Environmentalist Maggy Hurchalla's day in court Wednesday was a day of tired adages, conflicting opinions, and "blurry lines" between federal and state laws on protected speech.

She held court among a throng of supporters in the courthouse lobby of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, convinced that her First Amendment rights would set her free from a Martin County Circuit Court jury's nearly $4.4 million judgment against her for interfering in a business contract.

A proposal that would require Florida public universities to survey faculty members and students about their personal viewpoints was approved Wednesday by a House panel, with Democrats concerned about what lawmakers would do with the results.

House Higher Education & Career Readiness Chairman Cord Byrd, R-Neptune Beach, said the survey is necessary because of concerns about indoctrination in the university system.

In their first full action of the 2019 legislative session, Florida lawmakers --- many of them grudgingly --- ceded to a demand by Gov. Ron DeSantis and overwhelmingly approved a proposal doing away with the state’s ban on smokable medical marijuana.

DeSantis issued an ultimatum to the Legislature shortly after the Republican governor took office in January, threatening to drop the state’s appeal of a court decision that found the smoking ban ran afoul of a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana.

Florida's three top leaders -- both U.S. senators and the governor, Republicans all -- believed Florida had a commitment from President Trump not to short funding for Everglades restoration in his new proposed budget. But when the budget surfaced earlier this week, it provided $63 million in Everglades funding, falling well short of the $200 million Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and Gov. Ron DeSantis sought.

The Democrat majority in the U.S. House, led by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is pushing to restore the DREAM Act and most Democrats in the Florida delegation are on board.

U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., rounded up more than 200 cosponsors on Tuesday when she introduced her “Dream and Promise Act” which will let DREAMers stay and offer paths to citizenship. Every Democrat in the Florida delegation besides U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., is cosponsoring the proposal. 

Ducks Unlimited (DU) announced on Wednesday that former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam will be their new CEO. Putnam, who ran for governor last year but was defeated by Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary, will start his new duties on April 1. 

Founded in 1937, Ducks Unlimited is a nonprofit based in Memphis focused on protecting wetlands and waterfowl. There are hundreds of thousands of members across the nation. 

This week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, continued his efforts to make Daylight Savings Time (DST) permanent.

Last week, Rubio brought back the “Sunshine Protection Act.” Rubio championed that proposal last year after the Florida Legislature passed a bill calling on Congress to make DST permanent across Florida. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is cosponsoring the bill in the Senate while U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., are championing the proposal over on the other side of Capitol Hill.