Florida's Latest News

Jacksonville unveils a plan to eliminate traffic fatalities

In Jacksonville, motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians take their lives in their hands on local roads amid heavy traffic and distracted drivers and environmental hazards.

This year alone, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports that 80 people have been killed on local roadways, with 5,260 crashes with injuries.

And Mayor Donna Deegan has seen enough.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say that no one should fear walking to school, biking to work, or driving to see family. Vision Zero promises a safer Jacksonville for every person, in every neighborhood — no matter how they get around town,” Deegan said.

Indeed, there is room for improvement. More than 3 out of 5 pedestrians are injured crossing the street. Nearly 45% of bicycle crashes happen at intersections. And more than 60% of motorcycle crashes involve drugs or alcohol.

The city’s Vision Zero plan has a lofty goal: to eliminate traffic fatalities and cut injuries in half within the next decade, as part of what the report calls a “cultural shift that prioritizes safety in transportation planning, enforcement, and everyday behavior.

Gov. DeSantis sets his sights on Manatee County for next financial audit

The state’s next audit target is Manatee County.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and new Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said they are planning to audit the county for wasteful spending, announcing the latest government probe at a press conference at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, only a half mile away from the Manatee County Administration Building.

Manatee County caught the attention of state officials as property tax receipts rose 86% in the past six years, with $213 million more in increased collection, DeSantis said. But he also acknowledged Manatee has “admirably” lowered its millage rates for residents.

Florida Politics reached out to Manatee County Administrator Charlie Bishop for a request for comment but did not immediately get a response back.

Earlier this week, DeSantis and Ingoglia went on the road to announce probes in Gainesville and Broward County focusing on pay, contracts and socially progressive taxpayer-funded policies after the Legislature gave the Governor’s administration increased power to audit local governments this year.

“The question I’ve seen on social media and for some in the liberal media, was, ‘Are you only going to audit those just blue counties and blue cities?’” said Ingoglia, the former Senator who was sworn in as CFO this week.

Amazon’s $140 million Space Coast investment begins to pay off

The satellite train is starting to pick up steam for Amazon as its $140 million processing facility at Kennedy Space Center gears up to support multiple missions at a time.

The company is deep into a time crunch to get half of the more than 3,236 satellites of its Project Kuiper constellation into space before next year. That’s part of its Federal Communications Commission license agreement that also calls for the full constellation to be in place by July 2029.

Project Kuiper seeks to compete directly with the likes of SpaceX’s Starlink and other companies to offer broadband internet service. The company this year opened its 100,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the former space shuttle landing site under a lease announced in 2023 from Space Florida, the state’s aerospace finance and development authority.

Amazon initially contracted for more than 80 launches among United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin and Arianespace to support Project Kuiper back in 2022, but delays in all three of the launch service providers’ heavy-lift rockets, as well as Amazon’s own timeline for getting final versions of its satellites ready, led to its first operational mission not taking off until April 28 this year.

Things are picking up, though, with ULA having sent up two launches on its Atlas V rockets and SpaceX having knocked out the first of three launches to support Project Kuiper as well.

Bay Area leaders look to connect Tampa International with St. Pete-Clearwater airports

As Tampa International Airport prepares to add 16 new gates with the completion of Airside D, some officials believe the airport is approaching the limits of its expansion and are now floating bold regional solutions.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen says TPA’s planned growth is nearing the edge of what its current footprint can support. To meet the region’s growing air travel demands, he’s proposing a strategic partnership with St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE).

Cohen says a regional model, with TPA focusing on major carriers and PIE on low-cost airlines, could more efficiently handle the area’s future needs.

"If you really made the two airports work in symbiosis with each other," Cohen said, "it would be absolutely necessary to have a link between them."

That link, he says, could be TPA’s own people-mover system extended across the newly rebuilt Howard Frankland Bridge. The bridge now includes infrastructure to support rail lines, which could make this connection feasible.

"When you start thinking about the possibilities that all those connections portend," Cohen added, "you really have some options in terms of revolutionizing the way that people move through the region."