Florida had 685 “reportable” boating accidents in 2024, up from 659 in 2023, according to a new state report.

Three House Republicans from Florida with Cuban roots are carefully navigating President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Two little piggies will not become Christmas Eve roast pork thanks to a holiday pardon they received from a Florida mayor.

A string of horse thefts across St. Lucie and Okeechobee Counties have raised concerns over new targeted areas of Florida’s illegal horse meat trade.

A new state report shows that 475 manatees had died in 2024 in Florida as of Oct. 11.

County jails are often referred to as the largest mental health facility in the area.

Despite a record 46-day streak of triple digit feels-like temperatures, Miami’s unprecented brutal summer last year wasn’t that deadly, contrasting with the rest of the nation where federal records show heat fatalities nationally spiked to a 45-year high.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday morning is set to hold a news conference in South Florida.

Although more rain could trigger additional isolated Florida flooding on Friday, forecasters say the strong, persistent storms that dumped up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) in southern parts of the state appear to have passed.

Nine people were shot, two of whom have died, following a police-involved shooting early Saturday morning at the shopping mall CityPlace Doral, according to WPLG.

With President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump collectively polling as the least popular matchup in modern history, there's been a lot of buzz about other potential names on the ballot. That buzz ratcheted up in the past couple weeks when Jets Quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ name was dropped as a possible running mate for independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Junior. While an independent or third party candidate isn’t expected to win… it could significantly affect the race.

Robert F.

A reported 130 manatees died in Florida during the first two months of 2024. Here are the counties with the most manatee deaths.

Four candidates have qualified for the fourth Republican presidential debate.

Nikki Haley says anonymity online poses a “national security threat.”.

U.S. support for Israel's offensive against Hamas is being closely watched in South Florida's Jewish community.

Police say they have arrested a man who trespassed twice in one day at the California home of independent presidential candidate Robert F.

Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Florida as counter-programming to the third Republican presidential primary debate, which he is once again choosing to skip.

Jacksonville City council members will discuss a tax at tonight’s meeting that would go to help the homeless. The tax would come from food and beverages sold at restaurants and hotels.

The CEO of Changing Homelessness said the extra money could get hundreds of people off the streets every year.

Miami police say an 18-year-old mother tried to hire a hitman to kill her 3-year-old son, who was living with his grandmother at the time.

The federal charges against former President Donald Trump over classified documents have propelled the city of Miami to the center of a storyline that had been thought to be unfolding in Washington.

The arena where the Miami Heat play will soon have a new name, after the team and Miami-Dade County decided Friday to begin actions to terminate their relationship with FTX on the same day that the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy.

Florida voters late Tuesday appeared to have rejected three proposed constitutional amendments that would have provided property-tax breaks and eliminated the state’s Constitution Revision Commission.

Florida voters has decided to keep a commission that meets every 20 years to make changes to the state constitution despite lawmakers who argued it is no longer needed.

Officials say a U.S. Customs and Border Protection firearms instructor has been shot and killed during a training class at a South Florida gun range.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended a Miami-Dade County commissioner who was charged in a felony corruption case.

This is the vision: At the western end of downtown Miami, a dense, walkable, transit-centered and family-friendly high-rise district would bloom over eight city blocks.

A bill has been sent to Florida's governor that would require statewide recertification of condominiums over three stories tall, in response to the Surfside building collapse that killed 98 people.

School districts that ignored Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order banning mask mandates will face a $200 million penalty under a budget bill passed by the Florida House.

The mayor of Miami-Dade County has requested that prosecutors look into allegations that elderly residents of the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami had their party affiliations switched without their knowledge.

Florida is seeing a sharp rise in coronavirus infections as the omicron variant rages through the state.

Genomic surveillance data shows omicron has overtaken the delta variant in Miami-Dade County as the dominant strain of the coronavirus in just a matter of weeks.

Just when life seemed a little more normal, a new coronavirus variant is shaking things up.

A Miami-Dade County murder suspect was taken into custody on Friday in Columbia County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

A South Florida woman is facing criminal charges in the death of a 2-year-old child left in a hot vehicle, police say.

