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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a request by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier that would have at least temporarily allowed enforcement of a new state law targeting undocumented immigrants who enter the state.Uthmeier last month asked the Supreme Court for a stay of a temporary injunction that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued in April to block the law. Such a stay, if granted, would have allowed enforcement of the law while an underlying legal battle about the injunction played out.

Pointing to ongoing threats to manatees, a U.S. district judge Friday said the state has violated the federal Endangered Species Act in its regulation of wastewater discharges into the Indian River Lagoon.Orlando-based Judge Carlos Mendoza issued a 21-page decision that sided with the environmental group Bear Warriors United, which argued discharges into the waterway along the East Coast led to the demise of seagrass and, as a result, deaths and other harm to manatees.

U.S. travelers continue to bolster Florida's tourism industry, while the state hopes to make up for a decline in Canadian visitors by drawing people from other countries.Visit Florida on Tuesday estimated 34.435 million people traveled to Florida from April 1 through June 30, up from 34.279 million people during the same period last year. The estimate for this year would be a second-quarter record, according to the state tourism-marketing agency.

Florida lawmakers have started filing what are expected to be hundreds of proposals seeking money for local projects and programs — but legislative leaders are cautioning not to expect as much spending as in the past few years.As of Tuesday morning, House members had filed 40 funding proposals, while one had been filed in the Senate, according to legislative websites. Lawmakers will consider the proposals as they negotiate a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year during the legislative session that will start March 4.

Pointing to the federal government’s power to regulate immigration, a U.S. district judge Friday temporarily blocked a new Florida law aimed at cracking down on undocumented immigrants.Miami-based Judge Kathleen Williams issued a 14-page decision granting a request for a temporary restraining order against the law, which the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved in February.

Amid an escalating feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled House, the chamber’s budget chairman on Friday sent letters to six state agencies seeking a broad array of documents as part of a probe into government spending.The inquiry into DeSantis-administration spending, ordered by House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, has raised questions about potentially missing state-owned vehicles, agency leaders earning six-figure salaries while living in other states and millions of dollars of interest paid on a prison facility that has not been built.

After announcing his candidacy Tuesday night on Fox News, Florida Congressman Byron Donalds filed paperwork Wednesday to formally enter the 2026 race for governor.Donalds, a Naples Republican, became the first major candidate to enter the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis. Donalds made the move after receiving backing last week from President Donald Trump.

The Southwest Florida Symphony kicks off 2024 with the second concert of this season’s Masterworks series. The performance features Grammy winning violinist and vocalist Charles Yang performing arrangements of songs by The Beatles and the Animals. The concert also includes a performance of perhaps the most well-known classical composition in modern times, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

It came at the start of the 2023 legislative session, in which the Republican supermajority is expected to rubber stamp much of DeSantis' agenda.

A strike by UPS workers would likely mean package delays for consumers across the country and it would shake up an increasingly competitive industry.