Florida's Latest News

DeSantis announces in-person schools to remain with online option; optimistic on vaccine for state’s vulnerable this month

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Florida schools will remain open to in-person learning for the spring while keeping online learning options available, while answering more questions about the coronavirus pandemic at his first press conference in nearly a month.

“Every parent in Florida can take that to the bank,” DeSantis said at the appearance from Boggy Creek Elementary School in Kissimmee.

DeSantis said the order will maintain protections to district funding, but requires one new facet. Schools will be required to notify parents if their child is doing poorly using the online learning option, and those children will be required to start attending school in person unless the parents opt out.

Andrew Gillum’s nonprofit never actually wrote a check to Florida Democrats. So where did it spend its cash?

Andrew Gillum shined a signature grin at a May press event last year as he stood alongside Democratic leaders. The former Democratic gubernatorial candidate handed a $100,000 game-show-style check to Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo. The logo for Forward Florida Action, a nonprofit formed just a month prior, with the stated mission of educating the public and increasing voter registration and participation.”

The event seemed to make good on a highly-publicized promise to ramp up Democratic engagement ahead of the 2020 presidential election. “This is simply a downpayment,” Gillum said, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. “We’ve got a lot more coming your way.”

Except the check wasn’t a payment at all. New disclosures filed with the IRS by Forward Florida Action don’t include the $100,000 grant to the state party.

Recreational marijuana supporters hope Florida turns green

Forget about blue waves and red waves. A green wave is surging across the U.S. 

A mix of red, blue and purple states in November voted to either legalize or decriminalize the use and possession of cannabis. 

And Florida could be next.

Nick Hansen, chairman of Make it Legal Florida, is leading the petition drive to get a constitutional amendment on the 2022 ballot to make marijuana available to adults for personal use. 

Based on the success and normalization of medical marijuana in Florida, Hansen said the chances for passage are good if the amendment makes it onto the ballot.

Almost half of 7,363 new COVID-19 cases from South Florida as state approaches a million

The state of Florida's COVID-19 dashboard reported 7,363 new cases Sunday, continuing a trend that will push the state past the 1 million case mark for the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As it is, Florida has 992,660 total cases. The 58 resident deaths and one non-resident death reported mean 18,500 Floridians and 18,736 people overall have died in Florida with COVID-19 as the main cause.

While the daily case numbers reestablished residence a few floors above where they were a month ago and current hospitalizations keep climbing, the positive test rates edge downward.