Efforts to recover human remains from the debris of a South Florida condominium are nearing an end.

Authorities searching for victims of a deadly collapse in Florida say they hope to conclude their painstaking work in the coming weeks as a team of first responders from Israel departed the site.

Across Florida, people living in the thousands of condominiums rising above the state’s 1,350 miles of coastline wonder if the building collapse in Surfside could happen to their home.

Officials overseeing the search at the site of the Florida condominium collapse seem increasingly somber about the prospects for finding anyone alive.

A Surfside, Florida, official pushed back Sunday on the idea that the town was responsible for slowing down a condo board’s plans to make needed structural repairs to a building that eventually collapsed, killing dozens.

Cuba has evacuated 180,000 people amid fears that Tropical Storm Elsa could cause heavy flooding as it passes over the island Monday, after battering several Caribbean islands, killing at least three people.

One of the most beloved figures in Miami sports history has visited the site of a Florida condo building collapse.

Search and rescue teams from Miami-Dade have been described as among the best and most experienced in the world.

Firefighters with Jacksonville Fire and Rescue know the challenges their counterparts face in their heroic efforts to find survivors in the rubble left by the collapse of the 12 story condominium building in Surfside.

Less than 24 hours after two wings of a South Florida high-rise condominium collapsed, leaving at least four people dead and dozens more missing, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of its residents and visitors.

President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have both approved emergency assistance as crews continue working at the scene of a collapsed beachfront condominium building in Surfside as dozens remain missing.

Officials say there are still 159 people unaccounted for after the partial collapse of a beachside building in Florida.

The 12-story beachfront condominium tower in Miami-Dade County that collapsed early Thursday morning was built in 1981 on reclaimed wetlands and a Florida International University researcher told USA Today that the building had been sinking at an alarming rate.

Police say an angry Florida man pulled a gun on a drive-thru worker because they forgot the cream cheese with his bagel.

Officials say a driver unintentionally slammed into spectators at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida, killing one person and seriously injuring another.

Police say a woman and a 15-year-old were fatally shot and three others were wounded by the woman's boyfriend early Monday at an apartment complex south of Miami.

Miami’s top officials and relatives of the victims are pleading with the community to offer information to find the suspects in a Memorial Day weekend mass shooting that killed three people and wounded 20 others outside a banquet hall.

A manhunt is continuing into Memorial Day for three masked suspects who opened fire early Sunday morning outside a Miami banquet hall.

Police in South Florida are looking for suspects involved in a pair shootings that brought a deadly start to the Memorial Day weekend.

Florida prosecutors say they're pursuing hate crime charges against a South Florida doctor accused of attacking a Hispanic man at a supermarket.

There’s a new species of spider in the world, and it was discovered first by none other than a Zoo Miami zookeeper.

Federal agents in South Florida have seized more than 1,200 pounds of crystal meth with a street value of more than $12 million.

MIAMI – The CVS Pharmacy chain is vaccinating Florida teachers under age 50, circumventing state orders that continue to limit coronavirus inoculations to those over that age. For teachers, Florida limits the vaccine to classroom teachers 50 and older who work in kindergarten through 12th grade. The federal guidelines allow day care workers, preschool teachers and educators in elementary, middle and high schools to be vaccinated with no age limit. 1 goal right now is to get through the senior population,” DeSantis said, explaining why the state is remaining focused on older educators. AdThen early Wednesday a colleague alerted her that after Biden’s announcement, the CVS Health website was letting younger teachers book appointments.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – More than 200 Florida prison inmates have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic started early last year, according to information released Wednesday by the state Department of Corrections and the state Department of Health. Also, six prison staff members have died of COVID-19, up one from last week. The Reception and Medical Center in Union County has been linked to 44 inmate deaths, while the South Florida Reception Center in Miami-Dade County has been linked to 24, according to a breakdown on the Florida Department of Health website. Union Correctional Institution has had 15 inmate deaths, while Columbia Correctional Institution and Dade Correctional Institution have each had 10. In all, 17,614 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website.

