Florida lawmakers pass a nearly $115 billion state budget.
Florida's main conservation land-buying program gets no new money from the state next year. Instead, WUSF's Steve Newborn reports state lawmakers are paying ranchers and farmers not to develop their lands.
Florida’s legislature is having another special session next week. This time, lawmakers want to put an item on the ballot this November that would reduce property taxes. WFSU’s Tristan Wood reports the proposal from Governor Ron DeSantis will lead to an initial increase in homestead exemptions and scale up to eventually eliminate all taxes on homesteaded properties.
A discussion surrounding a potential AI Data Center drew Congressional candidates to North Florida’s Jackson County recently. Randy Vuxta with WFSU’s Rural News Service reports the conversation is happening at the same time a state law to regulate such centers is set to go into effect this July.
Between inflation-driven decreases in state funding and unrelenting attacks from some political figures and partisan media, it seems traditional public schools in Florida are facing increasingly tough times.
We have an update on the future of Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz in the Everglades. For more than 40 weeks, volunteers from Southwest Florida have gathered every Sunday outside the immigrant detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz. They pray for the people detained inside, and for the facility itself to close down. Now, with reports that the Department of Homeland Security may shut the detention center down by early June because of mounting costs, the weekly vigils show no sign of stopping. WLRN’s Joshua Ceballos was at Alligator Alcatraz recently and brings this story.
A Palm Beach County program enlists high schoolers to fill local news gaps. Today, millions of Americans live in counties with NO or LIMITED access to local news. Startup news outlets are trying to fill the void in their communities. WLRN’s Jake Shore reports on a Palm Beach County outlet’s pilot program with reporters in high school.