Florida's Latest News

DeSantis looks to connect with voters during 1st full day of campaigning in Iowa

Ron DeSantis begins his first full day of presidential campaigning on Wednesday with a four-stop Iowa blitz, trying to prioritize personally connecting with voters even as he intensifies his criticisms of former President Donald Trump.

The Florida governor was first set to visit the floor of Port Neal Welding in Salix, a rural town in northwest Iowa near Sioux City, in the heart of the most Republican-heavy part of the state. Lining the highway outside the welding shop were metal structures including a towering Jesus, a version of the Statue of Liberty and the Minions.

DeSantis has subsequent appearances scheduled in Council Bluffs, Pella and Cedar Rapids, packing in early events in the state whose caucuses kick off the Republican presidential primary voting. From there, he will head to New Hampshire on Thursday and South Carolina on Friday.

At his Iowa kickoff event on Tuesday night with wife Casey, DeSantis was initially cautious when alluding to Trump before an energetic crowd of roughly 500 gathered inside a suburban Des Moines church. But speaking to reporters afterward, he pushed back against the former president in a way he had not before on the national stage.

Ron DeSantis doubles down on ‘debt deal’ dis

Ron DeSantis is doubling down on criticism of the federal “debt deal.”

The Governor, kicking off his presidential campaign speech schedule in West Des Moines, offered harsh criticisms of a proposal in Congress to raise the debt ceiling through the end of 2024.

“We now see Washington has now cooked up their latest ‘debt deal,’ and I can tell you this, our nation was careening toward bankruptcy before the debt deal, and it will still be careening toward bankruptcy after this debt deal,” DeSantis said. “This is greenlighting $4 trillion in new debt in less than two years.”

“It took us almost 200 years to get to $4 trillion in debt in the first place,” DeSantis continued. “It locks in inflated COVID-era levels of spending, and it keeps 98% of the 87,000 new IRS agents that Joe Biden instituted.”

“This is not going to solve our nation’s fiscal problems,” DeSantis added before noting Florida doesn’t have debt issues like the federal government.

Gov. DeSantis signs music education program bill, a longtime priority of Sen. Keith Perry

Florida students in kindergarten through second grade could get more opportunities to have music instruction in the classroom, thanks to a bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The bill (SB 478) cements a pilot program for music education into law and expands it statewide. It was sponsored by Sen. Keith Perry, a Gainesville Republican, and approved unanimously in both chambers.

“Music education has been shown to help children with language development, brain development and fine motor skills,” DeSantis said in a released statement. “Florida has nation-leading early childhood and early literacy programs, and this bill will further help schools build a strong learning foundation for our youngest students.”

The pilot program was approved by the Legislature in 2017, known as the Early Childhood Music Education Incentive Pilot Program, but $400,000 in annual funding for it was vetoed until the 2020-2021 school year. Under the pilot program, the Commissioner of Education selected a handful of schools to participate.

Sargassum, flesh-eating bacteria and plastic create 'perfect storm,' says Florida study

Florida beaches have become inundated by a massive seaweed bloom originating from the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt since reports first made headlines in early March.

Now researchers say the intricate relationship between the algae, called sargassum, plastic marine debris and vibrio bacteria create the perfect “pathogen” storm and could impact marine life and public health.

Vibrio bacteria are the dominant cause of death in humans from marine environments, according to the Florida Atlantic University. The bacteria can cause life-threatening foodborne illnesses from seafood consumption as well as disease and death from open wound infections.

The flesh-eating bacteria known as vibrio vulnificus, is one of more than 100 species of vibrio.