(Editor's Note: This is the acceptance address of Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald senior investigative reporter, delivered June 9  in Lake Mary, after she had been presented with the 2016 Paul Hansell Award for Distinguished Achievement in Florida Journalism. The Hansell is the highest award the Florida Society of News Editors gives. Marbin Miller won for a body of work, including "Bitter Pill," on how Florida rations care to children in need. What she said to Florida's editors and reporters hits home with arresting clarity this week. Read on:)

The mass shootings in an Orlando nightclub this week have fueled the already-polarizing issues of gun rights and gun control, with the debate expected to return on multiple fronts during Florida's 2017 legislative session.
 
Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday called for a special session to halt gun sales to people on federal watch lists and to impose new requirements for becoming a security guard. Republican legislative leaders say a special session isn't needed.
 

The 2-year-old Nebraska boy who was dragged by an alligator into a lagoon on the edge of a Walt Disney World hotel Tuesday night has been found dead.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Arizona Republican who has made national headlines due to his tough stances on illegal immigration and his continued insistence that President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is fake, threw his support to Patrick Mooney for the Republican nod to replace Ron DeSantis in Congress.