State health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey urged residents to continue wearing masks, practicing social distancing and washing their hands frequently. Health care officials are currently vaccinating health care workers, first responders and those living in long-term care facilities —all people in the highest-priority groups for getting doses. In the first phase, priority was given to health care workers and residents and staff at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Cuomo says hospitals need to do a better job of vaccinating the health care workers who are eligible now. Only health care workers and nursing home residents and staff members are currently being vaccinated in New York.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With steady increases in recent months, more than 6,000 people were hospitalized Monday in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19, according to information posted on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. As of a midday count, 6,081 people were hospitalized, including 1,018 in Miami-Dade County. By comparison, 2,081 people were hospitalized with primary diagnoses of COVID-19 on Oct. 1; 2,371 were hospitalized on Nov. 1; 4,282 were hospitalized on Dec. 1; and 5,514 were hospitalized on Dec. 21, according to information The News Service of Florida has compiled from the agency’s website. The increases in hospitalizations have come as Florida has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases. As of Sunday, the state reported 1,271,979 cases since the pandemic started, according to the Florida Department of Health website.

The number of long-term care deaths exceeded 8,000 in recent days, with the number at 8,085 in a report released Sunday by the Florida Department of Health. A report released Thursday showed 8,021 long-term care deaths, up from 7,970 the day before. In all, long-term care residents and staff members make up about 38 percent of the reported 21,212 Florida resident deaths since the pandemic started. “You’ve got this huge turnover staff to begin with, but they’re going to and from home, they’re going to the store, they’re going to the restaurants, they’re going to parties. Four counties -- Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Broward -- have totaled at least 500 long-term care deaths.

Health care workers offer free COVID-19 testing from a Miami-Dade County mobile van outside of an early voting site, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida ticked upward by 7,391, health officials reported Sunday. The Florida Department of Health has now reported 21,514 coronavirus-related deaths -- with 77 additional deaths added to the death toll on Sunday. More than 6,300 people were in the hospital Sunday because of the virus, according to health department data. Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, breathing trouble, sore throat, muscle pain, and loss of taste or smell.

Ron DeSantis on Monday backed a controversial reservoir being built in the Everglades while announcing the state will use a pool of environmental money to help Miami-Dade County protect Biscayne Bay from continued degradation. DeSantis addressed the issue as he outlined plans to provide a $10 million match for local efforts to restore Biscayne Bay. “The EAA reservoir remains a top environmental priority for my administration, and we look forward to pressing ahead as quickly as possible,” DeSantis said while at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne. “In the coming weeks, the county and state will work collaboratively to identify worthwhile projects and pursue them without delay,” DeSantis said. Money for the match is coming from $625 million in the current fiscal year budget for water projects and the Everglades.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation is beginning a new program to use dogs to sniff out invasive pythons. We've got to try new approaches and the detector dogs is just one area where we're doing that," commission Executive Director Eric Sutton. He showed commissioners pictures of the dogs during a virtual meeting, including one with Truman standing behind the massive snake he found. Trainers use python-scented towels and live pythons with surgically implanted trackers to teach the dogs to pick up a snake's scent. The dogs were trained for more than a month before going out in the wild, according to the agency's website.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of people hospitalized in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19 topped 5,000 on Tuesday, as case numbers and deaths continued to climb. As of early Tuesday evening, 5,103 people were hospitalized with primary diagnoses of COVID-19, up from 4,931 during a Monday count, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. Miami-Dade County had the largest number of people hospitalized Tuesday with 932. It was followed by Broward County, with 514; Hillsborough County, with 300; Duval County, with 286; Palm Beach County, with 283; Pinellas County, with 241; Orange County, with 234; Polk County, with 155; Pasco County, with 136; Escambia County, with 126; Sarasota County, with 125; Lee County, with 124; Osceola County, with 119; Lake County, with 114; Volusia County, with 110; and Collier County, with 109.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Three people were injured Sunday night when someone began shooting at a group gathered outside during a family gathering in Homestead, police said. A police officer for the Miami-Dade County school system who was attending the party returned fire, news outlets reported. One man was airlifted to a trauma center, where he was reported to be in good condition. The other two were taken to Homestead Hospital. The officer wasn't injured, police said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With thousands of additional COVID-19 cases being reported every day, the number of people hospitalized with the disease continues to mount. As of early Monday evening, 3,243 people in Florida were hospitalized with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19, up from 3,118 on Sunday afternoon, according to Florida Agency for Health Care Administration numbers. The increase came as Florida reported an additional 4,663 cases on Monday, bringing the overall total to 889,864 since the pandemic started, the state Department of Health reported on its website. Also, 17,559 Florida residents and 216 non-residents had died of COVID-19. Miami-Dade County had the most COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday, with 465.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of people hospitalized in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19 topped 3,100 on Friday, as thousands of additional people test positive for the virus each day. As of mid-afternoon Friday, an update on the Agency for Health Care Administration website showed 3,129 people hospitalized because of primary diagnoses of COVID-19. RELATED: Florida adds nearly 7,000 new COVID-19 cases FridayThat was up from 2,564 a week earlier and 2,351 two weeks ago, according to numbers compiled daily by The News Service of Florida. The largest number of hospitalizations as of mid-afternoon Friday was in Miami-Dade County, with 433. Also Friday, the state Department of Health reported 6,933 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 870,552.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of people hospitalized with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19 has substantially increased during the past two weeks, topping 2,900 on Monday, according to numbers posted on the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration website. The total of 2,902 hospitalizations late Monday afternoon was up from 2,777 on Sunday. It also was up from 2,474 a week earlier and 2,252 two weeks earlier, numbers compiled daily by The News Service of Florida show. The increase in hospitalizations has come as the state has seen thousands of new COVID-19 cases each day. Miami-Dade County had the most people hospitalized late Monday afternoon at 402.

