By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — After spearheading efforts to pass a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana, Orlando attorney John Morgan said Tuesday he is moving ahead with a ballot drive aimed at gradually raising Florida’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Morgan said a group he leads […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In the final step in reshaping the Florida Supreme Court, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday named Carlos Muniz, general counsel at the U.S. Department of Education, as his third selection to the state’s highest court. The appointment of Muniz, 49, who served as chief of […]
By Lloyd Dunkelberger, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Saying the county conducted its last election like the “Keystone Cops,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday suspended Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher. In his executive order, DeSantis cited a litany of problems with Bucher’s office, such as failing to complete a machine recount […]
By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday rescinded 46 of the last-minute appointments former Gov. Rick Scott, now a member of the U.S. Senate, made in his final days in office. The selections to various boards yanked by DeSantis Friday required Senate confirmation. Among the names pulled […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Saying they failed to heed the will of voters, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered Florida lawmakers Thursday to eliminate a ban on smokable medical marijuana and, if they don’t comply, threatened to drop the state’s appeal of a court ruling that found the prohibition ran afoul […]
By The News Service of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday appointed appellate Judge Robert J. Luck to the Florida Supreme Court, filling the second of three vacancies on the high court. Luck has served on the 3rd District Court of Appeal since March 2017 and previously was a Miami-Dade County circuit judge. DeSantis last […]
By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In one of his first acts after taking office, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday made a historic appointment to the Florida Supreme Court, naming appellate Judge Barbara Lagoa as the high court’s first Cuban-American female justice. DeSantis’ selection of Lagoa, the daughter of Cuban émigrés, […]
By Lloyd Dunkelberger, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — Ronald Dion DeSantis became Florida’s 46th governor on Tuesday, promising to lead the state for the next four years with “a full heart, my best judgment and the courage of my convictions.” The 40-year-old Republican from Ponte Vedra Beach did not break any new ground […]
By: The News Service of Florida The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments March 6 in a dispute about whether a controversial 2017 change to the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law should apply to older cases. The 2017 change shifted a key burden of proof in “stand your ground” cases — a shift that […]
By Lloyd Dunkelberger TALLAHASSEE — Ron DeSantis will be Florida’s youngest governor in more than a century when he takes office on Tuesday. DeSantis, a former congressman from Ponte Vedra Beach, turned 40 about two weeks after he won the Aug. 28 Republican primary. He will be the youngest governor on Inauguration Day since Park […]