There are safety consequences to lowering the lake. The folks who know Lake Okeechobee best, who work on it and fish in it, keep telling us a deliberately lowered 10.5-foot lake is an accident waiting to happen.
On Saturday night, we found out how justified those fears were when three boys visiting from South Carolina and fishing in Lake Okeechobee, ran aground about a mile from shore.
The Florida House is ready to put the state on a path toward three new or expanded toll roads in mostly rural regions, despite fears from environmental groups and Democrats about sprawling development and damage to wetlands.
With the issue a priority of Senate President Bill Galvano, the House on Tuesday set itself up to vote Wednesday on a bill (SB 7068) that would set the stage for the projects. The bill, in part, would establish task forces to study the economic and environmental impacts of the toll roads.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its “Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents” report on Tuesday and found fewer incidents taking place in Florida thanks to a dip in non-criminal harassment.
As the chairman of the U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is weighing in as the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) takes aim at Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), a non-profit which has helped small businesses for 55 years.
After more than two decades of debate about the issue, the Florida Legislature on Monday approved eliminating the “certificate of need” regulatory program for hospitals and passed a high-profile measure aimed at importing prescription drugs from Canada.
A priority for House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, the House voted 81-34 to pass a bill (HB 21) to eliminate the certificate-of-need program. The vote came hours after the Senate passed the bill in a 23-17 vote, as Oliva took major steps toward his priority of revamping the health-care system.
With days left before the legislative session ends Friday, the Senate sponsor of a proposal aimed at carrying out a constitutional amendment on felons’ voting rights said he worked all weekend to reach what he called a compromise with his House counterpart.
But Senate Democrats are still opposed to the measure, which they believe creates onerous financial barriers to restoring voting rights for people who’ve already got the odds stacked against them.
Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik has violated Florida law every year since he purchased the team by not registering the out-of-state corporation that owns the team with the State of Florida. In doing so, Vinik has escaped paying annual fees and avoided meeting required disclosures.
Vinik is the chairman and sole individual controlling the corporation.
Leaders in the Florida Senate voted 22-17 last week to expand gun legislation, saying "yes" to a bill that would permit teachers in Florida schools to carry guns on campus. The bill has wide support in the House, too -- and in the Governor's Office, where Ron DeSantis is anxious to sign it.
What a turnaround from a year ago.
In 2018, swept up in post-Parkland emotion, guns and pro-gun bills were nearly as toxic as a cup of Jim Jones' Kool-Aid.
A Florida congressman is doubling down on his proposal to have the U.S. Commerce Department “issue regulations prohibiting the use of sunscreen containing oxybenzone or octinoxate in a National Marine Sanctuary in which coral is present, and for other purposes.”