Elsewhere, forecasters announced that Subtropical Storm Theta, a record-breaking 29th named storm of the 2020 hurricane season, had formed far out in the northeast Atlantic by late Monday night. Eta made landfall in the Florida Keys and posed a serious threat across South Florida, which was already drenched from more than 14 inches (35 centimeters) of rain last month. “Never seen this, never, not this deep,” said Anthony Lyas, who has lived in his now-waterlogged Fort Lauderdale neighborhood since 1996. It was the 28th named storm of a busy Atlantic hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. ___Associated Press writers Cody Jackson in Fort Lauderdale, Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg, and Haleluya Hadero in Atlanta contributed to this report.

In all, he beat Biden by about 375,000 votes statewide, compared to a nearly 113,000-vote Florida margin over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Though Biden topped Trump by 18,096 votes in Duval County, the rest of Northeast Florida went to Trump by large margins. For example, Trump won by about 130,000 votes in Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, the four counties that surround Duval. North of Tampa, meanwhile, Trump won by a combined 131,632 votes in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties. The results were similar in neighboring Marion and Lake counties, where Trump won by a combined total of 95,356 votes.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – An executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis to help reopen the state’s economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic does not block Miami-Dade County from imposing a curfew, an appeals court ruled Wednesday. A panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal rejected arguments by Tootsie’s Cabaret strip club that the executive order “preempts” the curfew, which was imposed from midnight to 6 a.m. and was aimed at preventing spread of the virus. “Had the governor meant to preempt local governments from imposing curfews, he could have said so. Accordingly, Tootsie’s failed to show that section two of EO 20-244 clearly and expressly preempted the county’s curfew.”

President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden were locked in a tight race in Florida, and it was too early for The Associated Press to call the perennial battleground state. Florida has a history of close elections, including the state’s 2018 governor’s race, which went to a recount. The AP was waiting on more vote counts to come in from south Florida, including Miami-Dade County, the largest county in the state. More than 10 million voters, or about 75 percent, of Florida’s 14.4 million registered voters cast ballots in the election. ---The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, an Oklahoma City lawyer, faced Republican state Sen. Bice for the Oklahoma City-area House seat. President Donald Trump supported Mace on Twitter and she once worked on the president’s campaign. Fischbach contended that Peterson was too close to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other liberals. Republican Ronny Jackson has won a House seat in West Texas, where he moved after leaving the White House in 2018. They are banking on anxiety over the pandemic, suburban indignation with President Donald Trump and a fundraising advantage.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Nearly 2,500 people were hospitalized Monday in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19, as the total has increased in recent weeks. As of a Monday afternoon count, 2,474 people were hospitalized with primary diagnoses of the virus, according to numbers posted on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. While hospitalization numbers fluctuate daily, the number reported Monday was more than 200 higher than on any of the four previous Mondays. Miami-Dade County had 332 people hospitalized Monday with primary diagnoses of COVID-19, the largest number in the state. It was followed by Broward County, with 239; Hillsborough County, with 174; Palm Beach County, with 153; Orange County, with 149; Duval County, with 135; and Pinellas County, with 127, the state numbers show.

