Florida's Latest News

Ashley Moody says Florida will seek warrant, pursue state charges against would-be Donald Trump assassin

Florida’s Attorney General says the state is seeking an arrest warrant for a man thwarted in his attempt to kill the man who will be President in the coming weeks. Speaking in Stuart, Ashley Moody said a warrant had been filed in Martin County to apprehend Ryan Routh to “pursue state law charges for state law violations.”

Moody notes that the federal government has been uncooperative in working with the state on this issue, adding that Routh’s attempted escape endangered the life of a 6-year-old girl, which she says merits charges of “attempted felony murder.”

“As soon as we began those overtures, we immediately were confronted with a lack of willingness to allow us access to the crime scene, an unwillingness to provide evidence that was collected, an unwillingness to allow us to accompany witness interviews, and the list goes on and on,” Moody said.

“And in those discussions, both by prosecutors and federal agents, it was made known that they intended to shut down our investigation and invoke federal jurisdiction in doing so.”

Florida Bar elects Board of Governors members and President

The Florida Bar has decided on several members of its Board of Governors and the President-elect of the legal organization.

Eighteen members of the Board of Governors will be returning to the panel after being re-elected to repeat two-year terms. No one ran against those incumbents. The Florida Bar also elected three new members to the Board who also faced no opposition.

Seat 2, representing Florida 13th Judicial Circuit representing Hillsborough County, is being contested. Florida Bar voting members have until March 1 to email or mail ballots to the organization for Seat 2. If there’s a need for a runoff election, that will be held in April. Candidates in that race include Benjamin Hill IV, Diane Marger Moore and Michael J. Trentalange, who have filed to replace retiring Board member Amy S. Farrior.

All new terms begin in June. Each post’s term lasts until June 19, 2026, or until a successor is elected or qualifies. Meanwhile, Michael Fox Orr of Jacksonville had no opposition in his election to become President-elect of the Florida Bar.

State approves up to $65M for Cape Canaveral space project ‘to cement Florida’s place in history’

Without saying who is getting the money, Space Florida approved up to $65 million in state funds Wednesday to help stimulate a $1.8 billion launch site project in Cape Canaveral known as “Project Hinton.”

The beneficiary appears to be SpaceX, which is pursuing two potential launch sites on the Space Coast for its in-development Starship and Super Heavy rockets. CEO Elon Musk’s plans call for not only launch pads, but rocket manufacturing facilities in Florida, which would be a significant investment.

Space Florida forecasts the Cape Canaveral Spaceport project will amount to $1.8 billion in capital improvements with construction beginning as early as January and lasting 18 to 24 months. It’s forecast to bring 600 jobs with average wages of $93,000 a year.

In comparison, Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos has invested more than $1 billion for Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 36 to support his company’s New Glenn launches.

Florida seeks help from Trump before instating new kids health insurance requirements

Florida is seeking to delay an expansion of children's health insurance until after President-elect Donald Trump comes into office.

Earlier this month, the federal government approved the expansion of subsidized KidCare (the state’s Children's Health Insurance Program) to Florida’s most vulnerable families, those making up to 300% federal poverty line, or a family of four making less than $93,600.

The expansion passed the Florida legislature in 2023 but implementation was delayed while Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration sued the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services over a federal requirement that said Florida must cover kids even when a family misses a monthly premium payment. The DeSantis administration lost that lawsuit.

According to an email received by the Florida Phoenix, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration said it intended to request and expects a 30-day extension before the new rules begin, allowing the Trump administration to weigh in.