Florida's Latest News

Ron DeSantis says police recruitment bonuses target ‘mistreated’ cops, not just the unvaxxed

In Venice Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the case for bringing “mistreated” cops to Florida, stressing he intends his recruitment push to target more than just police officers who don’t want COVID-19 shots.

He wants officers who are disgruntled for a variety of reasons, he said, including an inability to “take that environment” in places like New York, Seattle, and Minneapolis, flash points in last year’s street protests in the wake of the George Floyd murder.

“We are 100% excited about saying that anyone that’s being mistreated, if the morale is low, if you can’t take that environment, and we have openings here, you’re going to get an environment where people are going to support you,” DeSantis said.

Jeff Brandes bill would extend COVID-19 liability protections for health care providers

Health care providers could get COVID-19 liability protections extended through December 2023 under a bill Sen. Jeff Brandes filed Monday.

Immediate attempts to contact Brandes Monday were unsuccessful.

Brandes’s bill does not change the underlying law — or exclude businesses with vaccine mandates from the protections, as Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week should happen.

Health care associations and lobbyists, meanwhile, were pleased with Brandes’ legislation.

“The pandemic has brought on financial and workforce challenges for nursing centers and assisted living communities and these extended protections will ensure providers can maintain the resources they need to stay focused on resident safety and deliver care in what is still a challenging environment,” Florida Health Care Association Communications Director Kristen Knapp said in a statement to Florida Politics.

Florida gasoline prices stabilize after another 13 cent jump, AAA says

Some good news on the cost of gas in Florida: Prices stabilized over the weekend after rising again by 13 cents last week, the AAA-Auto Club Group said Monday in its weekly briefing. 

The state average is now $3.31 a gallon — a new 2021 high and "the most expensive daily average price since October 2014," according to AAA. 

So far this year, the state average has increased a total of $1.12 per gallon since Jan. 1, the briefing says: "Florida drivers are now paying $1.23 per gallon more than this time last year, and 89 cents more than this time in 2019."

"Gas prices have been dragged higher by skyrocketing crude oil prices," said the group's spokesperson, Mark Jenkins. "Crude oil prices have faced tremendous upward pressure, because global fuel demand is outpacing global production and supply levels."

Calls for better safety measures came after the Surfside tragedy. Here are the changes so far.

Four months after the Surfside condo building collapse, Florida is just getting started on the long path toward shoring up its building laws to ensure people stay safe.

Contractors have moved to improve old buildings across South Florida. Inspectors have evacuated residents from their deteriorating apartments for safety. New databases were created to keep the public better informed about the age of their condo buildings — and highlight the need for inspections. Some officials have called it progress, while noting that enough hasn’t been done yet.

“While the vast majority of condos probably are well-managed and well-maintained, it’s all left to chance,” said William Sklar, a West Palm Beach-based condominium lawyer. Sklar served as chairman of a Florida Bar task force that concluded the state needs to make sweeping changes to its condo laws. “There is no data saying how many have these problems, such as Champlain Towers South. And that is unacceptable.”