OPA-LOCKA, Fla. – President Donal Trump ended a long day of campaigning Sunday shortly before midnight, appearing before South Florida supporters chanting “Fire Fauci." He said he appreciated their advice, “Don’t tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election." He has previously expressed that he was concerned about the political blowback of removing the popular and respected doctor before Election Day. In the starkest terms yet, Trump on Sunday threatened litigation to stop the tabulation of ballots arriving after Election Day. There was concern Sunday night’s event would conflict with Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez' midnight countywide curfew.

State leaders eliminated computer punchcard ballots, implemented statewide recount laws and made it easy to cast and process ballots before Election Day. Though there are other scenarios that make elections officials nervous, the computer punch-card ballots that fueled 2000's chaos are buried in history's landfill. Casting valid ballots and processing them is now easier, even before Election Day, and the Legislature has enacted clearer laws governing recounts. If the statewide margin then is within a half-percentage point — likely about 55,000 votes — a machine recount would occur. These voters are notified and have until two days after the election to prove their identity, but many won’t respond.

Postal Service carrier is accused of stealing a Miami-Dade County mail-in ballot, 10 gift cards and four prepaid debit cards earlier this month, federal authorities said. The mail-in ballot had been sent to a resident by the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Office on Oct. 6, the complaint said. After the interview, the investigators told Myrie she would have to turn in her postal identification, the Herald reported. “By stealing (the victim’s) vote-by-mail ballot, Myrie deprived (the victim) of her right to vote,” the complaint said. Myrie “admitted that she has been stealing mail sporadically (on her route) for almost two years,” the complaint said.

WASHINGTON – Billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is donating $500,000 to juice Democratic turnout in Miami-Dade County, a place where the party must bank a massive number of votes if it hopes to win the pivotal swing state of Florida. The money will be used to register Miami-Dade voters and knock on doors. In a statement, Bloomberg highlighted the importance of Miami-Dade County. “As one of the most diverse counties in Florida, Miami-Dade County is a particularly important county for a Democratic victory in Florida,” he said. “I’m glad to support the Miami-Dade Democratic Executive Committee’s work to directly reach voters and urge them to cast their ballots."

MIAMI – A marine magnet school in South Florida on Monday told students not to show up for in-person classes, just days after Miami-Dade schools reopened to brick-and-mortar classes, after two students reported having the COVID-19 virus. Miami-Dade County Public Schools tweeted that physical classes at Mast Academy had been cancelled and students should report to school online. The Miami Herald reported that students, parents and employees were told that two students had tested positive for the virus. Florida also reported four dozen new deaths on Monday, raising the death toll in the state from coronavirus to 15,599 cases. Meanwhile, the mayor of Miami-Dade County relaxed the county’s curfew a bit so that nightcrawlers can stay out an extra hour.

Ramiro Saez, left, helps his son Lucas Saez, 22, fill out a voter registration form, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Fla. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis extended the state's voter registration deadline after heavy traffic crashed the state's online system and potentially prevented thousands of enrolling to cast ballots in next month's presidential election. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A federal judge has denied a motion to extend voter registration in Florida even though a computer meltdown on the final day of registration might have prevented thousands of potential voters from taking part in November’s presidential election. “We’re disappointed that so many Floridians were disenfranchised because of the state’s failure to upkeep the online voter registration system,” Cabrera said. Florida’s online voter registration system serves the state’s 67 counties and became operational in October 2017.

