A month after launching a petition drive to get a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana on the 2020 Florida ballot, the prospective measure’s sponsors have already raised more than $1 million in contributions.

Make It Legal Florida, which registered its "Adult Use Of Marijuana" initiative with the state’s Division of Elections (DOE) on Aug. 1, reported on its September finance filing that it had raised $1.09 million in cash and received $104,500 in in-kind contributions.

After being largely spared by Hurricane Dorian, Florida and the state’s largest electric utility are sending more than a half-million bottles of water to storm-ravaged parts of the Bahamas.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Power & Light on Tuesday announced plans to ship 19 truckloads of water --- including 10 truckloads that had been stockpiled by the state for the ongoing hurricane season --- to Nassau, where the Bahamian government is staging most of its relief efforts.

Florida’s two U.S. senators were caught off guard by National Security Advisor John Bolton leaving the Trump administration on Wednesday.  

While President Donald Trump insisted Bolton had been fired, the former UN ambassador disputed that and claimed to have resigned. Regardless what happened, the two Republicans representing Florida in the Senate worked closely with Bolton. 

With Congress back in session this week, one of the more prominent members of the Florida delegation weighed in on Tuesday as what he hopes to accomplish as he returns to Washington. 

Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, released Monday a congratulatory statement to the University of Florida (UF) and Florida State University (FSU) for their latest achievement, both placing on the top-20 public universities list in the U.S. News & World Report's “Best Colleges 2020” guidebook. UF is ranked No. 7, while FSU is ranked No. 18. 

More millionaires are deciding how Florida tax dollars should be used and which laws should be passed.

With all but three lawmakers in the 160-member Legislature filing annual financial-disclosure reports, the average net worth of state senators is $5.9 million, according to an analysis by The News Service of Florida. In the House, the average stands at $1.7 million.

Topping the list is Sen. George Gainer, a Panama City Republican who owns a fleet of auto dealerships across North Florida.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus, is championing a proposal to cut down on greenhouse gases. 

Dorian's dark clouds over Florida are gone now, but the cloud hanging over environmental icon Maggy Hurchalla just grew darker.

The pithy Sept. 6 order by the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that Hurchalla is not entitled to a rehearing before all 12 judges in her quest to overturn a lower court's $4.4 million award against her. (See the order in the "Download" attachment below the story.)

In little more than four months, Florida lawmakers will start the whirlwind of the 2020 legislative session.

But, according to the old cliché, all politics is local. And that means lawmakers during the next several weeks will spend numerous hours in county delegation meetings listening to local officials and constituents discuss priorities of their communities.

A few county delegations have already met as they prepare for the Jan. 14 start of the session. But the pace will pick up during the coming week, with delegation meetings scheduled each day across the state.

With available numbers for the 850 area code expected to run out in March 2022, an additional area code is being pushed for the entire Northwest Florida region.

Florida Public Service Commission staff members were told Friday that the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, which oversees telephone numbering across the U.S. and other countries, supports what is known as an all-services “overlay.”