Florida's Latest News

Immigration a higher priority for Americans than it was a year ago, new poll shows

More Americans say immigration should be a top focus for the U.S. government in 2025, as the country heads toward a new Republican administration in which President-elect Donald Trump has promised the mass deportations of migrants and an end to birthright citizenship.

About half of U.S. adults named immigration and border topics in an open-ended question that asked respondents to share up to five issues they want the government to work on this year, according to a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s up from about one-third who mentioned the topic as a government priority in an AP-NORC poll conducted the previous year.

The issue of immigration has risen in salience across the board — among Democrats and Republicans, men and women, and adults both young and old. But Republicans, in particular, have converged around this issue in recent years. About 7 in 10 Republicans say immigration or a U.S.-Mexico border wall should be a top focus, up from 45% just two years ago.

This means that Trump will return to the White House with his base, and much of the country, interested in his signature issue. That’s a marked contrast to when he left Washington four years ago with his successor, Democrat Joe Biden, offering a more welcoming posture toward migrants.

Florida ranks second in nation for norovirus outbreaks, new CDC data shows

Florida ranks second in the nation for confirmed norovirus outbreaks, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The highly contagious virus, often referred to as the "stomach bug," is spreading rapidly this season, particularly in crowded settings like cruise ships.

Between Sept. 1, 2023 and Oct. 31, 2024, Florida reported 24 confirmed norovirus outbreaks, the second highest in the nation, according to the CDC. Cruise ships were among the hardest hit, with 16 outbreaks reported in 2024 alone. Five of those occurred in December, sickening 890 passengers and crew members.

"I wish I would have known before we went," said Tamara Holmes, who recently returned from a holiday cruise. "We took precautions: washing our hands, trying to keep a safe distance from everybody as best as we could."

Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist, said that norovirus is a highly infectious virus that causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. She added that cases typically peak during the winter as people travel for the holidays. 

U.S. Attorney for South Florida to resign before Trump’s inauguration

Markenzy Lapointe announced Monday evening his resignation as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Lapointe, nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2022, in a prepared statement said his resignation will take effect at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 17.

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be Jan. 20. It is customary for U.S. attorneys to resign during a presidential transition. Lapointe replaced Juan Antonio Gonzalez, who took over in 2021 after Trump-nominated Ariana Fajardo Orshan’s resignation. Several other U.S. attorneys across the country also announced their resignations Monday.

The Miami-based Southern District has been in the national spotlight with Trump’s classified documents case and the ongoing prosecution of Ryan Wesley Routh, accused in an assassination attempt of Trump at his golf course near West Palm Beach. 

The district covers nine counties, from Indian River County south to Monroe County, with branch offices in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Pierce, as well as unstaffed office in Key West.

AFP Action FL puts its influence behind Jimmy Patronis in race to replace Matt Gaetz

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is holding a public hearing in the state capitol Monday morning about the agency’s recently-proposed rules to better protect the state’s freshwater springs.

But springs advocates say FDEP’s proposal still needs more work, because as currently written, it wouldn’t effectively change anything about how the state currently regulates pumping groundwater from vulnerable Florida springs. Although a 2016 state law directed FDEP to develop new rules to better protect those springs, the agency only proposed new rules last month, after the Florida Springs Council filed a lawsuit demanding that it do so.

That lawsuit filed in November was later voluntarily dismissed by both parties without prejudice, meaning the complaint could potentially be brought again at a later time, according to FSC. In the meantime, FSC Executive Director Ryan Smart said he’s hoping FDEP will “fix the rule” before submitting it to the state for adoption.

“They can still modify it at this point: that’s what we’ll be asking them to do on [January 6],” Smart said. “If FDEP insists on going forward with an invalid rule, we’re prepared to take legal action.”