With reports that the communist government ruling Cuba is ramping up on arrests of pro-democracy activists, two South Florida Republican congressmen took aim at the Castro regime.

More than 70 members of Congress will be wearing orange lapel pins on Tuesday night when President Barack Obama offers his State of the Union address. The pins indicate support of No Labels, a group trying to push bipartisan solutions in Washington.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., continued to warn about taxpayer dollars being used to bail out President Barack Obamas federal health-care law. Rubio responded to a constituent question about the issue.

Florida writer Patrick Smith, best known for his historical novel A Land Remembered which offered a sweeping glance at Florida history through the story of a family, passed away on Sunday. Smith was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize three times and was also nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

In a warm, accessible way, Patrick Smith told the Florida story, said Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam. His story of the courage, greed, love and loss in the swamps and glades of our state will be a Florida classic for many decades to come.