Florida's Latest News

Ron DeSantis camp continues ‘drive toward victory’ in Iowa

The presidential campaign of Ron DeSantis continues to crow about its standing in the Hawkeye State.

“Donald Trump has shot himself in the foot in Iowa and opened the door, and Ron DeSantis is about to kick it down. The hard work the Governor is putting in now to complete the ‘Full Grassley’ is going to pay dividends in the long-run and allow us to drive toward victory,” wrote spokesman Andrew Romeo.

The DeSantis team’s confidence that Iowa is a “two-man race” is rooted in Trump’s Make America Great Again super PAC spending again against the Governor in Iowa, after taking a break from expenditures during the summer.

The Romeo memo also notes that DeSantis, who is still actively serving as Florida Governor, has devoted himself to reaching Hawkeye State voters.

“DeSantis grasped the importance of winning Iowa early and has rarely been outside its borders for long since starting his campaign. He vowed to visit all 99 of the state’s counties, and he has made it to 58 so far, throwing baseballs with his kids, visiting rural county fairs and posing for selfies with voters.”

Florida’s minimum wage is set to increase this month

Florida’s minimum wage will increase to $12 an hour on Sept. 30, as the state continues carrying out a constitutional amendment that eventually will lead to a $15 minimum wage.

Voters in 2020 approved the constitutional amendment, which was spearheaded by prominent Orlando lawyer John Morgan.

The minimum wage went to $10 an hour on Sept. 30, 2021, and $11 on Sept. 30, 2022. It is required to increase by $1 each year until it hits $15 an hour on Sept. 30, 2026. After that, it will increase based on inflation.

The minimum wage for tipped employees will go to $8.98 an hour this year, as employers can take what is known as a “tip credit” of $3.02, according to information on the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association website.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

Native Florida plants could be part of the solution to state's flooding and water quality problems

Researchers at Stetson University have received one million dollars from the National Science Foundation to help stop flooding and improve water quality in Cape Canaveral.

The City of Cape Canaveral, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Stetson University, along with city and county partners are working on the flooding solution.

Stetson researcher Jason Evans says that includes designing and building special channels called bioswales in Cape Canaveral’s Veterans Memorial Park.

Evans said these channels help to redirect stormwater that would cause flooding.

“We're going to plant it with native plants, with water-friendly plants. So it's going to be really beautiful," said Evans. "But it's designed to store and to treat a lot of the stormwater that otherwise is running down the street and would go off into the lagoon.”

Citizen volunteers and Stetson undergraduates will help monitor their progress.

How family meals offer mental and physical health benefits

September is National Family Meals Month, a movement started by the Food Marketing Institute Foundation in September 2015. Now with 35 years of global research on the topic, we know that family meals offer mental and physical health benefits and more.

With summer travel winding down and back-to-school routines established, September is an opportune time to focus on family meals. To start, family meals create togetherness and foster relationships and communication. Some of the mental and social benefits of eating together include improved performance at school and at work, improved cognition and lower risk of depression and eating disorders. Youth who eat dinner with their parents are less likely to use substances. They are also at lower risk for teen pregnancy, bullying, suicide and violence.

Furthermore, engaging in regular family meals helps children build confidence, self-esteem and resilience while promoting better communication skills. Mealtime conversations help build children’s vocabulary and literacy skills, helping them to score better on academic achievement tests.