Florida's Latest News

The daughter of Cuban exiles, Barbara Lagoa grew up in Hialeah. Could she be next on the U.S. Supreme Court?

Barbara Lagoa, the bilingual daughter of Cuban exiles who grew up in Hialeah and became the first Hispanic woman justice on the Florida Supreme Court, has been described by Gov. Ron DeSantis as a “top-flight legal talent.”

President Trump apparently feels the same way, as Lagoa is reportedly on a short list of potential candidates to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court, following Ginsburg’s passing at 87 on Friday.

At 52, Lagoa would be the youngest member of the court, if selected and appointed, effectively representing a conservative voice on the court potentially for decades.

Ron DeSantis: Any municipality that ‘defunds’ police will lose state funding

Gov. Ron DeSantis and some of the state’s top Republicans want to crack down on people who are involved in what DeSantis called “disorderly assemblies.”

DeSantis, speaking at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Winter Haven on Monday, called for a law that would give felony penalties to protesters who block traffic and protesters who participate in gatherings of seven or more people that result in injuries or property damage.

A driver who is forced to flee from a “mob” during an unlawful protest would not be liable for injury or death in a potential accident under the proposed law, according to a release from the governor’s office.

'Dirty dollars': GOP spending big to block Loranne Ausley's state Senate bid

The incoming head of the Republican-controlled Florida Senate is spending a lot of money to stop Loranne Ausley’s bid to join that chamber.

A fundraising panel led by Senate President-designate Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, has spent around $300,000 to fill Tallahassee broadcast airwaves with commercials and mailboxes with flyers. They link Ausley to what's being called “dirty dollars” — a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan obtained by the Florida Democratic Party.

Ausley, D-Tallahassee, has represented Leon County in the Florida House since 2016, and also was a House member 2000-08. She's now running to replace the term-limited Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, in Senate District 3, which sprawls across 11 mostly rural North Florida counties. 

Florida COVID-19 cases appear to be leveling off after summer surge

The number of people testing positive for the coronavirus in Florida is holding steady since peaking in July — when more than 15,000 new cases were reported in a single day. The state on Sunday added 2,521 new cases and the number of new reported deaths was in the single digits at nine.

The state’s positivity rate stands at 4.64% for new tests reported in the previous 24-hour period. This is the ninth straight day that the rate has been below 5%, generally considered a key target figure when making decisions about resuming daily activities.

Just last week, Miami-Dade and Broward counties joined Palm Beach County in Phase 2 of reopening.