GOP leaders in Florida and Washington have abandoned environmental conservation and historical preservation in favor of reckless destruction as policies favoring developers, relaxed environmental standards, and aggressive deregulation threaten natural ecosystems, historic architecture, and the rule of law. The relentless pursuit of economic growth over heritage is transforming our environment into sprawls of concrete.
Florida
How State Officials Fought for Months, at Your Expense, to Suppress Hope Florida Report
For months, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has dismissed the Hope Florida scandal as a “hoax,” maintaining that “nobody did anything wrong.” Yet at the same time, state agencies have quietly shelled out thousands of dollars to high-powered law firms that were hired to keep an investigation of the saga out of public view.
Ex-Senate President Who Put Amendment 3 on Ballot Is Voting Against It
Kathleen Passidomo voted with the Senate majority in June to send the property tax measure to the Nov. 3 ballot. The vote was 30-9. She said she voted “yes” because voters should get to decide. She’s voting No.
DeSantis Withdraws Death Warrant for Sick Inmate Who’d Been Refused Care
Gov. Ron DeSantis has withdrawn the death warrant for William Lee Thompson, who was scheduled to be one of two inmates executed on Tuesday.
DeSantis didn’t state a reason for the change in his Thursday afternoon letter to Florida State Prison Warden Randall Polk, but it comes as Thompson’s counsel and opponents of the death penalty have reported the 74-year-old inmate has several health issues including dementia and heart failure
Cat-3 Hurricane Isaias Approaches Landfall Near Pensacola
Florida emergency management officials continue to prep for Hurricane Isaias making landfall Friday evening as a major storm near Pensacola, with bands of life-threatening storm surge, winds and tornadoes spreading hundreds of miles to the east.
Byron Donalds Calls for Rick Scott’s Help as Poll Shows Tie with David Jolly
Rick Scott appeared Thursday with GOP gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds in Pinellas County. He urged the crowd to vote as soon as possible, just as a new public opinion survey showed Donalds in a dead heat with Democrat David Jolly.
Memory Hole: Court Erases Hope Florida Grand Jury Report, Silencing Anyone Who’d Defend It
The grand jury report that put Attorney General James Uthmeier at the center of a “sophisticated scheme” to move $10 million from a Medicaid settlement into his political committee was erased Wednesday by a state appeals court, in an appeal in which no one was allowed to argue in defense of the report, the court’s own opinion shows.
Flagler Beach Pier Nears Completion as DEP Inspects Site and Breakaway Decking Is Soon Installed
Flagler Beach’s new 800-foot concrete pier is nearing substantial completion in January, with utilities, handrails and breakaway timber decking all in the works. The elevated structure is designed to better withstand storms and rising seas. State Department of Environmental Protection inspectors today reviewed construction and funding compliance with the city manager and took FlaglerLive along.
DeSantis Signs 2nd Death Warrant in a Week for Record 20th Execution of Year
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his second death warrant within a week, putting the state in position to exceed its modern-era record for executions in a single year set in 2025. DeSantis on Monday signed a warrant for Jesse Guardado, 64, to be executed Nov. 5 at Florida State Prison for the murder of a Walton County woman in 2004.
Florida Association of Realtors Vastly Outspending Opponents of Amendment 3
A report shows that the campaign working to see Amendment 3 on the statewide ballot win approval in November raised $18 million through Sept. 25. All of that financial support came from the Florida Association of Realtors. The two political committees opposing Amendment 3, Floridians for Shared Prosperity and Vote No on 3 Florida, have raised a combined $537,357. That’s a ratio of more than 33:1.
Florida Prison Officials Refusing Care to ‘Profoundly Sick’ Inmate Scheduled for Oct. 13 Execution
Florida prison officials are refusing to give “profoundly sick” William Lee Thompson, 74, medical care while he waits for his scheduled execution October 13, drawing objections from more than 100 doctors. Thompson is the first known gravely ill prisoner who has been forced to live on death watch, a specialized and highly restrictive housing unit in Starke where inmates with signed death warrants await their execution, and where medical care is limited.
Palm Coast Warns Residents About Significant Financial Impacts Tied To Proposed Property Tax Amendment
Palm Coast residents face a statewide property tax amendment on the November ballot that could slash municipal revenue by millions over two years. The city in a release emphasizes that substantial revenue losses would threaten public safety and infrastructure funding, forcing local leaders to weigh difficult budget adjustments, spending cuts, and alternative fees because no single replacement source currently exists.
