Manatee County commissioners recently voted to use an injection well to get rid of the remaining wastewater at the Piney Point phosphate plant.

Though the water would be treated first, environmentalists have raised concerns about pumping anything into the ground that has the potential to contaminate Florida's aquifer.

State and local leaders are looking into options after more than 200 million gallons of nutrient-rich water was recently pumped into Tampa Bay from Piney Point when a reservoir leak posed a catastrophic threat to the surrounding area.

Florida lawmakers met this past weekend to begin ironing out the differences between the House and Senate Budgets. Budget leaders came closer on at least one remaining difference in the healthcare budget. House Speaker Chris Sprowls has thrown his weight behind a move to give new mothers Medicaid coverage for a year after they give birth. The initiative wasn’t included in an initial Senate budget proposal, but during a weekend budget conference the Senate offered to meet the House half way by extending coverage for new mothers from the current two months to six months.

Local governments wouldn't be able to ban or restrict the types of fuels utilities use to power customer's homes and businesses under a bill that has cleared its last House committee stop. Those powers would be preempted to the state. Rep. Josie Tomkow (R-Auburndale) is sponsoring the House bill. She wants to prevent local governments from banning natural gas as a fuel utilized to power buildings.

After a year of pandemic-induced joblessness, the employment pendulum is starting to swing. As more businesses get back to full operation, a growing problem is filling the available positions.

Stephanie Luckie is the human resources director for the Apalachee Center. That's a regional mental health services provider based in Tallahassee. As demand for those services has exploded - at least partly because of the pandemic - she says finding personnel to meet the demand has been a real problem.

A proposal to repeal three controversial toll roads is heading to the House floor for a vote. It's already been approved by the Senate. The bill still contains projects to extend U.S. 19, and the Florida Turnpike and environmentalists have concerns.

Scenes of joy and relief erupted across the country after a jury found Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd.

The jury found Chauvin guilty on all three charges in Floyd's death during an arrest last Memorial Day: second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

A 16-year-old Black girl was fatally shot by a white officer outside of her home after she called the police for help on Tuesday afternoon, according to her family.

The girl has been identified as Ma'Khia Bryant by her aunt, Hazel Bryant.

Bryant allegedly called officers at about 4:30 p.m. local time when a group of "older kids" threatened her with assault, her aunt told Ohio Statehouse News Bureau Reporter Andy Chow. She did not elaborate on the nature of the threat.

Philonise Floyd, who sat in the courtroom for much of the trial, said Tuesday he finally feels some relief, now that former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.

"I feel relieved today that I finally have the opportunity for hopefully getting some sleep," he told a crowd of cheering supporters.

Minutes after the three guilty verdicts against former officer Derek Chauvin were read aloud in court Tuesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison thanked the public, saying he was grateful to have been given the space to pursue justice "wherever it led."

He said the guilty verdicts against Chauvin for killing George Floyd last May were the culmination of "long, hard, painstaking work." But he said Tuesday's outcome, after three weeks of testimony, should not be called justice.

George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, was in the courtroom Tuesday afternoon when Judge Peter Cahill read the three guilty verdicts against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.