News Service of Florida

More than 1 million voters in three Southwest Florida counties slammed by Hurricane Ian will have more options to cast ballots in the November general election, under an emergency order issued Thursday.

A legislative budget panel Wednesday gave Gov. Ron DeSantis an additional $360 million to pump into Hurricane Ian projects, as response efforts continue two weeks after the storm made landfall in Southwest Florida.

Prices at the pump for Florida motorists should go down Oct. 1 as part of a temporary gas-tax break, effective for the month of October.

Pay hikes, shorter shifts and shuttering facilities are some of the strategies Florida has employed to try to rehabilitate a prison system that leaders have said is in crisis.

Two years after justices thwarted his first attempt to place Renatha Francis on the Florida Supreme Court, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday tapped the Palm Beach County circuit judge to serve on a high court dominated by conservative jurists.

A day after getting hit with a financial-rating downgrade, on Tuesday United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. became the first Florida property insurer to take part in a stopgap state program aimed at maintaining coverage for homeowners.

The settlement resolved allegations that MorseLife “invited and facilitated the vaccination of hundreds of ineligible persons at the clinic by characterizing them as ‘staff’ and ‘volunteers,’ many of whom MorseLife targeted for donations,” a Justice Department news release said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a measure that will allow cities and counties to restrict smoking at beaches and parks that they own.

More than three-dozen Florida lawmakers, including incoming Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, appeared headed back to Tallahassee without opposition as a deadline passed Friday for qualifying for the November elections.

The law will allow handlers of retired police dogs to receive up to $1,500 in reimbursements for annual veterinary costs.