In Lakeland, JD Vance Says Florida Senate Candidate Angie Nixon ‘Doesn’t Belong in America’
“Get the hell out of here. You don’t belong in America,” J.D. Vance said of Florida Senate candidate Angie Nixon as he was campaigning for her opponent and for Byron Donalds against David Jolly in Lakeland Thursday.
Andy Dance Assumes Presidency of Northeast Florida Regional Council as Data Centers Hum Anew
Flagler County Commissioner Andy Dance assumed the presidency of the Northeast Florida Regional Council today as the council, which normally meets in Jacksonville, held its meeting at Bunnell’s Nexus Center. Regional leaders addressed pressing infrastructure challenges, economic development, and upcoming regulatory frameworks for data centers.
How AI-Powered Bungling by Jacksonville Cops Cost a Father His Freedom and $45,000
Nick was the latest victim of artificial intelligence-powered law enforcement, which has been misused to arrest the innocent by lazy or bumbling police officers from coast to coast – in this case, cops working for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. The 38-year-old man’s case is among a string of wrongful arrests linked to faulty use of facial recognition and a lack of investigative rigor.
How Hope Florida Quietly Hollowed Out Florida’s Safety Net
State records show the controversial Hope Florida initiative led by Casey DeSantis, who is married to Gov. Ron DeSantis, shifted priorities away from DCF’s eligibility division that has since failed federal standards and left Floridians cut off from care coordinators and other services.
The Ideological Sack of Florida’s New College
DeSantis is aggressively dismantling traditional university governance across Florida by installing political loyalists, suppressing speech, and imposing rigid ideological curricula. Students and filmmakers are fighting back through protests, legal challenges and documentaries, exposing institutional decline, rising costs, and plummeting academic rankings.
In Rush to Judgment, DeSantis And Cabinet Bypass Legal Rulemaking To Target Advocacy Groups
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the cabinet circumvented statutory rulemaking requirements by implementing emergency procedures to designate targeted advocacy organizations as domestic terrorist groups without public transparency or required legislative oversight.
Average Tax Bill On a Single Rental Apartment Unit Could Rise by $406 if Amendment 3 Passes
When Floridians vote in November on whether to raise homestead exemptions through Amendment 3, they may also be voting to shift more of the property tax burden onto renters, a new analysis by the center-right Tax Foundation finds.
Islamophobia and the 9/11 Lessons Unlearned
Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, prominent officials and victim families displayed blatant Islamophobia by attempting to bar New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani from memorial ceremonies. The refusal to examine unbridled foreign violence, ethnic cleansing support, and historical context shows to what extent we have failed to learn lessons, reverting instead to destructive bigotry that invites ongoing global retaliation.
Investigators Find Millions of Dollars Wasted in Trump Immigration Detention Dragnets
Government investigators released a report that found the Department of Homeland Security wasted more than $20 million in federal funding in its rapid expansion of immigration detention, including warehouse purchases strongly opposed in numerous U.S. communities.
Governor Orders Flags at Half-Staff for Former Flagler Beach Mayor Alice Baker on Remembrance Day
Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered the American and Florida flags to be flown at half-staff at the State Capitol and in Flagler Beach Saturday in honor of Alice Baker, the former Flagler Beach mayor. Baker died on July 15 at her home in Georgia. She was 95. The honor coincides with Saturday’s Alice Baker Remembrance Day organized by former City Commissioner Jane Mealy at the Flagler Woman’s Club in Flagler Beach.
Nearly 10 Years in Prison for Man Who Threatened Randy Fine; Defense Signals “Disparities”
Edwin Guerrero received a nearly 10-year federal prison sentence for sending graphic antisemitic threats to U.S. Rep. Randy Fine when he was a Florida legislator. The defense highlighted a difficult childhood and sentencing disparities compared to similar cases, while Fine condemned the threats against his family.
Florida Minimum Wage Rises to $15 an Hour on Oct. 1 as New Laws Also Take Effect
The final $1 increase in the state’s voter-approved minimum wage will also take effect Sept. 30, pushing it up to $15 per hour. It’s part of the 2020 constitutional amendment spearheaded by prominent Orlando lawyer John Morgan. Among the new laws taking effect Oct. 1 are changes in how police identify criminal gang members and a new penalty for those who involve minors in animal fighting.
As Governor, Donalds Might Retain Surgeon General Ladapo. Jolly Would Fire Him.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds reiterated Tuesday that he remains open to reappointing Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo if he wins the Nov. 3 election. That marks a clear distinction with Democrat David Jolly, who has vowed to fire Ladapo on his first day in office.
