News Service of Florida

The AAA auto club said Monday that a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Florida cost $3.46, up from $3.27 a week earlier. Naples and West Palm areas lead the state.

The Florida Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear arguments Sept. 8 in a case that could play a major role in the future of abortion rights in the state.The court issued an order scheduling a hearing in a challenge to a 2022 law that prevented abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The outcome of the case also will affect a law passed this year that would bar abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — and could determine whether a privacy clause in the Florida Constitution will protect abortion rights.

After Florida’s first recorded case of a contagious disease fatal to deer, wildlife officials said Thursday other cases are likely and that it will be a “long-term marathon” to address the issue.But it also could mean a short-term increase in hunting limits in the region of Northwest Florida where the case was found, as officials seek to quickly collect samples to determine the prevalence of chronic wasting disease.

Weekly political notes from The News Service of Florida: Senate President Kathleen Passidomo says she wants to focus on health-care issues during the 2023 legislative session.

The state this week pushed back against a challenge to a new law that restricts people from China and six other countries from owning property in Florida, disputing arguments that it is unconstitutional and discriminates based on “race and national origin.”

"The challenged provisions exemplify something Florida has struggled with in recent years; namely, governing within the bounds set by the United States Constitution," Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, in a 58-page decision, that blocked some parts of the state's new elections law.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a measure that will overhaul the state’s alimony laws, after three vetoes of similar bills and a decade of emotional clashes over the issue.The measure (SB 1416) includes doing away with what is known as permanent alimony. DeSantis’ approval came a year after he nixed a similar bill that sought to eliminate permanent alimony and set up a formula for alimony amounts based on the length of marriage.

Florida Ports Council President and CEO Mike Rubin is raising alarms that proposed changes to protect an endangered whale species could economically hurt ports from Tampa to Pensacola.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is nearing the end of a public-comment period on a petition from conservation organizations to establish a year-round 10-knot vessel speed limit in the “core” habitat area of the endangered Rice’s whale.Rubin wants the petition tossed.

The state Department of Education on Tuesday released a series of proposed rules that would outline restrictions on “adult live performances” at field trips, prohibit school districts from using the social-media app TikTok and allow parents to control “any deviation from their child’s legal name” in schools.

Just days before the change is slated to take effect, a Leon County circuit judge Tuesday refused to block part of a new state law that will prevent government employees from having union dues deducted from their paychecks.