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Citrus growers called on lawmakers Tuesday to continue providing research and advertising money to help an industry that has seen production drop more than 90 percent in less than three decades.Otherwise, they cautioned that more of the roughly 1,500 remaining citrus growers in the state could exit the industry.

In a top priority of Senate President Ben Albritton, senators this past week unanimously passed a more than $200 million plan to bolster health care, education, transportation and economic development in rural areas.Albritton, a Wauchula Republican who owns a citrus grove, said the bill (SB 110) would provide an array of programs that local governments could use “like a buffet” for their communities. He said the money isn’t “hand out” but a “hand up” to provide a chance for residents to “build a career and build a family” in communities where they were raised.

After asserting the Democratic Party in Florida is “dead,” Sen. Jason Pizzo says he’s running for governor as an independent and will make that official in a couple of months.Orlando attorney John Morgan, describing the Democratic Party as “broken,” believes Pizzo is making a mistake if he runs without party affiliation.

Records related to a state House probe of a nonprofit linked to First Lady Casey DeSantis’ signature Hope Florida assistance program are part of an “open” investigation, Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell’s office said Tuesday.House Health Care Budget Chairman Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, submitted records to Campbell’s office late last month after concluding a House inquiry into the Hope Florida Foundation, a nonprofit linked to the Hope Florida program.

he Republican-controlled House voted 86-25 along almost straight party lines to pass the bill (HB 443), after it was approved 30-7 on Wednesday by the Senate. It is ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.The bill is one of a series of measures that lawmakers have considered this year that could help charter schools, which are public schools typically run by private operators and generally not bound by the same regulations as traditional schools. The number of students enrolled in charter schools has increased dramatically over the years as the Legislature has expanded school choice.

A year ago NPR talked with two former U.S. Army Rangers who started a jewelry company. After Taylor Swift wore one of their bracelets at a football game, their sales jumped 2,000%.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with Eric Hoover, reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education, about how last year's chaotic rollout of the FAFSA is affecting colleges and universities.

From the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s there was a land boom in Florida driven by what were known as Installment Land Sales, which offered lots in Florida for as little as $10 down and $10 a month. They were aimed at retirees, and the lots sometimes turned out to be completely unusable, or at least not very desirable properties that regardless have left a mark on the sunshine state to this very day. We learn more about this history, and how it’s still shaping Florida living, from Dr. Jason Vuic, author of The Swamp Peddlers: How lot sellers, land scammers, and retirees built modern Florida and transformed the American Dream.