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Talahassee – Former Florida State University president and House Speaker John Thrasher passed away Friday after his struggle with cancer, his career in politics and public services has expanded over 30 years, his family announced.The 81-year-old Thrasher served in the House and Senate before being tapped as FSU president in 2014.During his tenure in Congress, Republican Thrasher was a close ally of former Gov. Jeb Bush, who helped to carry out a bush overhaul of the state’s education system, including a controversial school grading system and rigorous testing of student performance.”I’m heartbroken. John was one of my best friends in…
Miami International Airport (MIA) has announced plans for multi-million dollar improvements that will benefit travelers and create jobs.According to the MIA, the Miami-Dade County County Commission has approved the construction of a new Concourse K at Miami International Airport (MIA). The $600 million project expansion will include six new contact gates, maintenance facilities for ground support equipment, improved baggage handling systems and critical airport infrastructure upgrades.Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniela Levine Cava said a change could occur 22 years after the airport completes similar upgrades.It is also part of an ambitious multi-million dollar plan as a modernisation aimed at increasing and…
TALHASSEE – The Florida Court of Appeals took extraordinary legal action earlier this month when it collapsed as an unconstitutional law allowing minors to undergo abortion without parental consent.Young people in Florida were able to petition the judge for permission to do an abortion without the knowledge of their parents.This May, a 17-year-old pregnant began one of these cases. She sued when a lower court judge denied her abortion exemption. The fifth local court of appeals took up the appeal. But instead of focusing solely on teenage cases, the court used it to weigh key constitutional questions. It is rare…
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (WFLA) — The St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office found a six-year-old dead in his bedroom, and his mother told him “Let’s drive the devil away.” The school’s resource agent requested a welfare check on boy Lamil Pierre on Friday after going missing from school for two weeks. That morning, the aide went to the house at Fort Pierce and met the boy’s mother, 31-year-old Ronda Ponis. St. Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro said the cause of the child’s death was not immediately clear and an autopsy is scheduled for Saturday. While interviewing Ponis, detectives learned on May…
TALHASSEE – Nearly a month after leaving the Capitol without passing the budget, House and Senate leaders said Friday night that they had reached an agreement to clarify how they would begin slamming details about their spending plans on Tuesday.House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami and Senate Speaker Ben Albritton have released a memo hoping to pass the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year on June 16th.The deal includes a $900 million tax cut due to the elimination of taxes on commercial leases, a long-standing priority for business lobbyists. And what the memo described as $350 million for “permanent sales tax…
The Miami-based developer, selected to redevelop the Griffin Park Housing Project in Paramore, approached the city of Orlando with a transformational, mixed-income community plan that built around four apartment towers adjacent to I-4, with about four apartment towers. The concept plan for the real estate market group on approximately nine acres of 520 Callahan Dr. calls 1,000 apartments, of which 725 are affordable and incorporates grocery stores into the development. The tallest building in the eastern part of the land is the 18-storey tower with 275 market rate apartments for families. According to the site plan, the other three towers…
Shark researchers who stole more than $450,000 from a nonprofit with Florida tie-in will spend years in prison and decades on probation.Christine Bedau, 45, a former biology professor featured in National Geographic’s “Sharkfest,” did not plead the contest earlier this month on felony charges seeking felony charges in a Manatee County courtroom, court records show. Investigators say she spent five years on the money from the American Eras Mo Branch Association, a shark research nonprofit with Bradenton’s mailing address.Judge Matt White sentenced Beddoa to three years in prison and 27 years on probation. She will also have to pay $452,953…
The rising costs of Florida homeowner insurance resumed in the first quarter of 2025, with average premium costs rising after a slight soak in late 2024, showing new data released by the Florida Department of Insurance Regulation. The average premiums paid by Florida detached home owners increased by 0.3% between the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. Condo unit owners increased their costs by 0.8% over the period, data shows, from $1,714 to $1,729. The enactment of the 2022 reform aimed at significantly reducing legal costs for insurance companies has seen an average premium for homeowners…
Orlando Science Centre and Four Roots Farm have been partnering for many years inside and outside the OSC’s onsite 4 Root Cafe, but this summer they are taking their adjacent “food heroes” a step further, creating something entirely new with an exciting new immersive summer camp. Analysed in weekly daily increments, students entering grades 3-5 will take part in a hands-on learning experience at the 4-route farm campus in Orlando’s Packaging District, experience guided farm tours, explore the world of conservation and explore the world of conservation. This summer, through the partnership between the Orlando Science Center and Four Roots…
Since the turn of the century, major hurricanes hitting the U.S. have had one key feature in common.Location.The Gulf of Mexico coastline transformed into a bullseye for major storms, which have taken aim from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Marco Island and destroyed communities in their wake. Eighteen hurricanes reaching Category 3 strength or higher have made landfall along the continental U.S. since 1999.All but one slammed into the Gulf Coast.The pattern is even more stark since 2017: All 10 major hurricanes that have made landfall in the U.S. struck communities along the Gulf — including six in Florida.Milton and Helene,…