Florida inmate pleads guilty to threatening federal judge

A Florida state prison inmate faces up to 10 years in federal prison for threatening to kill a federal judge and his family. Curtis Brown, 35, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Jacksonville federal court to threatening to murder a federal judge in retaliation for performing his official duties and mailing a threatening letter, according to court […]

Amid high inflation, Florida reports higher-than-expected revenue

Hurricane recovery efforts helped November tax collections in Florida as housing sales waned and people continued to dip into savings amid high inflation. A report released Wednesday estimated that general-revenue collections were 14.1% higher than projected for November. The report by the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research estimated that the state collected $3.625 […]

Mega Millions

Mega Millions jackpot rolls over to $640 million

We’ve got some good news and bad news about Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing for an estimated jackpot of $565 million. First the bad news – you didn’t win. The good news? Neither did anyone else. The numbers from the Tuesday drawing were 59, 61, 9, 36, 13, and a Mega Ball of 11. In […]

Gov. DeSantis joins call to end health emergency

Gov. Ron DeSantis last week joined 24 other Republican governors in asking President Joe Biden to end a COVID-19 emergency declaration that has helped lead to a surge in enrollment in Florida’s Medicaid program. The governors sent a letter that urged Biden to allow a federal “public health emergency” to expire in April. The emergency […]

Tampa police officer drags woman into jail, is fired

A police officer in Tampa who was videotaped dragging a handcuffed woman into jail has been fired, authorities said. An internal investigation determined that former officer Gregory Damon violated department policies during the Nov. 17 incident, the Tampa Police Department announced Tuesday in a news release. The woman was being arrested for trespassing, according to […]

Florida crops appear to escape damage from unusual cold

Florida’s citrus, fruit and vegetable crops appear to have escaped widespread damage from some of the coldest weather in years, officials with state growers associations said Tuesday. A cloud cover helped protect citrus trees in areas where the thermometer hovered around or below freezing, but there may be pockets of damage, said Matt Joyner, CEO […]

abortion ban

Court urged to continue blocking Florida education law

Professors and other plaintiffs are urging a federal appeals court to keep in place a preliminary injunction against a new Florida law that seeks to restrict the way race-related concepts can be taught in universities. Attorneys in two challenges to the law filed documents Thursday arguing that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should […]

Southwest Airlines under federal scrutiny after wave of storm cancellations

The U.S. Department of Transportation said it will look into flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines that have left travelers stranded at airports across the country amid an intense winter storm that has killed dozens of people. Many airlines were forced to cancel flights due to the weather, but Southwest was by far the leader in […]

‘Gas prices near me,’ and more of the top local Google searches in 2022

In 2022, Americans turned to Google to find local answers that reflect some of this year’s largest national conversations about the economy, public health and the midterm elections, according to the latest “Year in Search” report, an annual review of people, places and things that piqued internet users’ interests and drew the most attention online […]

Violent inmate dies at Florida jail after being restrained

Authorities are investigating at a Central Florida jail after an inmate believed to be on drugs violently fought deputies and died after being restrained. Eric Nelson died Friday at the lockup in Frostproof, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said. Nelson is said to have become enraged and begun kicking the door to his cell after […]