As with the majority of the ports that line Floridas coasts, the Port of Pensacola wont be in the scrum for mega-freighters that come through a wider Panama Canal. But like its smaller port counterparts, the Port of Pensacola -- which already trades greatly in frozen foods and wind-power components -- will be in the hunt for business that spins off from the expansion of the east-west trade when the canal widening is expected to be completed in 2014, said Port Director Clyde Mathis.

The $1 trillion omnibus spending bill passed the U.S. House Friday without the help of seven Florida representatives.

Conservatives assailed the measure, which passed 296-121, for a variety of reasons.

Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, noted that the bill spends $31.6 billion more than the House-passed budget plan and nearly $10 billion more than the bipartisan Budget Control Act agreed to in August.

Credit: Patryk Kosmider - Shutterstock | resoomay.com

With holiday and seasonal hiring in full swing, Floridas unemployment dropped to 10 percent in November, down from 10.3 percent in October, the Department of Economic Opportunity reported Friday.

The latest rate is the lowest for the Sunshine State in 31 months and the DEO notes the number represents a 2 percentage point drop since Gov. Rick Scott took office.

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam

The state needs to be less reliant on natural gas for its energy, especially when the majority of that source of power comes through just two pipelines from the Gulf Coast, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi says she should have clarified a comment during a media conference last week that linked a tribal casino with a money laundering investigation.

I want to make it clear that I in no way am implying that the casino was involved in any crime, Bondi said Thursday.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has said Bondis comment at the Dec. 8 media conference could damage its reputation.

Bondi said she was repeating a comment told her by a Hillsborough County sheriffs deputy.

Florida Supreme Court | Credit: Flickr - Steven M_61

Floridas highest court says the state needs 71 additional trial court judges and one for the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland because of an increase in mortgage and civil cases and demands on reduced staff time by a growth in those who self-represent themselves in legal matters.

By early next week the first ballots in Floridas Presidential Preference Primary may be marked.

Election supervisors across Florida start dropping the first ballots for the Republican Presidential Primary in the mail Thursday and Friday, sending thousands of envelopes to voters now overseas, many in the military.

Leon County was one of the first to get the ballots in the mail, sending out 238 to voters overseas on Wednesday, Tameka Byer, county election records manager, in an email.

Other counties aren't far behind.

Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, is confident that Florida voters will see an amendment this fall designed to upend the century-old constitutional ban on using taxpayer money for the aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution."

Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis agreed Wednesday with critics of Amendment 7, who said that the full wording of the ballot item legislators approved in the spring to go before Florida voters next November is too ambiguous to go forward.

Floridas supposed insurer of last resort has moved to shave 7 percent of its risk, including $1 billion in coverage from properties that overlook the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, as a means to truly regain that moniker.

The Citizens Property Insurance board of governors on Wednesday supported a series of measures -- both in-house and through legislative action -- to revamp the state-backed provider, with a goal of reducing the number of overall policies from 1.5 million to 800,000.

The future of Floridas northernmost port, in the backyard of the much larger JaxPort and shadow of Georgia behemoth Port of Savannah, is away from the water.

The Port of Fernandina, one of the states smaller ports, is limited by a neighboring historic district and protected swampland from mass on-site expansion, and has been working with its contracted operators Kinder Morgan to find off-site property to serve as cargo holds.