Students and professors should carry guns as a way to defend against campus shootings, a former Broward County School Board member and current state Board of Education member wrote in a new essay.
The opinion piece by Daniel Foganholi, a frequent appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis for education-related boards, was published Wednesday by Spectator World, a conservative publication. It’s titled, “Let students and professors carry guns to class. We owe them their God-given right to self-defense.”
“It’s time to get real: gun-free zones do not protect our students — they turn them into...
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed two bills aimed at carrying out President Donald Trump’s directive to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
One of the bills (HB 575) will change dozens of state laws to reflect the name change, while the other (HB 549) will require state agencies to update “geographic materials” to reflect the change.
Also, it will require that school instructional materials adopted or purchased as of July 1 include the Gulf of America name.
The Republican-controlled Senate passed the bills last week, after they had been approved by the House.
The...
TALLAHASSEE — In an issue rooted in the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the Florida House on Wednesday approved repealing a law that prevents people under age 21 from buying rifles and other long guns.
The Republican-controlled House voted 78-34 to pass the bill (HB 759), though it remains unclear whether the Senate will take up the issue. The House passed repeal bills in 2023 and 2024, but they did not get through the Senate.
As in past years, this year’s bill drew heavy — and, at times, emotional — debate.
Then-Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature in...
A group of 10 Florida judges and court officials have been appointed to serve on a workgroup that will study threats against judges and staff and make security recommendations.
Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz signed an administrative order Monday, creating the Workgroup on Judicial Security. The group will submit its findings and recommendations “on threat reduction, threat detection, and threat response,” the order said.
Threats against judges at all levels of the court system have been on the rise for years. The administrative order said the number of verified threats against federal judges...
MIAMI BEACH — President Donald Trump addressed corporate CEOs, financiers, government officials and billionaires gathered Wednesday for the start of a three-day Saudi Arabian-backed investor summit, calling Saudi Arabia “a special place with special leaders.”
His nearly 90-minute introduction at the FII PRIORITY Summit covered topics as wide-ranging as the war between Russia and Ukraine, domestic oil production, cuts to government spending, and his 2024 election as the 47th president. Several times he reiterated that he wanted his legacy to be as a peacemaker.
“The golden age of America is...
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida state Sen. Geraldine Thompson died Thursday following complications from knee replacement surgery, her family said. She was 76.
The Orlando-area Democrat had served in the Florida Legislature since 2006. Her most recent time in the Florida Senate began in 2022. She had previously served as a member of the Florida Senate from 2012 to 2016. She also served in the Florida House from 2006 to 2012 and again from 2018 to 2022.
“Her tireless work in education, healthcare, and civil rights, including her leadership to establish the Wells’Built Museum of African American...
After a special session late last month spiraled into a clash between Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida lawmakers will meet in another special session this week to pass a package of bills targeting illegal immigration — with DeSantis’ support.
Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, on Monday evening issued a proclamation for a special session that will start Tuesday.
They also released summaries of bills that include a series of steps aimed at helping carry out President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal...
A federal judge has paused a lawsuit filed in October by then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody alleging that the U.S. Department of Justice had improperly prevented the state from investigating an alleged assassination attempt against President Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore last week issued an order after Justice Department attorneys filed a motion that said the two sides “have conferred about this case and agree that more time is needed to discuss how best to proceed in this matter.”
The Justice Department originally faced a deadline this week to file a response...
Markenzy Lapointe announced Monday evening his resignation as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
Lapointe, nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2022, in a prepared statement said his resignation will take effect at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 17.
President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be Jan. 20. It is customary for U.S. attorneys to resign during a presidential transition. Lapointe replaced Juan Antonio Gonzalez, who took over in 2021 after Trump-nominated Ariana Fajardo Orshan’s resignation. Several other U.S. attorneys across the...
TALLAHASSEE — As an appeals court considers the constitutionality of a 2023 Florida law aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows, it also is looking at another question: Is the case moot after an Orlando restaurant that challenged the law closed and said it plans to reopen elsewhere?
An attorney for operators of the restaurant, Hamburger Mary’s, filed a brief Monday at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that the case is not moot. The brief said Hamburger Mary’s, which closed the Orlando location in June, has continued to produce drag shows with other venues and...