Health officials won’t be able to meet a legislatively mandated Tuesday deadline to hand out five new medical-marijuana licenses, the head of the state’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use said Friday.
Sen. Dana Young has again filed a bill to exempt fantasy sports play from regulation under the state’s gambling laws. Young, a Tampa Republican, filed her measure (SB 374) Friday afternoon. She introduced similar legislation this past session.
O.J. Simpson won’t return to Florida if Pam Bondi has any sway over his homecoming. The state’s Republican attorney general sent a 2-1/2 page letter to Corrections Secretary Julie Jones on Friday, saying she objected to Simpson’s return on behalf of the state. He previously lived in Kendall, Miami-Dade County.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced Friday that Puerto Rican students displaced by Hurricane Maria will be able to get free school meals through the National School Lunch Program. That’s “in response to the ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico and in preparation for an influx of evacuees,” Putnam’s office said in a release.
The situation in Hurricane Maria-ravaged Puerto Rico is so bleak that the military response needs to shift from talk to all-out action today or “drastic measures” will have to be taken, Florida’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson declared in Orlando Wednesday. “This is a disaster of gargantuan proportions,” Nelson said.
Property-insurance claims from Hurricane Irma have approached $4.2 billion in estimated losses, according to the latest numbers from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
Gov. Rick Scott said Friday he will propose a 10 percent pay raise for juvenile detention and juvenile probation officers in his 2018-19 recommended budget. That budget is expected to be revealed at The Associated Press’ annual legislative coverage planning session on Nov. 2 at the Capitol.