News Service of Florida

The industry group Florida Realtors last week released a report that showed the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in March was $412,500. The Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island SMSA again leads the state with a median home price of $800,000.A median home price is the middle value in a collection of home sales prices with half the homes selling at a lower price and half higher. This is how the typical home price in a given area or market is calculated, giving a better representation than the average price, which can be skewed by extreme values.

A proposal to carve an exemption in the state’s voter-approved minimum wage isn’t expected to pass during this year’s legislative session, Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, told reporters last week.

With sponsor Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, calling it a “bold step,” the Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that would create a new state agency to oversee information technology.

A proposal to increase maximum speeds on Florida highways is moving forward in both legislative chambers, with the House adding it Tuesday to a wide-ranging transportation bill.

The Florida House will dive into issues about college athletes getting paid for use of their names, images and likenesses, or what is known as NIL.

Average gasoline prices in Florida continued a roller-coaster ride, dropping 14 cents during the past week, after a 10-cent-a-gallon increase the previous week and a 15-cent drop the week before that. Florida motorists paid an average of $3.02 a gallon for regular unleaded Monday, down from $3.16 a week earlier, according to the AAA auto club.

Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said in a joint memo Friday that the Legislature will convene at 10:30 a.m. Monday in a special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Albritton and Perez, who have raised objections to the special session, did not detail how lawmakers will handle a series of issues that DeSantis wants them to address.

President-elect Donald Trump vowed to undo a directive Monday by President Joe Biden that would ban oil and natural gas drilling off Florida’s coasts. During an appearance with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump called Biden’s directive “ridiculous” and said he had the right to “unban” drilling immediately.