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A Congressional Budget Office analysis suggests the cost of the missile defense program could be $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years, a far heftier sum than the initial $175 billion price tag.

Lee County will adopt its Fiscal Year 2023-24 $2.5 billion budget tonight at the final budget hearing.The budget includes no increases in county tax rates.

They dotted the rural landscape with signs expressing favoritism of cows over condos. They’ve unsuccessfully attempted to unseat a developer-friendly county commissioner with someone more like-minded -- and they’ve attended public hearings en masse imploring decision makers to hit the pause button on drastic eastward expansion of clusters of homes in rural Lee County.Wednesday residents of Olga and North Alva — many opposed to more development in that area — will get to speak their mind again when the Lee County Board of County Commissioners meets to decide on a zoning application.The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the commission chambers in downtown Fort Myers.

Phillippi Creek in Sarasota County won’t be dredged this hurricane season, no emergency permit issued.

It would take a massive overhaul of state laws to make election administration truly nonpartisan. Voters say they want it, and experts are calling for it, but it probably isn't coming any time soon.

The Senate Education Committee has advanced a bill to explore what it calls “intellectual freedom” on college campuses, drawing the most debate of any...

State health officials report that Florida has seen more than 2.3 million COVID-19 infections and more than 37,500 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. As of last Friday morning, the state division of Emergency Management reports that more than 10 million people in Florida have been vaccinated against the virus, including more than two million people who have received a first dose and more than 8.1 million people who have either completed a two-dose series or who have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.The Florida Department of Health data scientist who built the state’s online COVID-19 dashboard is receiving whistleblower status. Rebekah Jones was fired last year after raising questions about the accuracy of pandemic data being reported by the state.Gov. DeSantis says Florida will penalize cruise companies that require proof of vaccination of travelers on board under a new state law, but the federal government says cruise ships need to follow vaccination requirements in order to restart cruising. Under the new state law set to take effect July 1, Cruise companies would be fined $5,000 for each customer who must show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.A new study from the policy think tank, the RAND Corporation, finds students who attended school remotely during the pandemic had worse outcomes in math and language arts than students who attended a hybrid model and those who went to class in-person.

Local officials thought a dispute over who would pay to collect a voter-approved school tax had been settled when Sarasota County commissioners agreed in a surprise vote this week to resume covering the millions of dollars withheld by Tax Collector Mike Moran. Turns out, the fight isn’t over. Behind the scenes, county, school and tax officials spent the next few days sparring over whether Tuesday’s commission vote actually restored the decades-old practice — or whether another formal vote would be required before the money could be released to the school district, according to emails obtained by Suncoast Searchlight.

During the month of November, four exhibitions open, two close and 23 others continue their runs.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has announced the next generation of the popular iPhone. The new version, due in stores July 11, runs on the fast 3G network. The 3G iPhone costs less money and has other few new features. The new iPhone starts at $199 — far less than the $600 price tag when the phone debuted a year ago.