By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida With Florida school districts facing a 2026 deadline, a Senate Republican on Friday filed a proposal that would repeal requirements aimed at later start times for many high schools. The proposal (SB 296), filed by Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, would undo changes that lawmakers passed in […]
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody was named Thursday by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who is in line to become President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state. Moody, a Republican who was first elected attorney general in 2018, has been a close ally of DeSantis in fights against the Biden […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Two months after a similar measure failed to garner enough voter support to pass, a political committee bankrolled by the state’s largest medical-marijuana company has launched a new effort to allow recreational pot in Florida. The revamped proposal, filed Tuesday at the state Division of […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — More than two years after challenging his suspension by Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren hit a legal dead-end Friday. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the dismissal of Warren’s lawsuit against DeSantis, saying the […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Two years after Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a controversial measure restricting the use of personal pronouns in schools, legislative debate about the gender-related issue could shift to cities and counties. John Labriola, a lobbyist for Christian Family Coalition Florida, told Marion County […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida The Florida Senate and Secretary of State Cord Byrd last week urged a panel of federal judges to reject a lawsuit alleging that part of a 2022 Senate redistricting plan is unconstitutional because two Tampa Bay-area districts were racially gerrymandered. Attorneys for Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida Pointing to Florida’s decades-long fight with deadly citrus greening disease and damage from hurricanes, a major grower Monday announced it will “wind down” citrus operations and focus on more-profitable uses of its land. Fort Myers-based Alico Inc. said it will not spend additional money on citrus operations […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — After an investigative agency sided with the company, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office will urge an administrative law judge to find that Starbucks has improperly used race-based hiring practices. Moody in May filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations alleging that […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Former Florida Gov. Kenneth “Buddy” MacKay, 91, died peacefully during an afternoon nap at his home in Ocala surrounded by his wife and sons on New Year’s Eve, a family spokesman said Thursday. MacKay’s decades-long public-service career included stints as a state legislator, U.S. representative, […]
By The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — After facing a barrage of hurricanes, Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric Co. on Friday filed proposals to collect about $1.55 billion from customers to cover costs of restoring power and replenishing storm reserves. The proposals, if approved by the Florida Public Service Commission, would lead to […]