Tampa Bay area Democratic state Sen. Darryl Rouson, the longest-serving member of the Florida Legislature, announced Tuesday he will not run for the House District 62 seat later this year but will be stepping down after 18 years in office in Tallahassee and take a position at New College of Florida. Rouson, 70, served for […]

WASHINGTON — Congress must act to shore up Social Security during the next six years to avoid an automatic drop-off in benefits in 2032, according to a report released Tuesday. The annual update on the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund shows that it will “become depleted” in the fourth quarter of that year, […]

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States will retaliate after Iran shot down a U.S. Army Apache helicopter late Monday over the Strait of Hormuz, and that the two American pilots aboard were unharmed. Trump announced the cause of the helicopter’s downing in a Truth Social post just before 1 p.m. Eastern. […]

WASHINGTON — A hastily constructed immigrant detention facility on a military base in Texas wasted millions in federal funding and failed to meet basic standards, according to a report released Tuesday by a nonpartisan government watchdog. The report by the Government Accountability Office documenting problems at Camp East Montana is one of the first independent […]

Acting as the newly created State Board of Immigration Enforcement, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday approved more than $87 million in immigration reimbursements for 56 local law enforcement agencies, most of it for radios and AI policing systems. The unanimous vote sends money from a $250 million state grant to fight […]

Since Idaho’s abortion bans took effect almost four years ago, an Idaho doctor says he’s had to send patients out of state for medically necessary abortions for a range of pregnancy complications under which he used to be able to provide abortions. Dr. Stacy Seyb, who treats high-risk pregnancies as a maternal fetal medicine specialist, […]

The Auburn University Board of Trustees Friday dissolved the university’s faculty senate and replaced it with a body appointed by university officials, a move that drew criticism from educators at the school. The board also voted to implement a new policy giving the board and university officials more direct control of the curriculum. Auburn University […]

Carrie Frail was in the process of leaving an abusive relationship when she discovered she was pregnant. Her partner told her he could hit her in the stomach until she had a miscarriage, and it would save some money. “I firmly believe he would have killed me at some point, whether accidentally or intentionally,” Frail […]

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a June 2 ruling rejected a youth-led constitutional climate lawsuit seeking to overturn three of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at supporting the fossil fuel industry, curbing renewable energy and suppressing climate science. A three-judge panel agreed with a Montana District Court judge who dismissed the […]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will allow states to access federal citizenship data by June 30 and plans to monitor the flow of mail ballots for signs of voter fraud, according to a court document. Amid a series of lawsuits, President Donald Trump’s administration is now moving to carry out a March 31 executive order […]

By Elena Tittel/Medill News Service WASHINGTON – A North Carolina jury convicted a man for carjacking a truck from a McDonald’s parking lot by holding something “cold and hard” on the driver’s neck. A federal appeals court overturned the conviction in 2016, citing insufficient evidence. “The evidence was insufficient to support a rational finding beyond […]

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon changed course Monday after its removal of dozens of religious denominations from a list of recognized faiths drew intense criticism over the weekend from Utah Republicans incensed by the failure to classify the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Christian denomination. U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a member of […]

The Florida Democratic Party now has some competition in the race to produce a challenger to Republican Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia in November. Former Miami-Dade County Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo announced her candidacy on Monday. “Florida families are getting crushed. Your homeowner’s insurance bill doubled. Then tripled. And the politicians in Tallahassee? They […]

Florida’s junior U.S. senator, Ashley Moody has been a consistent supporter of the Trump administration since she was appointed to her seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2025. However, she broke with the administration last week in a vote on an amendment regarding the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund criticized by both Democratic and Republican […]

Trulieve Cannabis Co., Florida’s largest marijuana provider and one of the biggest in the nation, has been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Voting shares are expected to begin trading on the NYSE floor under the ticker symbol TRLV on Wednesday morning. When that happens, it will have become the first […]

Black midwives in the South, a region rife with racial disparities in maternal health access and maternal mortality, are leading lawsuits over state regulations that they say limit their ability to provide care. Women behind the litigation say midwives can help improve birthing outcomes in Southern states, where maternal mortality rates are higher than the […]

