The Rotunda
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - While most of the country celebrates Juneteenth to commemorate the end of chattel slavery, Florida celebrates its own Emancipation Day a month earlier on May 20. In fact, several states celebrate the end of slavery before the Emancipation Proclamation was read in Texas on June 19, 1865.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Almost a decade after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, government agencies are still spending millions of dollars to restore the Gulf of Mexico. The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group is planning to spend about $130 million over the next seven years to study, restore and manage deep sea habitat, including coral communities in the Gulf.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Incarcerated women could soon be guaranteed access to basic hygiene products, like pads and tampons, under a bill awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis's signature. Growing complaints about the treatment of women behind bars has caught state lawmakers' attention and prompted passage of the "Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act." It would require prisons and jails to make feminine-hygiene products available "at no cost to the woman, and in a quantity that is appropriate" for her needs.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The public can weigh in on fishing boats using a device that could save millions of deep-water fish from dying of the bends during catch-and-release. Fishermen often discard fish that aren't their target species, when they exceed catch limits or when the fish are too small. Federal research says of the six reef fish species caught most in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, about 11% that are thrown back die after release.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In the final week of Florida's legislative session, it appears a bill has stalled that would have required minors to get parental consent before having an abortion. Florida law currently requires parents to be notified if their daughter is planning to have an abortion, but the bill which already passed the House, goes further by requiring parental consent. The bill includes exemptions for situations such as minors who have health emergencies or who already have children.