Secretary of State Laurel Lee issued a statement late Tuesday saying it does not appear that bad actors caused Monday's collapse of registration system. Monday's trouble with the voter registration website stoked concern, but there was relief that the cause was far less sinister. Its site would send Floridians to the state’s registration website. The statewide voter registration system, which serves Florida’s 67 counties, went online in October 2017. “The online voter registration site failed because it was designed to fail,” Holder said.

Pre-K, kindergarten and first grade students are the first to return to the Miami-Dade Public School district under a staggered reopening plan. Another 40,000 students are expected to return to classrooms on Wednesday, with yet another group starting on Friday. School officials prepared campuses for social distancing, installed air filters and arranged for school nurses and “medically trained staff" to be present at each school. District officials say they are well prepared for students to return. In neighboring Broward County, which boasts the country's sixth largest district, school officials are preparing for a staggered reopening beginning on Friday.

Ron DeSantis on Friday announced that two large South Florida counties will move into the next phase of reopening. DeSantis said Miami-Dade County and Broward County will move into Phase 2 of reopening starting Monday. This is really, really important. “With a transition of our county to Phase 2 effective Monday, that lifts a huge roadblock that has prevented us from taking additional steps,” Carvalho said. Over 236,000 total people in Miami-Dade and Broward conties have reported positive coronavirus tests over the last six months, according to state data.

MIAMI Florida's largest school district is severing ties with an online platform many blame for failures as the county tries to get kids back to school. Following a 13-hour meeting, the Miami-Dade County School Board unanimously voted early Thursday to stop using My School Online. Some 400 teachers and parents submitted comments, most of them negative, about the online platform. Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the fourth largest school district in the United States, comprised of 392 schools, 345,000 students and over 40,000 employees. The district chose the My School Online platform through K12 because it wanted a one-stop shop for all students and teachers.

MIAMI – There’s a new plan to save ailing Biscayne Bay, and it looks a lot like the old plan — and the one before that. And we already know most of the answers,” said Irela Bagué, chair of the Miami-Dade County Biscayne Bay Task Force. “Talking about solutions for Biscayne Bay is like Groundhog Day. The Biscayne Bay Management Committee was formed in 1981, with representatives from all the governmental agencies that had a stake in regulating the bay. Biscayne Bay experienced a renaissance later that decade thanks to many of those well-coordinated initiatives, said Susan Markley, who led Miami-Dade’s natural-resources division and retired in 2014.

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – As of Monday morning, every school district in Florida has started its school year. But one Central Florida school was open Monday after it became the first school in the state to have closed due to COVID-19 after reopening for the year. According to sister station WKMG, Harmony Middle School in Osceola County shut its campus down for in-person learning for the next two weeks after 10 staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran addressed the school closure during a news conference on Monday. So we need our adults in the school system to be very safe,” Corcoran said.

This image is protected by copyright but provided for editorial and social media use. MIAMI A $3 million shipment of ventilators that was stolen earlier this month was recovered in South Florida, the FBI said in a news release. The agency said the ventilators were being prepared for shipment to El Salvador by the United States Agency for International Development when they were stolen sometime around Aug. 8. The theft happened in southwest Miami-Dade County, the agency said. The theft is being investigated by the Boynton Beach Police Department, Miami-Dade Police Department, Medley Police Department, City of Miami Gardens Police Department, Broward Sheriffs Office, USAID Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Miamis Major Theft Task Force, and the FBI, the agency said.

Ron DeSantis on Wednesday warned policymakers about problems with COVID-19 data collected and published by the state and said he directed the Department of Health to remedy the issue. During an early evening televised address, DeSantis did not offer details about what he directed the health department to do. The data was stale. Stale test results shouldnt be used by policymakers to determine the way forward for students, parents, workers and businesses in the here and now. And I expect that to be fixed very shortly.Before making the comments, DeSantis had two telephone calls with Department of Health Secretary Scott Rivkees, according to the governors schedule.

