The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved new academic standards for instruction about African American history, after numerous teachers from across Florida objected to the changes and asked the board to put the proposal on hold.

An event Friday morning was held to remember Tyre Sampson, the teenager who died last year when he fell off an attraction at Orlando’s ICON Park, News4JAX sister station WKMG ClickOrlando reports.

The father of a Missouri teenager killed after falling from a towering Florida amusement park ride said Monday that he fears his son’s death will be forgotten, with tragic consequences for future ride patrons.

A forensic engineering firm has been hired to assist in the investigation into the death of a 14-year-old boy who fell from an Orlando drop tower attraction last week, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried said at a news conference Friday.

The legislators who tested positive for COVID-19 include Republican state Sens. Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta said Wright took three separate tests -- and tested positive twice -- at a state-supported testing site that was set up outside the Capitol for lawmakers, guests, legislative staff and reporters. While Salzman tested negative for the virus, her son tested positive. Jeanette Nuñez, members of the Florida Cabinet, and the 160 members of the Florida Legislature have offices in the Capitol complex in Tallahassee. The Florida House and the Florida Senate have different COVID-19 infection-prevention policies in place.

Ron DeSantis on Monday named Jamie Grosshans, a judge on the 5th District Court of Appeal, to the Florida Supreme Court. DeSantis missed a noon request to appoint a justice to the Florida Supreme Court Court. He announced Grosshans just after 5 p.m.At 11:38 a.m., an email titled the ‘Governor’s Daily Digest’ promised an announcement about the future of the Supreme Court. “I told him that we have a great judge down here in Florida who was going to be on the Supreme Court. “Sometimes life doesn’t work out the way we planned, but who am I to complain, you know.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court on Friday unanimously rejected Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointment of a circuit judge to the panel and ordered him to name a new justice by noon Monday. When DeSantis named Francis to the high court, he had already missed the constitutionally mandated deadline of March 23. Well, that’s what the Florida Supreme Court gave him with this case: Strict constructuralist,” Thompson said. On Friday, Democratic State Sen. Perry Thurston called for the resignation of the nine-member Judicial Nominating Commission that improperly nominated Francis for the high court.

The problem I have in this case is this particular representative has been somebody who has been very vocal about wanting to have a Black justice on the Florida Supreme Court, DeSantis said. But the Supreme Court in the Aug. 27 decision said it couldnt go along with that requested fix. Francis was born in Jamaica and would be the first non-Cuban person of Caribbean heritage to serve on the Supreme Court, DeSantis said when he announced the appointments. Also on Tuesday, a Fernandina Beach resident asked the Supreme Court to block Francis' appointment. The unconstitutional appointment of a person to the Florida Supreme Court who could sit on the bench for 33 years certainly will impact the publics confidence in the Supreme Court and its decisions for years to come.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The Florida Supreme Court said Thursday that Gov. DeSantis said Francis would join the Supreme Court on Sept. 24, when she would meet the 10-year requirement. The Supreme Court, in a 15-page main opinion written by Justice Carlos Muniz, agreed with the argument that DeSantis did not have the authority to appoint Francis. The governor did exceed his authority in making this appointment, wrote Muniz, who was appointed to the court by DeSantis in January 2019. The lawsuit said she fully supports racial and gender diversity on the Supreme Court.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - An African American state representative has said she will push for the relocation of the monument dedicated to Confederate soldiers that sits on the grounds of the Florida Capitol. The obelisk-style monument was dedicated in 1882 and moved onto the grounds of what is now the Old State Capitol in 1923. "Floridians served all across the theaters of war," said David McCallister with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. But for social justice advocate Lakey Love, who often holds protests on the steps of the Old Capitol, the monument has a different meaning. She said she'd support moving it inside of the Old Capitol, which is now a museum, or to a Confederate cemetery.