TR has previously published an analysis which showed that Leon County’s job growth during this period ranked 37th and the annual wages ranked 13th.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), Leon County’s number of business establishments increased from 9,155 in 2019 to 10,868 in 2025. That represents a gain of 1,713 establishments, or 18.7%, ranking sixth among 11 peer counties.

For comparison purposes, the peer group includes counties that produced between 100,000 and 200,000 jobs in 2019.

Only Pasco County (30.5%), Manatee County (24.8%), Sarasota County (24.1%), Lake County (22.9%) and Collier County (20.4%) recorded faster growth during the six-year period.

Leon County’s growth also exceeded the statewide average. Across Florida, business establishments increased from 679,463 to 800,831, a gain of 121,368 establishments, or 17.9%. Leon County’s 18.7% increase was nearly one percentage point higher than the state’s overall growth rate.

Among the counties trailing Leon were Marion (16.6%), Seminole (13.5%), Escambia (13.4%), Volusia (8.6%) and Alachua (7.3%).

The figures come from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), widely regarded as the nation’s most comprehensive source of local employment and business data. Unlike surveys that rely on statistical sampling, QCEW is based on unemployment insurance records submitted by employers and covers approximately 95% of U.S. wage and salary jobs, making it one of the most accurate measures of local economic activity.

In QCEW data, an establishment is a single physical business location where economic activity occurs, such as a retail store, restaurant, manufacturing plant, office, medical clinic or warehouse. A single company may operate multiple establishments—for example, a retailer with 10 stores would be counted as 10 establishments. As a result, establishment growth measures the expansion in the number of business locations rather than the number of companies.

Economists often view growth in business establishments as a key indicator of economic vitality because it reflects business formation, expansion and investment within a community. When combined with employment and wage growth, establishment growth provides a broader picture of the strength and diversity of a local economy.

By Mitch Perry, The Florida Phoenix

The recent electoral successes by Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates in New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado has sparked vituperative responses from Republicans and establishment Democrats around the country.

But conventional wisdom would have you believe that the movement has little chance of emerging in the Sunshine State, which has flipped from being a competitive swing state to MAGA Central over the past six years.

Don’t tell that to Oliver Larkin, the 34-year-old former union organizer running in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary against Jared Moskowitz in South Florida’s newly configured Congressional District 25, which now runs along the southeast coast from Delray Beach to Miami Beach.

In a telephone conversation with the Phoenix last week, Larkin said that, while he has considered himself a Democratic socialist since he volunteered to work on the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in 2015, he didn’t feel compelled to join the organization formally until the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

That’s when he became disillusioned that the national Democratic Party lacked the “spine” to fight for issues like for Medicare for All and adequately address police violence following the uprising over the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department.

“I really felt that it was important to formally join an organization that was building a parallel power structure to the Democratic Party, to move it in a more progressive direction,” he said. “What I’m really inspired by is the Democratic Socialists of America, and I decided to campaign openly as a DSA member because I think that they really have the policy prescriptions that address so much of the root core of what ails American life today.”

In addition to Medicare for All, those policy prescriptions include an increase in the minimum wage to $25 an hour, universal childcare, and paid family and medical leave. “I mean, these policies are overwhelmingly popular with the American people regardless of how they consider themselves ideologically or what political party they or may not be a part of,” he said.

Like other DSA candidates, Larkin questions the U.S. government’s relationship with Israel. He believes the Israeli government has committed a genocide in Gaza, approves of an immediate suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, and supports H.R. 3565, filed by Illinois Democratic U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez to restrict the sale, transfer, or export of offensive weapons to Israel.

Six days after DSA candidates swept Democratic congressional primaries in New York City and a day before Democratic socialist Melat Kiros stunned Colorado politics by defeating a 15-term incumbent in a Democratic primary, the Larkin campaign held a virtual fundraiser that included appearances by New York City DSA-backed congressional candidate Claire Valdez and socialist influencer Hasan Piker.

“You have the fundamentals, you have the policies, you have the charisma, especially in comparison to Moskowitz,” Piker told Larkin during the event. “We just need to connect you with as many voters as possible because … once more and more people are aware of who you are and what you represent, and that there is an election even that’s taking place, a primary that’s taking place, if we can draw a turnout, we can absolutely make a massive impact here and we can unseat one of the worst Democrats in Congress.”

