A majority of the board voted to keep the millage rate the same as this fiscal year. Doing so will bring in millions more money for reserves.

Lee County is reopening the application process to help people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Ian.

Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $32 million in arts and culture grants that had been approved by the Florida Legislature. This year, the state’s $115.5 billion budget includes $18.3 million in arts and culture grants, but only a handful of Southwest Florida arts organizations qualified for a share of that money. For the second year in a row, 14 Lee county arts organizations were denied state funding, including the Alliance for the Arts and Florida Repertory Theatre. Each of Lee’s arts organizations is employing a medley of measures to make up for the loss of state grants.

A federal judge considered whether detainees have been denied their legal rights at a temporary immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades. This is the second lawsuit challenging practices at the facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” On Monday, civil rights attorneys in Miami asked a judge to ensure detainees have confidential access to their lawyers. They also want the judge to identify an immigration court with jurisdiction over the center. Florida officials dispute claims that attorneys have been unable to meet with clients. Government attorneys said at the start of the hearing that they would designate a Miami-area immigration court for the Everglades detainees.

Erin becomes the first hurricane of the 2025 season. It is expected to remain north of the Leeward Islands and bring high swells and rough seas for the eastern Seaboard.

Heat indices are at least 103°F across much of Florida, with lower-than-average storm chances.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed Monday that President Donald Trump may be making a visit to the "Alligator Alcatraz" site being prepared in the Everglades in eastern Collier County.That confirmation came after Special VIP Movement Notifications and Notices for Airmen were issued for both Palm Beach Airport, near where the Trump's Mar-A-Lago residence is, and Ochopee, the location designation for the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where the Alcatraz site is located. There is also a petition on Change.org seeking to stop the project.

Amid support from hunters and warnings of a “slaughter” from animal-rights advocates, state wildlife officials Wednesday moved forward with Florida’s first black bear hunt in a decade.Before a crowd that spread into at least four extra rooms at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 for staff members to return with rules for a December hunt that would be held in four parts of the state and could lead to as many as 187 bears being killed.Hunters could receive permits through a lottery system.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 at a meeting in favor of a bear hunt in December and annually into the future, allowing the use of up to six dogs to corner the bears.

The race to become the governor of Florida is beginning to bubble, with U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds leading what is becoming a crowded field of hopefuls, all jockeying to assume the mantle.It’s way too early to divine who will win the open governor’s seat next November, but Donalds, who is Black and represents Florida’s 19th Congressional district, is bumping up against the reality that in its 180-year history, Florida has never elected a Black governor, man or woman, Democrat or Republican.