Groups that successfully challenged the Florida Legislature's congressional map aren't entitled to recover millions of dollars in legal fees from the state, an appellate court ruled Thursday.

A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal unanimously rejected arguments from a coalition of voting-rights organizations and a group of voters that their lawyers had essentially done the work of a "private attorney general" while state Attorney General Pam Bondi "sat on the sidelines."

With time running out in the legislative session and a gambling deal all but dead in the Senate, industry lobbyists and the Seminole Tribe scrambled to put together a new deal that included major concessions from the tribe regarding slot machines.

Although the talks never resulted in a piece of legislation, or even a draft bill, they marked the first time in recent history the Seminoles and pari-mutuel operators, traditionally at odds, have worked together to nail down an agreement palatable to the tribe, the pari-mutuel industry and the Legislature.

Terminally ill patients would have access to marijuana under a measure that would legalize full-strength pot for the first time in Florida if signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.

The proposal, approved Monday by the Senate, would add cannabis to a list of experimental drugs available to patients diagnosed with illnesses that could result in death within a year without life-saving interventions.

The Florida Senate approved an alimony overhaul that would establish formulas for alimony payments and includes a controversial provision dealing with how much time children should spend with their divorced parents.

The proposal, approved in a 24-14 vote Friday, is a compromise with the House, which originally objected to the inclusion of the child time-sharing provision. The measure now goes to the House.

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, February 29, 2016……Calling it a "love note" to the Senate, a key House committee Monday signed off on a sweeping gambling bill that would ratify a $3 billion agreement with the Seminole Tribe and allow pari-mutuels in at least five counties to add slot machines.

House and Senate leaders will roll out gambling bills Friday that would allow the Seminole Tribe to add craps and roulette at its casinos, potentially do away with dog racing and most horse racing and open the door for slot machines in Palm Beach County

Late Thursday, Senate Regulated Industries Chairman Rob Bradley and his House counterpart, Regulatory Affairs Chairman Jose Felix Diaz, were working on details in the two proposals, slated for votes next week in both committees.

Gov. Rick Scott used a joint press conference Monday with the Seminole Tribe to pitch the economic impact of a proposed $3 billion gambling agreement now in the hands of the Legislature

For Scott, the deal is all about jobs.

During an hour-long presentation by the Seminoles about expansion plans, the tribe's representatives said that more than 3,600 workers would lose their jobs if lawmakers don't sign off on the proposed gambling deal, known as a "compact."

Florida gambling regulators filed complaints this week against seven pari-mutuels over a lucrative type of card games, accusing the facilities of illegally operating the games more than three years after state officials first approved them.

Florida health officials are holding to a deadline next month for the state's first medical marijuana businesses to seek permission to begin growing non-euphoric cannabis, even with hearings in license challenges stacked up through mid-summer.

It's a sure bet that lawmakers won't sign off on a $3 billion agreement with the Seminole Tribe that Gov. Rick Scott handed over last month.