Florida's Latest News

Incoming leaders Passidomo, Renner point to housing, ‘woke’ issues as priorities

“Attainable” housing for workers and steps to prevent a push by “woke” billionaires on issues such as energy and fossil fuels will be priorities during the next couple of legislative sessions, incoming House and Senate leaders said Saturday.

Meanwhile, as the Republican Party of Florida opened its Sunshine Summit at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Broward County, Gov. Ron DeSantis revved up the crowd by saying the GOP this year has a chance to gain four congressional seats in Florida, create “super majorities” in the Legislature and place more Republicans on school boards.

“I think this year, we have an opportunity to have an historic red wave. And part of that is to hopefully keep me around as governor,” DeSantis, who is running for re-election in November, said after taking the stage to music and applause.

Rubio, Cruz Draft Bill to Reinstate FARC as Foreign Terrorist Organization

The Biden administration's foreign policy has received considerable criticism from conservatives, with many Republican lawmakers having voiced strong opinions against the White House's decisions abroad, including it's decision to lift the terrorist designation from the FARC paramilitary organization.

One less-covered Biden policy has recently come under attack from Florida's own Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).

On Friday, July 22, Rubio teamed up with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to introduce a bill that would reinstate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) onto the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). The group had been removed from the list in November 2021. Rubio has criticized this decision in a jointly-written letter with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).

Ghislaine Maxwell sent to 'low security' Tallahassee prison for role in Epstein sex-trafficking ring

The disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred to a low security federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., where she will serve a 20-year sentence for her role as an accomplice with Jeffrey Epstein in a decade-spanning sex-trafficking ring. 

In December, Maxwell, 60, was convicted of luring and grooming teenage girls to be sexually abused and exploited by Epstein — the wealthy financier who killed himself while in custody and awaiting trial in 2019.

Maxwell will be eligible for release in July 2037, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) website. 

The bureau's decision to send Maxwell to the FCI Tallahassee was against the recommendation of Judge Alison J. Nathan, who oversaw Maxwell's trial, according to court records filed in the Southern District of New York. 

Condo owners brace for steep costs — with post-Surfside reforms on the way

Sell now or pay later?

It could become an unpleasant choice for many South Florida condominium owners, ahead of a new state building inspection law driven by last year’s catastrophic collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside.

By the time Florida’s updated condo safety law goes into effect in 2025, many owners may have decided that it’s too costly to stay in their decades-old, high-rise condominiums.

For tens of thousands of Florida condominium residents, the new law potentially means forking over large payments to boost reserve accounts and probable special assessments to fund major structural repairs. The new rules stand to price many residents out of their buildings, particularly those people on fixed incomes, professional advisers say.