Jim Turner/News Service of Florida

Damage from Hurricane Milton is driving down citrus production from what was already expected to be a historic low in the current growing season, according to a federal report released Tuesday.

About 67 percent of voters supported what appeared on the ballot as Amendment 2 and was titled “Right to Fish and Hunt.” Constitutional amendments need support from 60 percent of voters to pass.

Florida has ramped up debris-removal efforts and recalled emergency workers who provided aid in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, as residents of Florida’s West Coast face another potentially major storm barreling through the deep, warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.With Tropical Storm Milton expected to become a hurricane before hitting Florida in the middle of the week, state Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie on Sunday urged residents to immediately start putting storm plans in place, which could include evacuating further inland.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said members of the Florida National Guard and the Florida State Guard will go to ports where union longshoremen are on strike seeking higher pay.“At my direction, the Florida National Guard and the Florida State Guard will be deployed to critical ports affected by the strike to maintain order and, where possible, resume operations,” DeSantis said in a post on the social-media platform X.

Four busy Florida ports will see direct impacts from an International Longshoremen’s Association strike for higher wages that began Tuesday.

Ranchers, farmers and timber growers are reporting widespread damage from the wind and rain of Hurricane Helene, which raced through rural North Florida last week.Chicken houses had roofs blown off. Acres of sweet corn and carrots were laid horizontal. Irrigation systems have been uprooted. Fences were destroyed by fallen trees. Hay has been left wet and moldy in damaged barns.Incoming Senate President Ben Albritton, a Wauchula Republican and citrus grower, described conditions in fields across North Florida as “worse” than after Hurricane Idalia in August 2023. Idalia took a similar track, crossed many of the same fields and inflicted more than $400 million in damage to the industry.

Trying to quell a bipartisan uproar, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that “half-baked” plans to bring golf courses, resort-style lodges and pickleball courts to state parks will be revamped.DeSantis said the Department of Environmental Protection will gather more public input before it could move forward with what is dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative.”

As conservation groups object to the possibility of adding lodging, pickleball and golf at state parks, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection late Wednesday released information targeting what it said was “confusion” about the plan.“Our efforts to enhance public access, recreation and accommodations are for everyone,” the department said as part of a series of online posts. “The public’s input is welcomed and always valued.”

Future visits to some of Florida’s state parks could include getting in 18 holes of golf or playing pickleball.The state Department of Environmental Protection this week announced what it has dubbed a “Great Outdoors Initiative” aimed at expanding public access to state parks. The announcement included such things as adding campsites and cabins and increasing “the number of outdoor recreation opportunities available at Florida’s state parks, including pickleball, disc golf, golf and paddling.”

State economists on Wednesday increased general-revenue projections by a total of about $2 billion for the current fiscal year and next year, giving a boost to lawmakers as they start preparing to draw up a budget during the 2025 legislative session.A panel of economists known as the Revenue Estimating Conference said about half of the projected increase is tied to anticipated earnings on historically high state investments receiving favorable interest rates.