Florida's Latest News

DeSantis pledges to send US military to fight cartels on ‘Day one’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised Wednesday to send the U.S. military into Mexico to fight the cartels on “day one” if he becomes the next president of the United States.

At the GOP presidential candidate debate in Milwaukee, DeSantis agreed without hesitation when asked by the Fox News moderators hosting the event if he would support sending special forces into Mexico.

“The cartels are killing tens of thousands of our fellow citizens,” DeSantis said. “We have to reestablish the rule of law and we have to defend our people. The president of the United States has got to use all available powers as commander in chief to protect our country.”

DeSantis expressed concern about the cartels shipping illicit drugs into the U.S., including fentanyl, asking “how many more tens of thousands” of Americans should die.

“So as president would I use force, would I treat them as foreign terrorist organizations?” DeSantis said. “You’re darn right I would.”

DeSantis joins several other Republican presidential candidates, including former President Trump, the front-runner in the race, who have backed the idea of military action to take out the cartels.

Office of Insurance Regulation authorizes two insurance companies to form in Florida

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation this week approved Orion180 Select Insurance Company and Orion180 Insurance Company to form as property and casualty insurers within the state.

The pair of Indiana-based insurers applied to operate in Florida using an expansion application, according to the OIR, which is for use by companies in good standing in their state of domicile that wish to expand their business into a uniform state. Both companies are listed as having Florida administrative offices in Melbourne, per the OIR index.

“OIR has been diligently working to attract more companies, jobs, and capital to Florida’s insurance market since the passage of recent legislative reforms,” said OIR Commissioner Michael Yaworsky. “Today’s announcement is another sign that the reforms are having a positive impact on Florida’s insurance market. We look forward to continuing this momentum and giving consumers more options in the market for homeowners insurance.”

The companies become the third and fourth entities to be approved for operations within Florida this year after Tailrow Insurance Company and Mainsail Insurance Company were authorized in April and August, respectively, following the passage of HB 837 earlier this year that sought to remedy the state’s insurance market and attract new providers.

Florida is spending $61.6 million to bulletproof Capitol windows

The Florida Legislature is spending millions of dollars beefing up security at the Capitol Complex with expensive bulletproof windows while also making it easier for people to carry weapons into those state buildings.

The Legislature approved a $61.6 million window replacement project as part of a larger renovation of the Capitol. The 50-year-old leaking windows are being replaced along with the removal of the rusted metal louvers covering them.

“The windows are old and not ballistics rated or bulletproof,” said Laurel Wilson, marketing director for the Childers Construction Co., construction manager for the overall project. “The way things are going in the world, we saw an opportunity to harden the Capitol.”

The Legislature approved the windows project in 2019, Florida Department of Management Services spokesman Dan Barrow said. It is being carried out in phases and scheduled for completion by 2027, Barrow said.

Florida researchers are exploring how climate change makes health disparities worse along the Gulf

Florida researchers have received $1.5 million from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to map climate change health burdens.

Florida State University is partnering with Colorado University Boulder and Tulane University to identify climate change and health disparities along the Gulf Coast.

They're looking at Florida, Louisiana, and Texas for evidence of how extreme heat, air pollution and tropical cyclones or hurricanes are adversely impacting health.

"We have a general sense that all those three exposures are bad for you,” said project director Christopher Uejio of FSU.

“But how do they interact? Are there specific places that have been suffering disproportionately, historically? And have there been any improvements to those over time? That's the types of things this project hopes to answer."