The Florida Senate on Tuesday gave final passage to a bill that would restrict classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity and the measure now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it. The Parental Rights in Education bill – what critics have labeled the “Don’t …
Read More »‘Rape loophole’: Florida bill raising penalty for sexual assault against intoxicated victims dying in Legislature
A bill with bipartisan support aimed at protecting college students by increasing penalties against those who sexually assault intoxicated victims is dying as Florida’s legislative session comes to a close. The measure would have raised the penalty for raping a woman who had become drunk at a bar while celebrating …
Read More »Bill permitting development on manatees’ food source stalls in Legislature
TAMPA, Fla. – Environmental advocates are encouraged that a bill to open Florida’s seagrass beds to development – which could be devastating for the dwindling manatee population – has only a slim chance of passing the Legislature this session. “We would be destroying what little seagrass we have left in …
Read More »First students outside Florida to save thousands with in-state tuition under new grandparents law
For the first time, out-of-state applicants to universities across Florida are finding out whether they will be among 350 students who will save tens of thousands of dollars with in-state tuition under a new law rewarding them as grandchildren of residents here. The tuition discounts are the result of a …
Read More »‘Forgotten people’: Florida lawmakers aim to recognize, protect abandoned African-American cemeteries
For over 25 years, Gloria Jefferson Anderson researched her father’s side of the family, trying to figure out what happened to her ancestors once slavery ended. “When I found out where my father’s people were on the plantation – the next question was, ‘Well, where are these people buried?” said …
Read More »Woman who murdered $30 million lottery winner backs bill to keep secret names of those hitting jackpot: ‘It puts a target on them’
A bill awaiting the governor’s signature that would temporarily keep secret the names of lottery winners in Florida has at least one unexpected supporter: the woman in prison for murdering the winner of a $30 million lottery payout. In a telephone interview from behind bars, Dorice Donegan “Dee Dee” Moore, …
Read More »Florida residents worry about families in Ukraine: ‘Today is already so bad’
Hours after Russian troops launched a full invasion on the European nation – the largest military action in Europe since World War II – Floridians living here and around the world with ties to Ukraine and Russia fear for their friends and relatives.
Read More »A political moment: Ron DeSantis sets some conservatives’ eyes on potential presidential run
On the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference, Florida’s governor delivered a pointed 20-minute speech to an energetic Orlando crowd.
Read More »US appeals court reconsiders Florida transgender rights case
ATLANTA – Andrew Adams, the plaintiff in a landmark civil rights case from Florida, was in the courtroom Tuesday while a full panel of federal appeals judges considered weighty issues of gender and identity about him at the center of the nation’s culture wars. The case challenged a decision by …
Read More »Some signatures of Florida voters whose registration changed to Republican different than prior samples
Signatures of some voters in apartment buildings and high-rise towers in South Florida whose registration was changed to Republican appeared noticeably different than on paperwork those same voters signed earlier, according to a new review of voting records. The signature comparisons, performed this week in Miami as journalists from the …
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