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STARK, Fla. (AP) — A man who fatally shot a man and a woman outside a Florida bar is scheduled to be executed Tuesday. Michael Bernard Bell, 54, is due to receive a fatal injection at the Florida State Jail near Stark, except for a last day’s resignation. He was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death for the murders of Jimmy West and Tamecca Smith. Bell will be the eighth person in Florida this year, with a ninth expected later this month. The state executed six people in 2023, but last year it only carried out one run. This…
Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press The US government said Monday it is 17% liable for most fresh Mexican tomatoes after negotiations were finished without an agreement to avoid tariffs. Supporters said it will help rebuild the US tomato industry, where import taxes are reduced, and will ensure that produce eaten in the US will also grow there. Mexico currently supplies around 70% of the US tomato market, up from 30% 20 years ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange. But opponents, including US companies that grow tomatoes in Mexico, said tariffs would make fresh tomatoes even more expensive for US buyers.…
Several Congressional Democrats from Florida took a tour of an immigration detention facility known as Crocodile Alcatraz. The facility is a temporary location for illegal actors before they were deported, but Democrats have denounced President Trump and the governor of Florida for detainees in “inhumane circumstances.” “They use cages. These detainees live in cages. The pictures you see aren’t just about it. They’re essentially stuffed into cages,” said South Florida Congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Wasserman Schultz said her tour “Alligator Alcatraz” heartfelt, showing a disgusting lifestyle arrangement, ranging from no shower privacy to bad food. Wasserman Schultz called the facility…
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A low-pressure area located just off Florida’s east coast is gradually becoming better defined, the National Hurricane Center said. The system is expected to move west today across the Florida Peninsula and west before reaching northeastern Gulf Bay tonight. Shower and thunderstorm activity is expected to remain disrupted. Tropical depression can form by mid-week: NHC downpours more on Tuesdays and Wednesdays According to the NHC, environmental conditions generally appear to be favorable for additional development, and tropical depression could form by mid-week as the system moves across the Northeast and Northern Bay. Torrential rains could cause…
After squealing through Congress, the vast budget bill signed into law by President Donald J. Trump on July 4th will have many far-reaching effects on consumers and the economy as a whole. Taxes will be charged on the list. The nearly 900-page “Big, Beautiful Bill” has a lot to say about taxes, with various changes, new credits and deductions being part of the new bill. But the bill at the heart of this is about extending tax provisions passed under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Employment Act (TCJA) during Trump’s first administration. Currently, many tax cuts in 2017 are permanent…
Sarasota, Fla. — Florida is ranked among the nation’s top states for religious freedom, according to the first independent research institute’s newly released state index. A comprehensive peer-reviewed report assesses all 50 states based on how they protect their laws for religious freedom in areas such as individual rights, religious exemptions, the protection of faith-based organizations and schools, and the ability to practice their faith both in their public and private lives. Gov. Ron DeSantis released the rankings during his visit to Sarasota on Monday. “Florida holds several No. 1 rankings and leads the nation in education, economy and tourism.…
Dee-Ann Durbin Starbucks is requiring that some remote workers return to their headquarters and increase the number of days that corporate employees need to work in the office. In a letter to employees posted Monday, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Nicole said that corporate employees need to be in the office four days a week from early October, rather than three days a week. The Seattle-based company said that “people leaders” in all companies should be based in either Seattle or Toronto within 12 months. This is a change since February when the Vice President requested that the move be…
By David A. Lieb Millions of people receive a federal tax credit on the interest they pay on their mortgages. Under President Donald Trump’s new tax law, many people were also able to request a tax credit on interest on vehicle loans for the first time. The new tax deductions can also be used by those who do not itemize the deduction. However, there are some caveats that can limit its reach. The vehicle must be new and unused. They must be assembled in the US, and loans will be issued earlier this year and some qualifications must be listed.…
TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – A new controversial law that has attracted attention at both the state and national levels is currently in effect, seeking to ban attempts to correct the weather.Proponents of the move say it is necessary to protect the nation, but critics believe it is rooted in conspiracy theory. Florida Attorney General James Usmieyer is urging airports across the state to ask them to board a new law (SB 56) banning all weather correction activities. The new law repeals a decades-old permit clause that allows the Department of Environmental Protection to issue permits to groups seeking to change…
The new federal lawsuit argues that the ability of state-run civil property insurance companies to divert claim disputes to a state arbitrator is unconstitutional and must be stopped. The complaint, filed in US District Court in Miami on July 10, seeks to prohibit the last resort so-called insurers from enforcing binding arbitration clauses that say they violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In 2022, citizens, with approval from the Insurance Regulation Office and later from the Florida Legislature, added provisions to all new renewal policies that allow either citizens or…