Larkin has criticized Moskowitz for his moderate record. That bill of particulars for Larkin includes Moskowitz’s stint serving in the Ron DeSantis administration as Florida Director of Emergency Management (from 2019-2021); his strong support for Israel; and being the only member of the Florida Democratic congressional delegation to vote for the Laken Riley Act.

That’s the measure named after the Georgia student killed by an undocumented immigrant that requires undocumented immigrants arrested for theft or violent crimes to be held in jail pending trial.

The Moskowitz campaign declined to comment for this story.

Larkin is also critical of the Florida Democratic Party, saying the state’s dramatic shift to the right since the 2018 elections was never inevitable. “A series of choices,” such as campaigning “at arm’s length” regarding the 2020 constitutional amendment raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2026 and its nomination of former Republican Charlie Crist for governor in 2014 and 2022 have helped alienate the base.

Following the primary wins by DSA-backed candidates in New York, the Florida Democratic Party’s likely nominee for governor, David Jolly (another former Republican), told CNN, “I think New York elected the wrong people.”

“Look, I disagree with many of the candidates that New York Democrats elected, but I’m a Florida Democrat. We do things differently down there,” he added.

“I was a little concerned to see him joining in on the bashing of Democratic socialism in a recent interview,” Larkin said of Jolly’s comments. He gives credit to Jolly for emerging as the front-runner for party’s nomination for governor, but says he hasn’t forgotten that Jolly’s previous stance on abortion compelled him to co-sponsor legislation in Congress that would have given full legal rights to a fertilized egg.

Jolly has since changed his mind on the issue, saying he now is pro-choice and if elected governor would veto any legislation restricting reproductive healthcare.

Larkin supports Jacksonville state Rep. Angie Nixon for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate (against Alex Vindman, the whistleblower in the first Trump impeachment).

“I think that she represents the very kind of change that voters really want to see out of the Democratic Party and not just establishment politicians who are handpicked by Washington, D.C.,” he said.

DSA’s appeal

The only DSA-aligned lawmaker now holding political office in Florida is Richie Floyd, a former electrical engineer and Pinellas County science instructor who narrowly won a city council seat in St. Petersburg in 2021 but has garnered no opponents for re-election this year. In his four-and-a-half-years in office, he’s carved out a reputation as an advocate for tenant rights, improving public services, and fighting on working-class issues, such as the campaign to have the city “dump” Duke Energy Florida and investigate creating a municipal electric utility. He opposes what he referred to as corporate handouts.

Floyd notes that approximately 300 DSA members have been elected as mayors, city councillors, state lawmakers, and other local offices in 39 states. “So, that pretty much shows that it’s not contained to one locality,” he said.

“I think the thing that sort of goes unnoticed is that part of the appeal of DSA candidates is obviously the ideology is getting more popular, but the part that goes unnoticed is that the campaigns that DSA runs are hard fought,” he said. “There’s a ton of volunteers that work really hard night and day without getting paid just in the hopes that they will get a better world, and it inspires people to come out and do really hard work. It shows that people believe in this politics in a way that you haven’t seen from like a lot of Democratic party politics in a longtime.”

Sam May is co-chair of the Tampa chapter of Democratic Socialists of America. She first became involved in the DSA while canvassing for Floyd’s first campaign in 2021. Since then, the chapter has more than doubled to around 330 members, she said.

“I think it’s so exciting,” she says of DSA members getting elected around the country. “I think it shows how the tides are turning in America and the working class is speaking up.”

May notes that Tampa DSA just finished a medical debt relief campaign with Undue Medical Debt that resulted in cancellation of medical debt for more than 2,400 Hillsborough County residents. “And so, having these electoral victories and then being able to put people into work like that has been very beneficial for our local community,” she said.

But can that energy and enthusiasm that helped get Floyd elected twice in St. Petersburg translate to other parts of the Sunshine State — particularly South Florida, where Democrats have been branded with the derisive “socialista” label by the GOP?

