By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Amid legal wrangling over a controversial immigrant-detention center in the Everglades, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said the state plans to use a shuttered prison in North Florida to boost detention of people targeted for deportation. The conversion of Baker Correctional Institution, which state corrections […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida HAVANA — Despite pleas from animal-rights advocates, Florida wildlife officials on Wednesday approved holding a 23-day bear hunt in December that could lead to 187 bears being killed. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved rules for the state’s first bear hunt in more than a […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Siding with publishers and authors, a federal judge Wednesday ruled that a key part of a 2023 Florida law that has led to books being removed from school library shelves is “overbroad and unconstitutional.” U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza issued a 50-page decision in a […]
By The News Service of Florida Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson are expected this week to tout a new program that involves buying and distributing fresh food products to help people who are “food insecure.” Albritton said Monday during a Hardee County legislative delegation meeting that he and Simpson will […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday appointed Sen. Jay Collins, a Tampa Republican and retired Army Green Beret, to the long-vacant position of lieutenant governor amid speculation that Collins could run for governor in 2026. DeSantis said he selected Collins, who served 23 years in the […]
The state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. added more than 600 policies last week as it continues to slowly grow. Citizens had 783,344 policies on Friday, up from 782,728 policies a week earlier and 781,467 policies two weeks earlier, according to data posted on its website. The policy count has gradually increased in recent weeks amid […]
By The News Service of Florida General revenue tax collections in June slightly topped a projection, as consumers continued to make purchases ahead of anticipated tariff impacts. In a report released Friday, the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic said Florida collected about $4.85 billion in net general revenue in June, $31.6 million more than […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — With a high-stakes hearing scheduled to start Monday, Florida Power & Light and numerous parties have reached a “settlement in principle” on a plan for base electric rates over the next four years, the utility said Friday. But other parties, including most notably the state […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — As the state House moved forward this week with a rare mid-decade look at drawing new congressional maps, a federal judge put a temporary hold on construction at Alligator Alcatraz. Attorneys in the lawsuit over the detention center will now focus on whether construction of […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Siding with environmental groups, a U.S. district judge on Thursday temporarily blocked state and federal officials from further expansion of an immigrant-detention center in the Everglades. Judge Kathleen Williams’ temporary restraining order put on hold for two weeks additional construction or infrastructure, paving or installation […]