By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — State wildlife officials could allow oyster harvesting in part of Northwest Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, where the fishery collapsed more than a decade ago and continues to struggle to recover. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff members have recommended a “limited opening,” as some oyster […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Describing the case as having “exceptional importance,” the Florida Department of Environmental Protection this week argued a federal appeals court should overturn decisions that required the agency to take a series of steps to protect manatees in the northern Indian River Lagoon. The department filed […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Backers of proposed constitutional amendments and voting-rights groups are appealing after a federal district judge last month refused to block parts of a new Florida law that placed additional restrictions on the state’s ballot-initiative process. The League of Women Voters of Florida, the League of […]
By The News Service of Florida While saying it has reduced Florida auto-insurance rates twice, Progressive insurance reported Monday that it could top a state limit on profits. In a quarterly financial report, Progressive said its business has been bolstered in Florida by legislation that helped reduce lawsuits against insurers. “Since Florida insurance reform was […]
By The News Service of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday encouraged sheriffs and police chiefs to fight to keep staff members as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks to recruit Florida officers who recently completed immigration-enforcement training. DeSantis said he had not seen an ICE recruitment letter that offers a $50,000 signing bonus to […]
By The News Service of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and state Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia have signaled they will send auditors to Jacksonville on Aug. 7 and Aug. 8 as part of their “DOGE” scrutiny of local spending. Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan on Thursday released a request from the state, which was dated […]
By The News Services of Florida A federal judge on Wednesday allowed the Miccosukee Tribe to join a lawsuit filed by environmental groups challenging an immigrant-detention center in the Everglades, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The lawsuit, filed by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, alleges that state and federal officials did not […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Continuing to quickly order executions, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of killing three people in 1992 in Orange County. Curtis Windom, 59, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 28 at Florida State Prison, according to the death […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — As Gov. Ron DeSantis raises the possibility of holding an unusual mid-decade redistricting process in Florida, the group Common Cause said Tuesday there is a risk of a “domino effect” across the country as Texas Republicans seek to redraw congressional lines. Common Cause, which has […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — A U.S. district judge on Monday pushed state and federal officials to provide a copy of an intergovernmental agreement showing “who’s running the show” at an Everglades immigrant-detention center, calling the situation “urgent” as at least 100 detainees have been deported amid legal wrangling over […]