“I think it is important to remember that Florida Democrats are way more moderate than people think, in part because the state is very diverse in a Dem primary,” said Democratic Party strategist Steve Schale. He notes that even in what was a triumph for progressive Democrats — the 2018 Democratic primary for governor in which Andrew Gillum won the nomination — “he barely got a third of the vote in a five-way race where his opponents were hit by like $60-$70 million in negative ads from Gillum allies.”

Schale notes that in the March 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Joe Biden defeated Bernie Sanders, the spiritual leader of the progressive movement (although notably not a DSA member) by nearly 40 points, 62%-23%. Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary in Florida by 31 points, 64%-33%.

“I am sure the DSA can have some success in individual city races around the state, but I just don’t think they are the factor here that they are in some of these more gentrified upper-income urban districts, like we saw in New York,” he added.

President Donald Trump responded to the rise of Democratic socialists Friday night in a speech at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, alleging “a resurgence of the communist menace in our land.”

“Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty,” Trump said. “It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or even 9/11.”

Political analysts say that while Democratic socialists believe in state intervention, they still believe in political pluralism, whereas communism advocates for full state ownership of the means of production and central planning.

The Republican National Committee recently weighed in on the Congressional District 25 primary.

“Extreme socialists are taking over the Democratic Party and electing full blown crazies, proving there’s no room for moderates on the Left and taking seats like FL-25 off the map for Democrats,” said Emma Hall, Southeast regional communications director for the RNC.

Sizing up the Larkin-Moskowitz primary

Like several Democratic incumbents, the DeSantis redistricting map erased Moskowitz from the Congressional District 23 seat he has held since 2022 and compelled him to run in the new CD 25 seat. Informing that decision, Moskowitz says, is that the electorate was estimated to be 25% Jewish, a plus for his candidacy. The Moskowitz campaign released a survey last of week of 728 likely Democratic primary voters in the district conducted by Beacon Insights showing him with a 32-point lead over Larkin, 51%-19%, with nearly 30% undecided.

Larkin doesn’t dispute the poll’s accuracy. In fact, he said, it shows him improving in the contest.

“What I think is really interesting about that poll is the same pollster, Beacon Insights, within a month prior they put out another poll saying that he was up 49%-12%. Now he’s up 51%-19% so I’m taking seven out of every nine voters that have made up their mind since then, and that’s without spending a single dime on paid media, so there’s still 30% of voters that are undecided in this race.”

Larkin’s bona fides as a candidate of the working class received a boost last week when he won the endorsement of the SEIU Public Services union, which represents nearly 20,000 public sector workers across the state. The Florida AFL-CIO, meanwhile, withheld an endorsement of Moskowitz, the only sitting Democratic incumbent in the state not to receive its imprimatur, as reported by the Miami Herald.

“Voters want to have candidates know what they’re standing up for and know what they’re fighting for and not just trying to cater to this mythical moderate and return us to a status quo which ultimately delivered us two terms of Donald Trump,” Larkin said. “So, I think trying to ride a fence post is not really the kind of message that’s going to motivate, especially the kind of volunteers and supporters that we’ve been attracting to our campaign.”

Whether Larkin is successful next month, his candidacy reflects a fissure between younger Democrats and their elders. Most of the DSA candidates elected this year are in their 20s or 30s. Floyd turns 35 in a few weeks.

“If you’re, like, a young person in this world — or hell, some of us are almost middle aged now — and you’re frustrated that you can’t get ahead and politics aren’t speaking to you, the only outlet right now is DSA if you really want to build a better world. And so, we’ve been able to attract a lot of people because of that, and I think you’ll only see that continue as more people hear about it and more people get excited,” he said.

“Our secret sauce is that we’re working to build something better, and it makes people get off their couch to participate in it in a way that no other politics has in a long time.”

Friday, July 10, 2026

Weather: Today, a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high near 96. Tonight, a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm with a low around 75.
Saturday, a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm with a high near 97. Saturday night, a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm with a low around 76. NWS

US stock markets close up (S&P 500 +0.8%, Dow +0.3%, Nasdaq +1.3%) (More).

Local & State News

Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow’s aide, Ryan Ray, created a political website in 2024 and is now using the site during his boss’s run for mayor of Tallahassee to criticize Matlow’s opponents – Loranne Ausley and Daryl Parks – and to support candidates friendly to the progressive movement. Details.

