News Service of Florida

Naples-Marco Island significantly beat out the Miami-West Palm area, again, while North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton was third, Cape Coral-Fort Myers remained in the top 10 at sixth and Punta Gorda was at number 12.

The state wants a federal judge to put on hold a ruling aimed at keeping children with complex medical conditions out of nursing homes, saying a shortage of nurses would make it “impossible” to comply with a key part of the decision.

Migrant workers and advocates on Monday filed a federal lawsuit challenging part of a new Florida law that makes it a felony to transport into the state people who enter the country illegally, arguing the law is vague and will lead to “unlawful arrest, prosecution and harassment.”

After a decade-long legal fight, a federal judge Friday ordered Florida to make changes to keep children with “complex” medical conditions out of nursing homes and help them receive care in their family homes or communities.

Leaders of a First Amendment group and a national higher-education association are pointing to a controversial new law shielding presidential candidates’ identities as harmful to public trust and academic freedom.

Numbers released Wednesday confirmed that Florida’s 2022-2023 citrus season was the worst in nearly a century, as growers tried to recover from an early-season hurricane that exacerbated industry struggles.The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday issued a final report that showed a huge dropoff in production from the 2021-2022 season. The industry would have to go back to the 1929-1930 season to find comparable numbers.

A federal judge has refused to block two parts of a new Florida elections law that placed restrictions on voter-registration groups, while the state appealed an earlier ruling that said other changes in the law likely are unconstitutional.Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Tuesday denied a request by the League of Women Voters of Florida for a preliminary injunction against two parts of the law that the group contends violate First Amendment rights.

Farmers Insurance may know a thing or two, and one of them is that the company is not going to write new policies or renew existing policies. The non-renewals will play out over several months.

The market for reinsurance — a critical piece of Florida’s property-insurance system — is improving. But it comes at a price.Those are takeaways from new reports as Florida insurers try to bounce back after two years of homeowners losing policies and facing major rate increases because of financial troubles in the industry.Reinsurance, which is essentially insurance for insurers, helps drive the catastrophe-prone Florida insurance system. When the market for reinsurance is tight and costly, the effects trickle down to homeowners’ policies.

A committee appointed by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muniz will hold its first meeting Friday to begin looking at consolidation in the 20-circuit system. Muniz issued an order June 30 appointing the committee after receiving a request from Renner.