group Surgeons for Safety, Inc., filed the challenge Monday in the 3rd District Court of Appeal after the […]
The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Florida hit a record-high $4.76 on Sunday and likely will continue to rise, the AAA auto club said. "Unfortunately, the pain at the pump is likely to get even worse this week," AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a prepared statement Monday.