First-time unemployment claims in Florida slowed heading into the Independence Day holiday weekend. Details

As of early Thursday morning, 248 mail ballots were returned in 35 county elections offices, according to numbers posted by the Florida Division of Elections. Details

National News

US existing home sales fell 2.4% month over month in June; median home price of $440,600 is up 1.8% from a year ago, an all-time high since records began in 1999 (More).

Iran and the US continue to exchange strikes as Iran buries former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (More).

Ballots are being cast for the 2026 primary election.

As of early Thursday morning, 248 mail ballots were returned in 35 county elections offices, according to numbers posted by the Florida Division of Elections.

More than 800,000 mail ballots have been sent out after an initial batch went to people overseas and in the military.

Of the ballots returned so far for the Aug. 18 primaries, registered Republicans had submitted 58, while Democrats had submitted 170. Voters without party affiliation had returned 17, while three have come from people registered with minor parties.

Of the mail ballots requested but not yet returned, nearly 350,000 went to Democrats, nearly 281,300 to Republicans, about 153,300 to unaffiliated voters and nearly 17,400 to people registered with third parties.

The deadline for registering to vote in the primary or for changing party affiliation is July 20.

In-person early voting at limited polling locations will run from Aug. 8 to Aug. 15 in most counties.

First-time unemployment claims in Florida slowed heading into the Independence Day holiday weekend.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated 4,337 initial unemployment applications were filed in the state last week, down from 5,733 the week ending June 27.

The latest figure marks the fourth consecutive week the numbers have declined, but this also comes as state offices were closed Thursday and Friday for the holiday.

This current trend follows the state’s first monthly jobs report since last summer in which the unemployment rate didn’t increase. The rate for May was 4.8 percent.

Over the past four weeks, the state has averaged 5,788 claims a week. Since the start of the year, the weekly average is 5,938.

Ray is paid approximately $90,000 annually by the city of Tallahassee and is also the head of the Leon County Democratic party.

When recently asked about his connection to the site he denied any current involvement but added that there are a number of people running the site. However, sources have told TR Ray is the main force behind the site.

Also, days after TR questioned Ray, he authored a story on the site critical of TR.

The Florida New Signal Criticize Ausley, Parks

The website, www, flnewsignal.com, was created by Ray in 2024 with the goal to be a “news site to cover the Sunshine State.” However, a review of the site shows little content related to “Sunshine State” cities other than Tallahassee.

The home page shows tabs for Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Miami. However, a review of the site’s 2026 content shows 12 stories related to Tallahassee politics, one story related to Gainesville, and no stories under the Miami tab.

In addition, the Tallahassee stories are focused on supporting Matlow, PJ Perez and Dot Inman-Johnson and criticizing fellow Democrats.

For example, a recent story criticized Matlow’s opponents, Loranne Ausley and Daryl Parks, response to a question about LGBTQ rights.

In another post, related to city commission seat 3, an article states that a Democrat candidate was “honored by the Tallahassee Chamber several times” and was “Chambered Up” as a way to smear the candidate and support the progressive’s preferred candidate, PJ Perez.

Ryan Ray’s Activities

Over the years there has been a number of critical questions raised about the Ray’s activities given his compensated duties with the city of Tallahassee and his role with the Leon County Democratic Party. His recent activities related to Matlow’s run for mayor raises these questions once again.

Is Ray’s political activities funded by his $90,000 a year city of Tallahassee salary?

Does his boss, Matlow approve of these activities?

And as the head of the Leon Democratic Party, is his criticism of other Democratic candidates in favor of Matlow a violation of party rules?

City Policy on Social Media Use

The City of Tallahassee has adopted policies related to private social media use. The policy states “Employees are expected to be truthful, courteous, and respectful toward supervisors, co-workers, citizens, customers, and other persons associated with the City. Employees shall not engage in name-calling or personal attacks or other such demeaning behavior.”

The city notes the policy “If you identify yourself as a City of Tallahassee employee or have a public facing position for which your City of Tallahassee association is known to the general public, ensure your profile and related content (even if it is personal and not an official nature) is consistent with how you wish to present yourself as a City of Tallahassee professional.”