SAN JUAN Forecasters declared a hurricane warning for parts of the Florida coast Friday as Hurricane Isaias drenched the Bahamas on a track for the U.S. East Coast. Authorities in North Carolina ordered the evacuation of Oracoke Island, which was slammed by last years Hurricane Dorian, starting Saturday evening. Bahamas Power and Light Co. cut off power in certain areas for safety. A hurricane warning was in effect for northwest and central Bahamas. Isaias was expected to produce 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)WASHINGTON The Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency this week hosted a three-day tabletop exercise aimed at helping local, state and federal officials prepare for and respond to worst-case scenarios on Election Day. It comes at a particularly fraught moment as the nation edges closer toward a contentious presidential contest when an expected surge in absentee balloting is likely to delay the reporting of results and test election officials in profound, even unexpected ways. On the federal level, Masterson said, one of the continued areas for improvement is pushing out information on threats to local election officials in a timely and actionable way. What we keep hearing from the election officials is, we appreciate you sharing information with us, but can you make it so that it's shareable broadly, Masterson said. One additional benefit of the exercise is the personal connections that officials can build before a crisis occurs, said David Stafford, the elections county supervisor in Escambia County, Florida.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Miami-Dade County school district, the largest in the state, will start the upcoming school year with online classes on Aug. 31, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced Wednesday. Carvalho said the district will evaluate later whether conditions will allow schools to resume in-person instruction on Oct. 5. The decision came as Miami-Dade County continues to see massive increases in COVID-19 cases, including 20,758 new cases in the past seven days. Carvalho cited the surge in cases as the reason the 2020-2021 school year will start with distance learning. “I am confident that there is going to be in-person (instruction) throughout the state,” the governor told reporters.

There are 49 hospitals in Florida with 0% ICU beds available, according to Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration website as of 3 p.m. EST Sunday. The state Department of Health on Sunday reported 12,478 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 87 more deaths. Florida recently closed bars again because customers weren’t wearing masks or practicing social distancing. And I think everyone has shared blame in that,” he told CBS4’s Facing South Florida this weekend. “I feel angry that DeSantis only cares about Trump and is willfully ignorant when it comes to the virus,” she said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Could a mask mandate and fine for not wearing them be on the way to Duval County? Since Jacksonvilles executive order to mandate masks in public and indoors where you cant social distance, the number of cases have gone up. In Miami-Dade County, an emergency order from Thursday allows a $100 fine for people not wearing masks in public and $500 fine for businesses. Mayor Lenny Curry has said in the past that the city wont start ticketing people for not wearing masks. While there are mixed reviews on enforcing the mask mandate, most people News4Jax spoke with said they hope the spread dies down soon.

Florida hospitals met with White House officials last week, outlining the critical need for more remdesivir. Within 48 hours, federal health officials sent more than 17,000 vials to the state, but hospitals said its not enough. The state Department of Health on Saturday reported 10,328 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 90 more deaths. As of Friday, Baptist Health had 145 coronavirus patients with 31 in intensive care. In neighboring Broward County, officials announced a curfew Friday that bans most people from being outside from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. at least through Aug. 1.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, center, arrives for a roundtable discussion with Miami-Dade County mayors during the coronavirus pandemic, Tuesday, July 14, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)If you need help with WJXT’s or WCWJ's FCC public inspection file, call (904) 393-9801.

MIAMI Miami-Dade County plans to start aggressively enforcing rules designed to combat the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Our people are going to go everywhere.Gimenez noted that because people, and especially younger people, have not been following the new normal" guidelines, the county needed another enforcement tool. In Miami-Dade County, which is Florida's most populous and the current epicenter of the outbreak, there were more than 3,100 new coronavirus cases reported on Thursday. Gimenez said it's time for repercussions for people who choose to disobey the rules, the Miami Herald reported. Violators who receive the civil fines can avoid financial hardship by serving community service hours through the countys Diversion Program.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Monday that the closure will take effect Wednesday and will also include banquet halls and short-term vacation rentals like those available on Airbnb. Like much of the state, Miami-Dade's restaurants had reopened with restrictions in mid-May, while gyms reopened about a month ago. Gimenez blamed his county's spike on young adults going to restaurants and other indoor gathering spots without wearing masks and not practicing social distancing. Part of the reason for the spike is more people are being tested: 45,000 a day, about double the figure of a month ago. A month ago, the state was averaging about 1,500 new coronavirus cases a day.