Senate Appropriations Chair Jack Latvala held a roundtable discussion Tuesday in Palm Beach County with lawmakers, local leaders and public-safety officials to address Florida’s opioid crisis.
The Senate’s reputation for bipartisanship in Tallahassee appears to be well-earned, while the names of House and Senate members who most frequently voted against their parties included a few surprises, according to an analysis of votes in the 2017 legislative session.
As Florida moves into the peak months of the annual hurricane season, Colorado State University researchers project a 61 percent chance the state will be hit by a hurricane.
With computers returned to the discount list, Florida retailers are readying for back-to-school shoppers this weekend during the state’s sales-tax “holiday.” The holiday, which will run Friday through Sunday is a large part of a tax-cut package (HB 7109) that lawmakers passed this spring. The package is projected to provide $91.6 million in tax breaks during the budget year that started July 1.
Colorful high-tech driver’s licenses and state identification cards, designed for added security and to cut down on fake IDs, will start rolling out across Florida this month. But unless it’s time to update a card because of an expiration date or a name or address change, there’s no need to rush out for a new ID.
Two more medical-marijuana businesses have joined seven already licensed by the state, and another three are in the works, as the potentially lucrative industry continues to develop. The Florida Department of Health this week issued licenses to Tornello Landscape, also known as “3 Boys Farm,” and Plants of Ruskin, both based in Ruskin. Licenses for Jacksonville-based Loop’s Nursery and Greenhouses, Eustis-based Treadwell Nursery and Arcadia-based Sun Bulb Nurseries are in progress, according to department spokeswoman Mara Gambineri.
Florida added three new “travel related” Zika cases during the past week, bringing to 116 the number of reported cases of the mosquito-borne virus this year, according to numbers posted Monday on the state Department of Health website.
