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Amanda Cochran of Alva has tossed her hat in the ring for Lee County Commissioner after another candidate she supported withdrew in a campaign that will see her face off against incumbent commissioner Mike Greenwell in the GOP primary.
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Hackers broke into the computer network of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in Tallahassee, which runs the state's juvenile detention centers and programs to steer troubled kids away from crime. It led to a continuing shutdown of the digital backbone the agency uses to manage cases statewide.The department took some of its computer systems offline as early as March 29 due to what spokeswoman Amanda Slama described as an unspecified security concern, she confirmed in a statement Thursday afternoon, two days after a reporter’s initial inquiries about the matter.
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John Passidomo, the husband of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, died Wednesday after falling and suffering massive head trauma and other injuries, according to a memo distributed by the Florida Senate.
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The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to launch Affordable Housing Development New Construction Programs with the publication of the Notice of Funding Availability for up to $200 million from Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds.Lee County’s CDBG-DR Action Plan includes Affordable Housing and Development Programs that provide grant funding for the development and preservation of affordable housing units.
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A divided Florida Supreme Court on Monday approved placing on the November ballot a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at allowing recreational use of marijuana.Trulieve, the state’s largest medical-marijuana company, has spent more than $40 million on the effort to get the proposed constitutional amendment before voters.
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The Florida Supreme Court on Monday upheld the state’s ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which means a subsequently passed six-week ban can soon take effect.The court that was reshaped by former presidential candidate and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ruled that the 15-week ban signed by DeSantis in 2022 can take effect. The ban has been enforced while it was being challenged in court. A six-week ban passed in the 2023 legislative session was written so that it would not take effect until a month after the 2022 law was upheld.The Court also ruled that the proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion access will be on the state’s November ballot.
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A federal judge has rejected a request by Florida and other states for a preliminary injunction to block changes to the National Flood Insurance Program that have led to higher premiums for many property owners — though he ruled that a broader legal battle can continue.U.S. District Judge Darrel James Papillion, who is based in New Orleans, issued a 56-page ruling last week that pointed to potential problems if he issued an injunction against a risk-rating system that began taking effect in 2021 and was fully in place in April 2023.
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A failure at the South Water Treatment Plant for the City of Marco Island caused a pump to shut down and dropped water pressure, prompting a boil water advisory for the southern part of the island.The notice was lifted Monday morning.
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A federal judge on Friday heard arguments in a court battle over a law restricting educators’ use of personal pronouns and titles in schools, in one of a series of challenges to Florida policies targeting LGBTQ people.Plaintiffs Katie Wood, a transgender Hillsborough County teacher, and AV Schwandes, a nonbinary teacher fired last year by Florida Virtual School, are seeking preliminary injunctions as part of a lawsuit challenging the 2023 law, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District have reached a legal settlement that includes nullifying controversial development agreements that the entertainment giant entered with the former Reedy Creek Improvement District.The settlement was announced Wednesday and approved by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board.