The U.S. Senate rejected the SAVE America Act on Thursday, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to impose voting restrictions ahead of the November midterm elections. Senators voted 48-50 against advancing an amendment that would have incorporated Trump’s top legislative priority into an immigration-focused spending bill. The vote offered the clearest sign yet that despite […]

Responding to the frustrations expressed by local residents, the St. Petersburg City Council has taken a major step towards potentially jettisoning its longtime relationship with Duke Energy Florida and creating its own city-run electric utility. The council voted 4-3 Thursday to spend up to $590,000 to hire Texas-based NewGen Strategies and Solutions to analyze whether […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate approved a nearly $70 billion package early Friday, moving Republicans one step closer to funding immigration and deportation activities for the next three years without negotiating new constraints on federal agents with Democrats. The 52-47 mostly party-line vote sends the measure to the House, where GOP lawmakers could send it to […]

Orange County Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Demings announced Friday he is suspending his 2026 campaign after being diagnosed with a treatable form of prostate cancer. In a prepared release, Demings said that “continuing to run for governor would have likely led to injurious effects on my prognosis. I am a fighter through and […]

The idea started with a sermon Micah Longmire heard at his Presbyterian church in Ogden, Utah, about the importance of grandparents in a child’s life. Longmire, now 31, exchanged a look with his mother-in-law. “We were like, ‘I’d be OK living with you after that sermon,’ and the ball rolled downhill from there,” Longmire said. […]

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, his former personal lawyer, to fill the top role at the Department of Justice on a permanent basis, he said Wednesday night. Trump revealed Blanche as his choice at an outdoor event at the White House, saying “we are going to make him […]

Polk State College trustees unanimously approved Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas as its next leader. He will start in the role July 6. “I am grateful for the overwhelming support from the District Board of Trustees, Presidential Search Committee and College community,” Kamoutsas said in a Wednesday news release from the college after the vote. “I […]

Former state Senator Shevrin Jones is running to succeed eight-term U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in Congressional District 24, according to paperwork filed Thursday morning. “It’s filed and live,” Jones, a 42-year-old Miami Gardens native, told the Phoenix. A Democrat, Jones launched his bid to replace the same-party Wilson one week after she announced her retirement […]

A public stadium shouldn’t host rapper and producer Kanye West, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said Thursday. In a letter to the Tampa Sports Authority, the government organization that operates Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Scott urged the authority board to “carefully review this decision” of hosting the rapper, for shows June 26 and 28. “West’s […]

This is a developing story. St. Petersburg-based Democratic House Rep. Lindsay Cross stunned political observers on Thursday when she announced she will not run for re-election. In a statement Cross said she had worked hard over the past four years to live up to the promises she made to the voters in HD 60, which […]

The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine published new clinical guidance this week affirming that acetaminophen, better known by its brand Tylenol, should be the “first-line” defense against pain and fever during pregnancy. The directive contradicts the Trump administration’s notice to physicians last year cautioning against the use of the primary pain reliever recommended for pregnant women, […]

Gov. Ron DeSantis is “very good” and has bestowed a “great honor” upon Donald Trump by renaming the airport neighboring Mar-a-Lago after him, the 47th president said Wednesday. Trump’s praise for the Florida governor — previously rare for his former presidential opponent — comes one week after state lawmakers agreed to spend $2.75 million to […]

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia had a message for south Florida voters Wednesday. Don’t believe the hype from “big government apologists” who claim cities and counties won’t be able to afford core government services if Gov. Ron DeSantis’ revamped property tax package is approved by 60% of the voters in November. Ingoglia, appointed CFO […]

GAINESVILLE—Stuart Bell, the lone finalist to be the next president of University of Florida, aimed to avoid the fate of the previous solo finalist for the position by pledging allegiance to the conservative higher education policies storming Florida campuses. During an afternoon of faculty, staff, and student forums Wednesday, Bell, the former president of the […]