Sen. Don Gaetz said no lobbyists were outside the Senate chamber Wednesday "casting lots" about a bill to help children with disabilities. There were no rallies and no protests.

Pointing to issues such as the emergence of social media and efforts to build support for the judicial branch, the Florida Supreme Court on Monday released a multi-year plan to try to bolster communications about courts throughout the state.

The 41-page plan partly addresses nuts-and-bolts issues such as working with the news media and the public, while it also seeks to ensure a "unified statewide message" about the court system.

Pointing to the Legislature's efforts to address a "crisis," Attorney General Pam Bondi's office is urging the Florida Supreme Court to uphold a key part of a controversial 2003 medical-malpractice law.

A friend-of-the-court brief filed by Bondi's office signals the potential high stakes of a pending Supreme Court case that could further eliminate limits on damages in medical-malpractice cases.

Almost a year after regulators gave approval to the controversial plan, Florida Supreme Court justices are ready to take up a battle about Florida Power & Light's investment in a natural-gas drilling operation in Oklahoma.

The Supreme Court on Dec. 8 will hear arguments in a challenge led by the state Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers in utility issues, and the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, which is made up of large electricity customers.

Two key lawmakers Wednesday proposed allowing terminally ill patients to obtain medical marijuana to help grapple with pain, the latest twist in a nearly two-year debate about how to address the high-profile --- and emotionally charged --- issue.

With the Department of Health unable to say when licenses will be issued in the state's new medical-marijuana industry, a House Republican on Tuesday blasted delays in carrying out a 2014 law billed as helping children with severe epilepsy.

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Jorge Labarga will undergo surgery this month for removal of a kidney after being diagnosed with cancer, the court announced Friday.

The announcement did not specify a date for the surgery at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, but Labarga is expected to be hospitalized for seven days. The announcement said he will start working remotely soon after surgery, with Barbara Pariente --- the court's longest-sitting member --- serving as acting chief justice during any time he is incapacitated.

Millions of Floridians could find it a little cheaper to run the air conditioning in 2016.

The state's four major investor-owned utilities --- stretching from Miami to Pensacola --- say they expect residents' monthly electric bills to drop by a few bucks next year.

The legal arguments about Florida's political maps continue to mushroom.

While the Florida Supreme Court and the Legislature grapple with how congressional districts will be drawn, more legal fights are building in federal courts.

After the Senate blocked the idea this year, the House likely will renew a push in 2016 to let patients stay overnight at ambulatory-surgical centers and could again seek to open the door for longer-term recovery centers.