Florida made more than $114,000 in erroneous payments to refugees between 2015 and 2017 and needs to return the money to the federal government, an audit released Monday shows. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ net worth dropped nearly 9 percent in 2018 as he left Congress and made a successful run for governor.

DeSantis reported a net worth of $283,605 as of Dec. 31, down from $310,971 at the end of 2017, according to a new financial disclosure posted Monday on the Florida Commission on Ethics website. 

State officials faced a Monday deadline to file updated disclosures, which typically detail their finances as of the end of 2018.

Experts looking into toxic algae outbreaks that have exploded in state waterways want to know if anyone has a proven, innovative cleanup strategy that can be used.

On Monday L3Harris Technologies was born, the product of one of the largest mergers in aerospace and defense industry history. What the union has done is bring together the Harris Corporation and L3 Technologies, creating Florida’s largest A&D company and the eighth largest company based in the state.

Despite repeated efforts from the newly formed United States, East Florida remained in British hands during the Revolutionary War. Much of the credit for East Florida not being the fourteenth stripe on the flag has to go to Thomas Brown, one of the more intriguing leaders in the southern theater of the war. 

Towards the end of last week, U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., introduced a proposal closing off energy exploration in the South Atlantic and extends the moratorium on energy exploration in the Gulf of Mexico through 2029. 

Rutherford dubbed his proposal the “Bolstering Economies, Anglers, Coastal Habitats, Ecosystems, and Security (BEACHES) in Florida Act” and reeled in the support of much of the Florida delegation in the U.S. House. 

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., is part of a group of congressmen on Capitol Hill pushing the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) to study focused on improving how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) handles lab services, including collecting data and reimbursements. 

Bilirakis joined U.S. Reps. George Holding, R-NC, Richard Hudson, R-NC, Bill Pascrell, D-NJ, Kurt Schrader, D-Oreg. and Scott Peters, D-Calif., in showcasing the “Laboratory Access for Beneficiaries (LAB) Act” on Monday.  

Monday might seem like an otherwise unremarkable summer day. Or maybe a chance to get away and start the Fourth of July holiday a little early.

But in state government, Monday is one of the biggest days of the year. 

That’s because July 1 is when the new state budget and dozens of freshly signed laws take effect. 

Another Florida city has succumbed to a “ransomware” attack and paid off cyber-extortionists in exchange for a decryption key to regain access to much of its paralyzed computer systems.

The Lake City City Council agreed to pay 42 Bitcoin -- about $460,000 to $480,000 --to end a cyber-attack that began June 10 and disabled the city’s email, online utility payment programs and even its phone system.

Bitcoin, a cyber-currency difficult to trace, is the preferred exchange tender in what is becoming a growing menace to cities and utilities nationwide.

Lawmakers seeking to slap gambling-addiction warnings on state lottery tickets and advertising once again failed to scratch out a winner.

On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis, noting potential impacts to money for education, vetoed a controversial bill (HB 629) that sought to require the following warnings to be prominently displayed on the front of all lottery tickets: “Warning: Lottery games may be addictive,” or “Play responsibly.”