A small, rural county just west of Florida’s capital is stunned by an unheard-of spike in deadly drug overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl mixed with other illegal drugs.

An interim statewide grand jury report found many schools were not following state law that requires an armed presence in every school, but 36 counties now participate in the Guardian Program. School guardians can either be school employees volunteering to serve as armed security in addition to other job duties or personnel hired for the specific purpose of serving as school guardians. State funds are granted to participating sheriffs offices to cover the screening and training costs for each guardian. We will not have any teachers with weapons on them on our campuses, Gadsden County Schools Superintendent Roger Milton said. Gadsden County guardians trained for a total of 196 hours during the summer, which is 52 hours above what is required under state law.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Floridas death penalty could soon be thrown into disarray for the second time in less than three years. In 2016, Floridas Supreme Court divided death row in two. Prisoners sentenced before a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision stayed on death row, but most of those sentenced after 2002 got a new chance in court to be sentenced to life. On the day the 2016 ruling was made, there were 384 death row inmates. Currently, there are 43 fewer, and anyone still on death row will be in limbo as new appeals are filed.