In what Orlando’s Democratic mayor, Buddy Dyer, called a “cruel political act,” one rainbow crosswalk serving as a memorial outside Pulse was paved over in the dead of night on Aug. 20.

Dubbed the “Deportation Depot,” Gov. Ron DeSantis at a news conference last week called the vacant Baker prison “ready-made infrastructure.” It once held 1,165 inmates. The governor’s office said the site would hold 1,300 but could be expanded to accommodate as many as 2,000 immigrants.

President Kent Fuchs has agreed to a one-month contract extension ending Sept. 1.

When the white smoke poured out of St. Peter’s Basilica last week, 73-year-old Port Charlotte resident Louis Prevost learned that his brother — Cardinal Robert Prevost — had been elected pope.

Across Florida, there are nearly 900 derelict vessels dating back to 2020, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

“I’m not a perfect man,” said the newly elected vice chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Jovanté Teague, “but I’m somebody who’s willing to do the job.”

The bills would have allowed candidates in Florida to use campaign donations for child care when candidates were canvassing, meeting with donors and future constituents, or attending political debates.

Florida’s new Halo Law, the controversial statute intended to protect law enforcement from harassment, went into effect at the start of this year. Now the first people arrested and prosecuted under it say they were left in the dark.

The northern mockingbird has done it again. Known for its ability to vocally mimic at least a dozen other species, the gray-and-white bird held off challenges for a fourth consecutive year in the Capitol to unseat it from its perch as Florida's state bird.

Coming soon to a parrothead's bumper near you: Florida is close to offering a Margaritaville license plate to pay homage to Key West’s favorite son, Jimmy Buffett.