The aftermath of Hurricane Ian continues to be an overwhelming situation in a huge part of the state, so we’ll begin this week’s program with a number of stories connected to that. A legislative budget panel this week gave Gov. Ron DeSantis millions more dollars to pump into storm recovery projects, two weeks after category 4 Hurricane Ian landed in Southwest Florida and crossed the state. Gina Jordan reports emergency managers say the state is still in a storm-response phase.
After the devastating damage of Hurricane Ian, assistance has arrived in Southwest Florida from all over, even as far as the Lone Star state. Melissa Feito has this story about a family on a mission to go where they're needed.
Researchers are just starting to calculate the damages to agriculture from Hurricane Ian. WUSF’s Kerry Sheridan reports about 380,000 bee colonies in Florida were in the path of the storm and many were destroyed. Experts say that represents about 1 in 7 of the nation’s colonies, complicating the growing season for crops across the country.
As post-Hurricane Ian recovery continues, the rebuilding process will be tough. WGCU’s Sandra Viktorova spoke to a couple near Fort Myers who mistakenly thought their insurance policy would help them start over.
Those who supported tighter abortion restrictions in Florida argued that those would reduce the number of such procedures being performed. But, at least for 2 Planned Parenthood clinics in North Florida, the number of abortions has been going up, driven at least partly by women coming in from even more restrictive states. Tom Flanigan has the story.
Two candidates running to represent the Florida Big Bend region in the state senate have dropped out of a candidates’ forum with W-F-S-U, the Tallahassee Democrat and the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee. Valerie Crowder has more on the events leading up to both candidates’ decision to withdraw.