By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Andrew Warren, a twice-elected Hillsborough County state attorney suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August, took the stand Tuesday as he testified in a federal lawsuit aimed at getting his job back. Warren’s testimony came on the first day of a trial before U.S. District […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Tallahassee TALLAHASSEE — A federal appeals court has rejected an attempt by a chapter of the conservative group Moms for Liberty to block restrictions that the Brevard County School Board placed on public participation at board meetings. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Armed with a large majority, Naples Republican Kathleen Passidomo outlined what she described as a voter-supported “conservative agenda” as she became Florida Senate president Tuesday. Passidomo, who was formally elected president during an organization session of the Legislature, stressed a need to expand parental rights […]
By Ryan Dailey, The News Service of Florida Badly outnumbered Democrats in the Florida Senate put a focus Monday on gun-related issues as Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book was formally designated to continue heading the caucus going into the 2023 legislative session. Book became leader in 2021 after Senate Democrats cast a vote of no […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday continued to sidestep questions about his political future, after former President Donald Trump announced another bid for the White House. Appearing in the Lee County community of Matlacha, DeSantis brushed off a question about the possibility of a Republican civil […]
By Ryan Dailey, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida had 5,077 incidents of students being involuntarily committed under a mental-health law known as the Baker Act during the past school year, data presented Wednesday to a school-safety commission showed. The Baker Act is a roughly 50-year-old state law that allows courts, law enforcement […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — U.S. visitors continued to drive Florida’s tourism industry at a record pace, while international travel still struggled to reach pre-pandemic levels, according to newly released figures for the third quarter of 2022. The tourism-marketing agency Visit Florida estimated Tuesday the state attracted 35.115 million travelers […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — A Leon County circuit judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a South Florida senator challenging the use of state funds to transport migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, but advised how to revamp the legal complaint so the case can move […]
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Republicans nationally went into Tuesday’s elections hoping for a red wave. It didn’t happen. But in Florida, Republicans didn’t simply deliver a red wave. They obliterated Democrats up and down the ballot, putting to rest any notion that Florida is a purple state. It wasn’t […]
By Jim Saunders and Tristan Wood, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Republicans have controlled the Florida Senate since the 1990s and are looking to expand their majority in the Nov. 8 elections. Democrats, meanwhile, hope to pick up a couple of seats and chip away at the GOP’s control. Here are five state […]