TR will continue to investigate this issue.

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Weather: Today, a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high near 94. Tonight, a 10 percent chance of showers before 8pm with a low around 76. Friday, mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 95. Friday night, mostly clear, with a low around 75. NWS

US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.3%, Dow -1.1%, Nasdaq +0.2%) as the US carries out further strikes on Iran (More).

Local & State News

The latest Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data shows that Leon County economy ranks 37th among the 67 Florida counties in job growth from 2019 to 2025. The data also shows that 2025 Leon County annual wages ranked 13th in Florida. Details.

Steve Stewart discusses the political activities of Matlow’s aid, Ryan Ray.

Storm forecasters have further downgraded predictions a little more than a month into the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which has so far produced a single named tropical system. Details

National News

The US carried out a new wave of airstrikes against Iran hours after President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was “over.” See live updates here.

Graham Platner—the Democratic candidate for Maine’s Senate race—announced yesterday he will suspend his campaign. The revelation came ahead of a July 13 deadline, and days after a Politico story revealed an allegation of rape by a woman he once dated. (Read the piece; watch her CNN interview.) 

The analysis below provides a comparison between Leon County and a peer group that includes eleven other counties. For comparison purposes, the peer group includes counties that produced between 100,000 and 200,000 jobs in 2019.

Leon County Added 12,000 jobs Since 2019

Leon County added more than 12,000 jobs over the past six years, ending 2025 with an average of 165,332 jobs. The pace of employment growth (7.67%) ranked 7th in the peer group of ten counties. See table below.

Among the 10 peer counties included in the comparison, Alachua County (4.99%), Escambia County (5.97%) and Seminole County (6.64%) recorded lower growth rates than Leon County.

The strongest performers were Pasco County, which added 28,535 jobs for a 23.44% increase, followed by Marion County at 15.15%, Collier County at 13.79%, Sarasota County at 12.92% and Manatee County at 11.93%. Lake County also posted double-digit growth at 17,314 jobs, or 17.09%.

Statewide, Florida employers added more than 1.03 million jobs during the period, an increase of 11.68%.

The gap narrows somewhat when looking only at the post-pandemic period from 2022 to 2025. During those three years, Leon County added 9,452 jobs, representing 6.06% employment growth.

That growth matched the statewide average of 6.03% but still ranked below six of the peer counties. Pasco again led the group with 11.22% growth, followed by Manatee (9.20%), Lake (8.56%), Collier (7.83%), Sarasota (7.71%) and Marion (7.45%). Leon outperformed Volusia (4.69%), Alachua (3.85%), Escambia (3.26%) and Seminole (3.00%).

The data suggest Leon County has experienced steady job gains but has not kept pace with many of Florida’s fastest-growing counties over the longer six-year period. However, its performance since 2022 indicates the county’s labor market has largely kept pace with statewide employment growth as Florida’s economy has continued to expand following the pandemic.

Leon County wage growth ranks among Florida’s strongest

While Leon County has trailed some of its Florida peer counties in overall job growth since 2019, workers have experienced one of the stronger increases in wages over the same period. The QCEW data shows that Leon County economy ranks 13th among the 67 Florida counties in annual wages in 2025. From 2019-25, Leon County wages grew 39.6%, which ranks 22 among the 67 counties. The table below lists the top 20 Florida counties ranked by 2025 annual wage.

Among the 10 peer counties in the comparison, Leon ranked fifth in wage growth. See table below, which display the counties ranked by the 2025 annual wage.

Florida’s average annual wage climbed from $51,744 in 2019 to $72,732 in 2025, an increase of 40.6%. Leon County’s 39.6% increase was just one percentage point below the statewide average.

Only four peer counties recorded stronger wage growth than Leon. Manatee County led the group with a 43.3% increase, followed by Pasco County at 42.1%, Sarasota County at 41.6% and Collier County at 40.1%.

Leon County outperformed Lake County (38.5%), Marion County (38.0%), Escambia County (37.0%), Volusia County (36.2%), Seminole County (35.6%) and Alachua County (34.5%).

