Florida's Latest News

Ahead Of Likely 2024 Announcement, DeSantis Will Head To Early Primary States

“This is typical Governor DeSantis. The guy lets no grass grow beneath his feet, he’s constantly on the move and constantly accomplishing new things – this week is no different,” Nick Iarossi, a long time DeSantis supporter and co-chairman of his inaugural, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Nick Iarossi, a long time DeSantis supporter and co-chairman of his Inaugural, told the DCNF that he doesn’t think the governor’s going to these early states is purposeful, and rather that DeSantis is not going to exclude early primary states in his book tour. DeSantis launched his book, “The Courage To Be Free,” on Feb. 28.

The Florida governor’s arrival comes before the former President Donald Trump has had a chance to visit. He will then head to Nevada for the weekend, Politico reported, and is expected to head to New Hampshire toward the end of the month.

“I think he’s trying to increase his brand throughout the entire country,” and the more he does this, “the more political capital he has,” said Iarossi.

Showtime: The 10 big issues of the 2023 Florida legislative session

Florida lawmakers kick off the annual 60-day legislative session today. Here are 10 big issues to watch:

— AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has made a priority of trying to find ways to make housing more affordable for workers. The Senate could quickly pass a wide-ranging bill that includes providing incentives for investments in affordable housing and encouraging mixed-use developments in struggling commercial areas.

— BUDGET: Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed a $114.8 billion budget for the fiscal year that will start July 1. Among other things, the proposal includes money for increasing teacher salaries, $1.1 billion for Everglades restoration and water-quality issues, 5 percent across-the-board pay hikes for state workers and additional money for targeted jobs such as correctional officers.

— DEATH PENALTY: After Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to life in prison, lawmakers could scrap a requirement that unanimous jury recommendations are needed before death sentences can be imposed. House and Senate bills would allow death sentences based on the recommendations of eight of 12 jurors and also give judges more authority

Signs of recovery in sight for the Everglades

After decades of planning and pleading for political support and dollars to restore the Everglades, there are growing signs that the massive multibillion-dollar effort is beginning to “get the water right.”

That’s long been the measure of success for the federal and state agencies tasked with the job. The goal sounds deceptively simple but is immensely complicated, requiring not just sending more water through the parched southern Everglades and into Florida Bay but ensuring that bordering communities aren’t flooded in the process.

The most encouraging indicator: Wildlife, the measuring sticks of a healthy Glades, has rebounded in areas in many areas across the system.

During an Everglades Foundation-led tour of state-owned wetlands just north of the park on Friday, bird life was abundant. And scientists are seeing rising rates of bird and alligator nesting to the south in Shark River Slough, where Steve Davis, chief scientist for the Everglades Foundation, said “we are seeing historic levels of flow.”

What to know about the red tide hitting Florida beaches

The harmful "red tide," which has been known to discolor coastal waters and kill marine life off the coast of Florida, has returned for another year.

The toxic organism that paints the waters red was detected in February and was found at higher-than-normal levels in several Southwest Florida counties in recent days, state officials said.

Since it returned, grisly photos of dead fish washing up on Florida beaches have proliferated, and federal authorities are warning people of the possibility of respiratory irritation from contaminated air.

Oceans and other bodies of water are filled with algae, a small number of which are toxic but often exist in such small concentrations that they pose little danger to people and marine life around them.

When those toxic aquatic organisms multiply, they can form what are known as harmful algal blooms, which have been reported in every coastal U.S. state.