Florida's Latest News

DeSantis: ‘Don’t focus on the cone’; Elsa impacts could be widespread

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday issued an executive order expanding the state of emergency due to Tropical Storm Elsa to include Alachua and Columbia counties.

The state of emergency also includes Dixie, Franklin, Hamilton, Gilchrist, Jefferson, Lake, Lafayette, Madison, Marion, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla counties.

The executive order also removed the state of emergency declaration from DeSoto, Hardee and Miami-Dade counties.

“The threat posed by Tropical Storm Elsa requires timely precautions that are taken to protect the communities, critical infrastructure, and general welfare of Florida,” the order states.

South Florida COVID-19 cases are rising, but remain among lowest levels of the pandemic

COVID-19 cases have been steadily rising in all three major South Florida counties since mid-June, according to weekly reports released by the Florida Department of Health.

Though cases are trending upward, they remain among the lowest levels seen since testing began in March 2020. Still, those upward trends could cause concern among officials as vaccinations appear to be dropping.

The newest weekly report from the Department of Health relays data from June 25 through July 1. That report shows Palm Beach County at a 4.3% case positivity rate, which measures the share of COVID-19 tests that come back positive. That number is 3.9% for Broward and 3.6% for Miami-Dade.

U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Florida Medicaid Dispute

After getting off a Lee County school bus in November 2008, Gianinna Gallardo was struck by a truck and suffered catastrophic injuries.

Now, more than a decade later, her case could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that will affect Medicaid programs across the country.

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will take up a legal battle about how much money Florida’s Medicaid program should be able to recoup from a legal settlement that Gallardo’s parents reached after the accident left her in a vegetative state.

Attorneys for Gallardo’s parents and the state Agency for Health Care Administration asked the Supreme Court to resolve the issue because of conflicting court decisions about a reimbursement issue involving Florida’s Medicaid program --- and programs in other states.

Surfside deaths reach 32, investigations into causes expected to ‘continue over a long period’ 

Rescue teams searching through rubble from the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside have discovered four additional bodies, increasing the total number of deaths to 32, according to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

There are still 113 people unaccounted for, but the county could only confirm that 70 were in the building at the time of collapse, she told reporters at a Tuesday morning press briefing.

About 10:30 p.m. Sunday, a demolition team brought the remainder of the building down. The controlled leveling of the tower “was executed exactly as planned,” she said, adding that while the decision to demolish the building was “devastating,” it was necessary to allow search and rescue work to recommence.