Angie Nixon Will Pay $250 Fine to Settle Charge of Sit-In at DeSantis’s Office
Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon will pay a $250 fine and provide 15 hours of community service to settle her case with Leon County after she was charged with two misdemeanors for holding a sit-in at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office in the Florida Capitol on May 15.
Judge Says Charges Against History Teacher Over Charlie Kirk ‘Karma’ Post Should Be Dropped
The state should drop charges, including an allegation of gross immorality, against a Duval County teacher who posted about Charlie Kirk after he was killed, an administrative law judge has recommended. The decision came last week, addressing charges against Hope McMath, who was an advanced placement art history teacher at a magnet high school in Jacksonville, when Kirk, the extremist polemicist, was killed in Utah in September 2025.
Furious Residents Defeat Lee County’s Attempt to Eliminate Public Input on Local Development
Lee County planners attempted to eliminate mandatory public hearings regarding local development guidelines. Residents discovered the secretive changes and responded with derisive laughter during public meetings as organized citizens mobilized to form a coalition demanding accountability. Commissioners voted to postpone the revisions indefinitely to ensure transparent public outreach.
New Poll Shows Homestead Exemption Amendment 15 Points Short of Approval
A constitutional amendment that would increase the homestead exemption to $250,000 in 2028 has 45% support among likely voters, 15 points short of the 60% it needs to pass, according to a new St. Pete Polls survey conducted for Florida Politics. Another 30% oppose Amendment 3 and 25% are undecided with less than seven weeks until Election Day.
Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar Breaks with Trump Over Immigration
Miami-Dade County Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, who is battling for re-election, is airing a campaign ad in which she declares that President Trump’s immigration efforts have gone “too far.”
Flagler County Unemployment Stable But House-Sale Values Continue Sharp, Inflation-Caused Decline
Flagler County’s unemployment rate was stable in August, with modest labor force growth and steady single-family home sales, but the value of those sales has fallen sharply since 2019, in inflation-adjusted dollars. State economists project a minor economic uptick and rising wages in Flrida, contrasting with plummeting consumer confidence.
Alligator Alcatraz Used Small Cages to Confine Migrants
When federal investigators showed up unannounced at the sprawling pop-up prison in the Florida Everglades in January, they found something they had never seen at any other immigration detention center in the country: Detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz” were being held for up to nearly two hours in small metal cages roughly the size of a phone booth.
DeSantis and Uthmeier Can’t Shake Hope Florida Sleaze
$10 million in taxpayer funds from a Medicaid settlement intended for children were secretly diverted into political action committees by state officials to finance campaigns, sparking a grand jury investigation, intense legislative backlash, and severe political fallout for Republican candidates across Florida ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. DeSantis and Uthmeier are throwing hissy fits as a defense.
Florida’s Public School Enrollment Falls as Taxpayer-Funded Vouchers for Private Schooling Soar
The significant drop in enrollment is caused, in part, by the 2023 expansion of Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarships, or voucher program, for home and private school students and students with disabilities, now available regardless of income. In major metropolitan school districts across the state, keeping students in public schools has become progressively challenging.
Flagler County Memories of 9/11, pt. 2:
‘A Day Remembered for Unimaginable Courage and Sacrifice’
In the second of two parts commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11, 19 prominent members of the Flagler County community remember that day and reflect on how it changed them, and how it changed the nation. Today’s contributors are Bobby Bossardet, Colleen Walsh Conklin, Ty Miller, Howard Holley, Jonathan Lord, Lance Blanchette, Jay Livingston, Kyle Berryhill, Michael Rodriguez, Brynn Newton, Kyle Totten, Jane Mealy, Michael McGlothlin, David Ayres, Jeff Douglas, Rick de Yampert, Linda Hansen, Alvin Jackson and Monica Campana.
Double-Digit Health Insurance Rate Increases Appear Ahead
It looks like another round of health insurance premium increases for millions of Floridians who get their insurance through the federal health care makretplaces. The rates, filed in the spring, haven’t yet been finalized. They are proposed changes. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will review and approve final rates for the plans.
Florida Kills Daniel Conahan Jr. for 1996 Murder of Richard Montgomery in 43rd Execution on DeSantis Watch
Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. was put to death by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison for the 1996 strangulation of 21-year-old Richard Allen Montgomery in Charlotte County. Conahan is the 15th inmate killed this year by the state after a modern-era record 19 in 2025. It is the 43rd execution on Gov. Ron DeSantis’s watch.
