News
March 13, 2019
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Thousands of gardens across the state of Florida are playing a part in saving pollinators and the nation's food system. The Million Pollinator Garden Challenge was launched in 2015 as part of a nationwide call to revive collapsing bee colonies and improve the health of birds, bats, butterflies and other pollinators. The challenge was to register a million new gardens through the National Pollinator Garden Network – and through the efforts of schools, garden clubs, and mayors promoting community gardens, the goal was exceeded by 40,000 gardens.
March 4, 2019
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Those who provide comfort and protection for Floridians in crisis say they need more support. March is National Professional Social Work Month, and in Florida, more than 21,000 social workers provide assistance in schools, hospitals, mental health facilities and social service agencies.
Jim Akin, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers in Florida, says social workers often are unrecognized and under-compensated for their work, and that people often are surprised when they realize that social workers are everywhere.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis says he wants to give teachers a bonus of more than $9,000 in the coming year. It's his second big education announcement, after an executive order last week to eliminate Common Core standards from Florida schools.The proposed bonus is welcome news for cash-strapped teachers who sometimes dip into their own pockets to purchase school supplies. However, some have warned that it might be a massive and costly overhaul to remove elements of academic standards known as Common Core from the Florida Standards.
TAMPA, Fla. – A new study shows kids who attend Pre-Kindergarten programs do better in reading, writing and math as they get older than those who weren't enrolled. The Duke University study tracked the progress of students who'd been in North Carolina's pre-school program and showed gains in every group, no matter their household income, through eighth grade.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida's new elections chief was forced to resign on Thursday after just three weeks on the job, when a newspaper published pictures of him appearing in blackface. Secretary of State Michael Ertel resigned just hours after testifying before a state legislative committee about elections lawsuits following Florida's controversial midterms.The Tallahassee Democrat published photos of him at a Halloween party in 2005, dressed in blackface, wearing earrings, a New Orleans Saints bandanna and fake breasts, under a shirt with "Katrina Victim" written on it.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A major South Florida landowner will be back in court on Tuesday asking a judge to override a final order by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection against their request to drill an exploratory oil well in the environmentally sensitive Everglades.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – President Donald Trump's partial government shutdown to secure a southern border wall has increased the strain on the U.S. immigration system – including in Florida. More than 60,000 immigration cases are in limbo in Florida, part of a record-high backlog that tops 800,000 cases nationally. Judges have been forced to indefinitely postpone hearings that were scheduled months and years in advance, since most immigration courts are closed in the shutdown.
TALLAHASSE, Fla. – Among a number of amendments on Florida voters' 2018 ballots, is Amendment 6, also known as Marsy's Law. The amendment to the state's constitution is aimed at expanding the rights of crime victims during the legal process, and supporters say it creates equal footing with defendants.
TALLAHASSEE – The state’s Supreme Court ruled Monday that outgoing Republican Gov. Rick Scott cannot appoint replacements for the court’s three upcoming vacancies. “The governor who is elected in the November 2018 general election (most likely Democrat Andrew Gillum or Republican Ron DeSantis) has the sole authority to fill the vacancies that will be created by the mandatory retirement of Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, and Peggy A. Quince,” the court’s unsigned order said.