Leon ranked in the middle of the peer group for wage growth with average annual wage of $64,947 ranked behind Collier County ($70,215), Seminole County ($68,003), Sarasota County ($67,589), Alachua County ($66,042) and the statewide average of $72,732.

The comparison suggests Leon County’s labor market has produced steady wage gains even as employment growth has lagged many of Florida’s faster-growing counties. Workers saw average annual pay increase by more than $18,400 over the six-year period, reflecting continued upward pressure on wages despite more modest job creation than many of the state’s high-growth markets.

Storm forecasters have further downgraded predictions a little more than a month into the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which has so far produced a single named tropical system.

For a season initially anticipated to be “somewhat below-normal,” Colorado State University researchers on Wednesday reduced their projections for the number of named systems and the duration of activity, stating they “now anticipate a well below-normal season.”

A day earlier, the private meteorological firm AccuWeather slightly reduced the range of named storms it predicted to develop in the Atlantic basin.

In both cases the forecast is tied to moderate El Niño conditions likely to intensify into a “strong” El Niño by the mid-September peak of the six-month hurricane season that began June 1.

The term El Niño refers to a warming of the ocean surface waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and resulting low-level surface winds that can disrupt normal weather patterns across the U.S. and globally.

“Sea surface temperatures across the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic are near their long-term averages,” Colorado State University posted on Wednesday. “We anticipate the powerful El Niño being the dominant factor for the upcoming hurricane season, driving high levels of tropical Atlantic vertical wind shear.”

Vertical wind shear usually helps weaken or disrupt storms.

“El Niño conditions have always been the driver for why we’re expecting numbers near or below the historical average this year,” said Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather lead hurricane expert. “The stronger the El Niño gets, the fewer named storms we’re likely to get. Back in 2015, we had a strong El Niño and got 11 named storms. I think that is the sweet spot again this year.”

An average storm season has 14 to 15 named storms, with seven reaching hurricane strength.

AccuWeather, which initially forecast between 11 and 16 named storms, now predicts the formation of eight to 14 named storms for the season. Unchanged is the forecast of four to seven hurricanes, with two to four becoming major systems. AccuWeather also forecasts three to five having a direct impact on the U.S.

“The northern and eastern Gulf Coast, the Carolinas, and the northeastern Caribbean remain higher-than-average risk areas, where storms can develop rapidly,” a release from AccuWeather stated.

With a caveat added, the Colorado State University release noted there is a “below-average probability” for a major hurricane to make landfall on the U.S. coastline before adding that “coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season.”

The school’s forecast now sits at 9 named storms, down from 13 when the initial projections were released in April and 11 when updated in June.

Also, the July forecast has four storms reaching hurricane strength, with winds at or above 74 mph, instead of six as in the pre-season outlook and five when the numbers were revised in June.

The ocean and gulf waters are expected to be active with named storms for a total of 35 days, down from 45 days in the June forecast. A typical year has 69.4 days of storm activity.

Meanwhile, the number of storms reaching major strength — Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with sustained winds of 111-mph or greater — was put at one, down from two in the prior forecasts.

As of Wednesday, the only named storm to arise was Tropical Storm Arthur, which brought flash flooding and tornadoes as it made landfall June 18 near Galveston, Texas.

In 2025, the Atlantic produced 13 named storms and five hurricanes, with four reaching Category 3 — winds of 111 mph to 130 mph, and storm surge of 9 feet to 12 feet above normal tide.

None of the 2025 storms, though, made a direct landfall in Florida or the U.S. 

From 2022 to 2024, Florida took direct hits from six hurricanes, including four that were Category 3 or stronger.

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Weather: Today, a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a high near 95. Tonight, a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7pm, with a low around 76. Thursday, a 10 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4pm, with a high near 94. Thursday night, mostly clear, with a low around 76. NWS

US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq -1.2%) amid sell-off in semiconductor sector (More).

Local & State News

Three men convicted in a violent 2023 crime spree that left a Tallahassee police officer critically wounded were each sentenced Monday to mandatory life in prison. Details.

WFSU General Manager David Mullins talks retirement, layoffs, and more. Details.