Judge Recommends Reprimand and Fine for Florida Nurse Who Wished Ill on Pregnant Press Secretary
An administrative law judge has recommended the Florida Department of Health reprimand and fine a nurse who posted a TikTok disparaging former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. In January 2026, Lexie Lawler, a labor and delivery nurse in Boca Raton, recorded and posted on TikTok a video in which she wished Leavitt, who was pregnant, a gruesome and difficult birth experience.
Flagler County Memories of 9/11, pt. 1:
‘Who Will Soothe This Nation’s Soul?’
In the first of two parts commemorating the 25th anniversary of 9/11, 16 prominent members of the Flagler County community remember that day and reflect on how it has changed the nation since. Today’s contributors are Patrick Juliano, Andrea Totten, Penny Overstreet, LaShakia Moore, Al Hadeed, John Phillips, Stephen Bickel, Rick Staly, Tom Leek, Dale Martin, Cari Presley, Jake Scully, Brittany Kershaw, Marc Dwyer and Craig Uppercue.
Florida Attorney general Uthmeier Sues Netflix, Claiming It Targets Children
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit against Netflix today, claiming it violated state law by telling consumers it wouldn’t track and sell their data to advertisers, and that it’s keeping targeting children to keep them “tethered to the screen.”
Support for Labor Unions Is at a 25-Year High
Nearly half of Americans want unions to be more powerful, in a showing of labor support that’s at an all-time high in the last 25 years, according to a new poll by Gallup. The poll said 47% wanted unions to have more influence, while 26% wanted unions’ power to stay the same, and 23% said unions’ sway should be less.
Florida Is Forcing Textbook Publishers to Remove Climate Change Content
Florida education officials asked science textbook publishers to remove words like “climate change” and references to coal plants as “polluting,” either watered down or eliminating content about the climate crisis, an investigation found. These revelations come as the state is quietly updating its science standards for the first time since 2008. Academic standards outline what knowledge and skills a student should master in each grade and subject.
Economic Development Group Join Opposition to Amendment 3
The Florida Economic Development Council and the Orlando Economic Partnership (OEP) both issued statements denouncing the November ballot measure that would raise the homestead exemption to $250,000 by 2028 and gut local government general fund revenue.
Undocumented Students Now Banned from All Florida Colleges and Universities
Students must be lawfully in the United States to attend Florida’s universities, the board that oversees the university system voted Thursday. The measure received no debate or discussion, except from members of the public during public comment. The Board of Governors approved the measure, on the consent agenda, after receiving preliminary approval during a meeting in June.
Sheriff Staly Halts Use of Flock Cameras, But Not Other License Plate Readers and Surveillance Means
Joining numerous other law enforcement agencies and in accordance with a state order applying to state rights-of-way, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly suspended the use of Flock Safety automated license plate readers but continues using other surveillance technologies to ensure public safety. He attributes the statewide backlash to political reactions and abuses by a few bad-apple cases in other agencies and defends the monitored technology as essential to crime-fighting.
Florida Kills Harold Lucas for 1976 Bonita Springs Murder of Jill Piper, 16
Harold Gene Lucas was put to death by lethal injection Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison, 50 years after killing 16-year-old Jill Piper at her home in Bonita Springs.
DeSantis Warns of ‘Surveillance State’ as Several Florida Sheriffs Drop License Plate Readers
Flock Safety in particular has come under torrents of criticism over its technology, which includes broad location data collection and sharing. There have been several publicized incidents demonstrating how local law enforcement officers have abused the technology, as such as the police officer accused in Polk County earlier this month of using Flock technology to track his estranged wife’s vehicle 717 times over a 21 months.
Sullivan Uthmeier v. New York Times
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is a busy, busy bee, darting from human trafficking prosecutions to going after shoplifting gangs to trying to outlaw drag queen Christmas shows to accusing Microsoft of anti-Christian bias to cheerleading book bans. His current obsession is The New York Times. The AG blames the Times for manifold transgressions and is demanding six years-worth of board documents, information on editorial decisions, and internal communication records.
Grand Jury: DeSantis ‘Misappropriated’ $10 Million to Wife’s Hope Florida Charity and Political Allies
A state grand jury report found Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” funds by diverting Medicaid money to a nonprofit, eventually ending up in political committees supporting the governor’s agenda. But the report didn’t find enough to pursue criminal charges against anyone.
Like 4 Other Florida Universities, UNF Gets to Pick from a List of One for President
One finalist, University of North Georgia President Michael Shannon, has emerged for the University of North Florida presidency, following a trend of state institutions relying on an “exceptional circumstances” carveout to state policy that otherwise requires three or more finalists. The university received 152 applications.