Florida's Latest News

Congressman wants inspector general to investigate Tallahassee mail, postal service woes

Tallahassee's mail delivery problem is again coming to a head: Tallahassee's congressman now is getting involved. He's demanding answers. He wants the U.S. Inspector General's Office on the case. And he's slamming the post office's shoddy service as "negligence."

Since 2018, subpar mail delivery has been a point of contention for Tallahassee residents, many taking their complaints to social media and elected officials. "This isn't obviously a new problem, this time last year it was really, really bad," said Leon County Commissioner Brian Welch, who has been advocating for better mail service since his election in 2020.

He says it's only gotten worse despite efforts by the U.S. Postal Service after they conducted a facility review at the tail end of last year. That was part of a larger plan to "modernize service around the nation."

Welch said he first met with U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn a year ago, wanting to "relay the gravity of the situation." Dunn represents a swath of north Florida, including part of the Panhandle and the Big Bend. "He very much wanted to help. He's equally sort of baffled as to why it was so bad," Welch said. "He said he would look into it and so they followed up with us."

DeSantis takes aim at ‘fake meat’ products in Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday backed legislative efforts to prevent lab-grown or “cultivated” meat from being made or sold in Florida.

“I know the Legislature is doing a bill to try to protect our meat,” DeSantis said during an appearance at the South Florida State College Hardee Campus in Bowling Green. “You need meat, OK. And we’re going to have meat in Florida. … We’re not going to have fake meat. Like that doesn’t work.”

The proposed ban is included in bills (HB 1071 and SB 1084) that also would make other changes involving the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Cultivated meat involves a process of taking a small number of cultured cells from animals and growing them in controlled settings to make food. Industry officials have argued the cultivated meat process has been closely scrutinized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ensure safety.

Treading on difficult ground, Florida lawmakers want to define ‘anti-Semitism’

A bipartisan bill seeking to define what speech is considered anti-Semitic is moving through the Florida Senate after easily passing the House.

Rep. Mike Gottlieb, D-Plantation, sponsor of the House bill, said the goal is to curb hate speech toward Jews and Israel that has been on the rise across the nation for years. Though his bill was introduced in the days following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that left more than 1,000 dead, he said he was working on the bill long before the war erupted.

But the bill’s definitions and examples are provoking concern among pro-Palestinian activists and those who want to protect their right to criticize Israel, at a time when many people are struggling with the question of what is anti-Semitic and what is legitimate condemnation of governmental action.

Gottlieb said if House Bill 187 becomes law, it would add the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016 into Florida statutes. The IHRA is an international, intergovernmental coalition that addresses initiatives related to education, remembrance and research regarding the Holocaust. Its members represent 35 countries.

More doctors headed to Tampa Bay

Welcome new doctors. Tampa Bay’s largest health care system announced news this week that was just what the doctor ordered: BayCare Health System will launch at least seven new residency programs that will bring hundreds of more physicians to the region. BayCare, which runs 16 hospitals, said it would begin at least seven multiyear residency training programs at seven medical centers in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties.

The health system currently has four residency programs with 77 positions; by 2029, BayCare plans to have more than 650 positions, with the programs bringing close to 200 new resident physicians and fellows to the region each year.

This is terrific news for a growing state with a physician shortage already, and the planned focus on internal and family medicine and child psychiatry, among other disciplines, will particularly well serve the large, urban metropolitan area around Tampa Bay.

Completing a residency is not only a critical step for young physicians, but the experience often entices these doctors to stay, put down roots and continue serving their communities in multiple ways. This is exciting news that will improve Tampa Bay’s quality of life.