Florida this week began accepting immigrant detainees at a repurposed prison in Baker County as part of the state’s support of President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation efforts, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. The use of Baker Correctional Institution, which the state mothballed as a prison four years ago because of staffing shortages, coincided with a […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — The city of Miami Beach has challenged a controversial directive by the Florida Department of Transportation to remove art and markings on streets — including LGBTQ-themed rainbow crosswalks. The city filed a challenge Thursday at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, arguing that the Department […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s once-dominant citrus industry is being squeezed for land at an accelerating rate. The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week reported that the industry is entering the 2025-2026 growing season with 208,183 acres in use for producing oranges, grapefruit and specialty fruits, 24 percent fewer […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Siding with the DeSantis and Trump administrations, a federal appeals-court panel Thursday put on hold a judge’s ruling requiring the wind-down of operations at a controversial immigrant-detention center in the Everglades. The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo on Wednesday vowed to end vaccine mandates in Florida, putting the state in the middle of a growing national debate. Ladapo said the Florida Department of Health will eliminate rules set by his predecessors and request that the Legislature “get […]
Florida motorists came out of the heavily traveled Labor Day weekend paying an average of $3.04 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline Tuesday, according to the AAA auto club. That was down 2 cents a gallon from a week earlier and within a range of $2.90 to $3.15 a gallon that has remained since May. […]
As Gov. Ron DeSantis pushes to slash property taxes, a House select committee is expected to meet Sept. 22 and Sept. 23 to resume looking at the issue. The House Select Committee on Property Taxes is tentatively scheduled to meet during the afternoon of Sept. 22 and the morning of Sept. 23, according to a […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Federal officials are complying with a judge’s order and have stopped sending immigrants to a detention center in the Everglades, less than two months after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration launched the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” in support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts. U.S. […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — When Florida lawmakers in December 2022 overhauled property-insurance laws, they shielded insurers from having to pay policyholders’ attorney fees after claims disputes — a top priority of the industry. But a state appeals court Thursday said the change only went so far. A three-judge panel […]
By The News Service of Florida U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams has refused to pause her order requiring state and federal officials to wind down operations at an immigrant-detention center in the Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” Williams issued a preliminary injunction last week in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, finding […]