Lynn Hatter

The Florida Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that could restart debate over capital punishment. The state’s high court says a unanimous jury is no longer needed to impose the death penalty.

A decade ago a fight broke out in Florida over whether to require businesses to use the federal E-Verify system to ensure employees are eligible to work in the United States. The solution at the time was an executive order by then-Governor Rick Scott requiring state employers use E-Verify. Now the idea is back: pitched by governor Ron DeSantis and it’s no less controversial than it was a decade ago.

Democratic state Senator Lauren Book’s move to seek term limits for local school board members is a change from her previous position on the issue.

A push to term limit local school board members has gained a powerful Democrat: State Sen. Lauren Book. She's filed a constitutional amendment proposal to keep those board members from serving more than eight consecutive years in office.

Under a new federal law, stores cannot sell tobacco products to anyone under 21. The federal Food and Drug Administration is also limiting the sale of e-cigarette and vaping flavors. It comes as bills to do both are pending in the Florida legislature ahead of the upcoming lawmaking session. While the federal moves are welcome, anti-smoking advocates say there's plenty work left for states. 

The most crowded local race in Leon County is shaping up to be in one of the county commission’s two at-large seats. Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley isn’t running for re-election, and with the entry of Kelly Otte — there are now seven people vying for the seat.

Tallahassee is police-chief-less after the man hired for the job rescinded his acceptance of the offer. City Manager Reese Goad says the move was unexpected, but City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow says the city shouldn't be surprised. 

Three new toll roads planned for the state are supposedly coming with millions of dollars to upgrade city and county septic and sewer systems. But there’s little information on when and how the money will be distributed and who will be responsible for the work. 

A 22-year-old former Florida A&M University student is dead after a weekend officer-involved shooting following a traffic stop in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Sheriffs office, JSO, says he was resisting arrest.

Are college and university campuses open markets for ideas or incubators of narrow thought? Some Republican lawmakers want to know what’s really happening in the state’s public higher education classrooms by asking students and professors to take an anonymous survey. But Democrats, and even some of those professors argue that’s a violation of free speech and are suspicious of the motives behind the plan.