In the upcoming months state lawmakers will grapple with a decision: how to stabilize the budget of one of Florida’s healthcare agencies. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities has run deficits in most years since it was created in the early 2000’s. Lawmakers have become increasingly frustrated about constantly having to backfill those deficits. But Lynn Hatter reports advocates are concerned over which chamber will get final say over how the agency moves forward.
Twenty nine people in the Panhandle were indicted on Friday for profiting from a federal drought assistance program. W-F-S-U’s Valerie Crowder reports the alleged criminal network included nine government employees…
A proposed interstate agreement that would create a true popular vote election is moving across the nation. This week, one of the plan’s original authors talked with state lawmakers during a lunch and learn event. Ryan Dailey heard from Vik Amar about the idea he hatched nearly two decades ago.
Toxic red tide algae is starting to bloom along Florida’s west coast again. State wildlife officials say elevated levels have been detected recently from Pinellas to Collier counties. And people in Sarasota County have been experiencing respiratory irritations. Health News Florida's Jessica Meszaros reports on new research looking into long-term health effects of the toxins, including neurological issues.
Since the first one was captured in Everglades National Park 40 years ago last month, Burmese pythons have spread across Florida, becoming the most voracious predator in the wild and upending the ecosystem. State-contracted hunters have bagged at least 3,500, but nearly all of those have been on roads and levees, not out in the wild where the snakes are doing the most damage. A team of US Geological Survey and National Park Service biologists are now trying to find a better way to track and trap the snakes. WLRN’s Jenny Staletovich went with them.