Jim Turner/News Service of Florida

Jim Boyd, a veteran lawmaker who heads an insurance and investment firm in Bradenton, was formally selected Tuesday by Senate Republicans to become the next Senate president.Boyd, who is the Senate majority leader, will succeed President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, after the November 2026 elections. House Republicans last week formally selected Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, to succeed House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, after next year’s elections.

Local-government officials Tuesday offered some pushback against state efforts to cut property taxes and question city and county spending.With a Florida House panel finishing a two-day review of property-tax issues, city and county officials defended their financial management amid Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to ask voters next year to slash taxes on homesteaded properties.

A state House panel Monday began a two-day review of property taxes as it looks at potential changes that could have a major impact on local governments.Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing lawmakers to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to reduce or eliminate taxes on homesteaded properties. As it gears up for the 2026 legislative session, the House Select Committee on Property Taxes on Monday received presentations about issues such as school funding and rural “fiscally constrained” counties that have limited tax bases.

A conservation group has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission from holding the state’s first bear hunt in a decade.Bear Warriors United filed the 15-page lawsuit Wednesday in Leon County circuit court, contending the commission violated several legal requirements, including approving a hunt using “obsolete” bear population numbers. The 23-day hunt, approved by the commission last month, is scheduled to start Dec. 6.

Animal rights groups are encouraging supporters to apply for bear hunting permits to limit the number of bears killed in December.Starting Friday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will begin accepting applications for 187 permits that will be issued for a December hunting period. The permits will be awarded through a lottery-style process and would entitle people to each kill one bear.

Days after the city of Miami Beach filed a similar case, Fort Lauderdale has challenged the legality of directives by the Florida Department of Transportation to remove art and markings on streets.Fort Lauderdale filed its challenge Monday at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, arguing that the department did not go through a legally required rule-making process. Such directives went to local governments across the state and have drawn heavy attention, in part, because they required removing LGBTQ-themed rainbow crosswalks.

Florida's once-dominant citrus industry is being squeezed for land at an accelerating rate.The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week reported that the industry is entering the 2025-2026 growing season with 208,183 acres in use for producing oranges, grapefruit and specialty fruits, 24 percent fewer acres than a year ago.

Florida plans to resume taking in immigrants at a controversial detention center in the Everglades if an appeals court pauses a judge's order that required winding down operations at the facility, a new court filing says.The filing Tuesday came after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said last week it had stopped sending detainees to the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” because of a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams.