The Tallahassee Reports Daily Briefs: Friday, September 5, 2025

LOCAL NEWS

The matriarch of a wealthy South Florida family was convicted Thursday of murder in the killing of her former son-in-law, a prominent law professor who was locked in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife when he was gunned down in 2014.

Steve Stewart discusses the latest crime trends in Tallahassee and a concerning increase in robberies.

Review the news briefs from the August 26, 2025, Leon County School Board meeting: high preforming schools, school enrollment, and tax initiatives.

Mary Anne Roberts Dawson, co-founder Tallahassee’s Annsworth Academy, passed away on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at the age of 100.

LOCAL SPORTS

In Leon County High School Volleyball on Thursday night, Chiles (Smith 17 kills) over Niceville 3-0, Middleburg over Leon 3-0, Lincoln (Platt 10 kills) over Rickards 3-0, Maclay (Davis 16 kills) over Wakulla Christian 3-2.

FLORIDA NEWS

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.

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 acres than a year ago.

NATIONAL NEWS

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared yesterday before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss recent turnover at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Justice Department opens criminal probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations (More)

US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.8%, Dow +0.8%, Nasdaq +1.0%) ahead of today’s jobs report release—the first since President Donald Trump’s firing of Labor Department official who oversaw the monthly reports (More).

TALLAHASSEE WEATHER