A federal appeals court Tuesday kept in place a district court’s preliminary injunction on Florida’s law banning “woke” instruction at public universities. Details

National News

Multiple blocks in New York City’s Midtown East were cordoned off yesterday and several buildings were evacuated after officials discovered a high-rise building was unstable and at risk of collapse. See footage from inside the complex, where two support beams were found to be buckling, here (scroll to see photos and videos).

Leon County Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom imposed the life sentences on John’Darious Wright, Rahyim Sanders and Tyrell Guinnie after a jury convicted the trio in May of multiple felonies stemming from two home invasions on Sept. 25, 2023. Because each defendant was convicted of the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, Florida law required a life sentence.

Prosecutors said Wright carried out both home invasions and shot Tallahassee Police Officer Caleb Babb while fleeing the second crime scene on Sandpiper Court. Babb, who had been on the force for about a year, suffered a gunshot wound that severed his femoral artery and nearly died from blood loss before receiving emergency medical treatment. Wright also was convicted of shooting a man in the face during an earlier home invasion on Cypress Point Road that same morning.

During Monday’s sentencing hearing, Officer Babb addressed the court, describing the lasting impact the shooting has had on his life and career. Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell also spoke, praising Babb’s courage and the officers who responded that morning.

Babb ultimately made a full recovery and became the first living recipient of the Tallahassee Police Department’s Purple Heart award. Monday’s sentences conclude one of Leon County’s most significant violent crime prosecutions in recent years, bringing nearly three years of court proceedings to a close.

A federal appeals court Tuesday kept in place a district court’s preliminary injunction on Florida’s law banning “woke” instruction at public universities.

A 2-1 ruling from the three-judge panel on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Florida’s assertion it could control the speech of its employees, including college professors, to be “a breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse in the very places the state’s own statutes recognize as centers of inquiry.”

Judge Britt Grant, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote the opinion and was joined by Judge Charles Wilson, an appointee of President Bill Clinton.

“Florida seeks to strip public university professors—and by extension their students—of the ability to fully engage with ideas that are, for better or for worse, very popular in some academic circles,” Grant wrote. “The State asks us to consider its rules a means of targeting discrimination. But hearing an idea you disagree with is not discrimination; it is an opportunity to come up with a better idea, or maybe even change your mind.”

The case was brought by a set of university professors and backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

“We are thrilled the court has stopped the erasure of topics that have real implications for our students, allowing them to learn, discuss, and develop tools for combatting the complex issue of racism in our country without being gagged by those who would dictate that only state-approved thought may be promoted,” LeRoy Pernell, a Florida A&M University College of Law professor, and one of the instructors who brought the lawsuit, said in a released statement.

The ruling prevents Florida from enforcing part of the “Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act” passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022.

DeSantis pushed for the law as a bulwark against “indoctrination” in university classrooms. It bars professors from endorsing precepts of critical race theory, including eight specific tenets.

For example, the law bans instruction that causes students to “feel guilt, anguish or other forms of psychological distress because of actions, in which the person played no part, committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, national origin or sex.”

Supporters of the law said they sought to halt teachings that supported racial discrimination, while opponents in the Legislature, mostly Democrats contended it was really an attempt to quash candid teaching about historic racial horrors in the U.S., including slavery and the Jim Crow era.

Other parts of the law sought to ban workplace training at companies regarding racial, gender and sexual orientation issues, but those provisions have been struck down by federal courts.

Judge Barbara Lagoa, also a Trump appointee, wrote a dissent arguing the state had the right to restrict the speech of professors in the classroom.

“To be clear, the First Amendment protects all viewpoints in the public square, whether they are conventional or controversial. But it does not compel all viewpoints to be worthy of state-sponsored endorsement,” Lagoa wrote. “We need not agree or disagree with Florida that the viewpoints at issue here constitute racial discrimination; we need only acknowledge that the State is allowed to decide what is endorsed by its professors in its own classrooms.”

Before Lagoa was appointed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals she sat on the Florida Supreme Court as an appointee of DeSantis.

In her decision Grant stated she agreed the courts shouldn’t choose the content of university classrooms, but argued they must intervene when the government unduly restricts speech.

“We share the dissent’s view that the federal courts do not police curriculum. But we do police the First Amendment,” Grant wrote. “And if the history of that Amendment tells us anything, it is that the government cannot forbid what it perceives as heresy.”