Florida News Archive

Three men identified as Floridians are among 13 individuals arrested for federal crimes involving the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that Matthew Council of Riverview, Michael Curzio of Summerfield and Douglas Sweet were charged as part of an on-going investigation into the destruction of the building.

A renewed vigor was given this week to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call to crack down on violent protests, as the world watched an unhinged mob of supporters of President Donald Trump storm and occupy the U.S. Capitol in a failed attempt to subvert the counting of states’ electoral votes.

Lawrence Keefe, the U.S. attorney for Florida’s Northern District, vowed to identify and prosecute individuals who engaged in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

“The criminal acts of domestic terrorism at our nation’s Capitol yesterday shock the sensibilities of all law-abiding, patriotic Americans, regardless of their political leanings,” Keefe said in a release on Thursday. Keefe pledged to go after participants who live in the federal judicial district, which stretches from Gainesville to the Alabama-Florida border.

Florida’s Republican U.S. senators took decidedly different paths when voting on whether to certify results of the 2020 presidential election during a joint session of Congress that lasted into the wee hours Thursday morning.

Congress cemented President-elect Joe Biden’s victory after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol and put a halt to debate as senators, U.S. representatives and aides were rushed to safety.

As supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to block congressional certification of the 2020 election on Wednesday, Republican leaders in Florida released legislation aimed at cracking down on violent protests.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a close ally of Trump, rolled out his proposed law-and-order plan in September, weeks ahead of the presidential election last fall, as the country was roiled by protests sparked by disparate treatment of Black people by police.

Gov. Ron DeSantis strongly reaffirmed his opposition to local government officials’ attempts to impose their own rules to curb the spread of COVID-19, saying Wednesday that such measures “are not effective.”

Appearing at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola to discuss the state’s vaccination efforts, DeSantis reiterated his position that mandates, lockdowns, and fines for violating mask restrictions don’t work.

As of a Tuesday count, 21,188 Florida residents had died of COVID-19, with seniors taking the brunt of the disease. Here is a breakdown of resident deaths by age group:

— Ages 4 and younger: 0 deaths

— Ages 5 to 14: 5 deaths

With calls growing for lawmakers to pay more attention to climate change, the state Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection and the chief resiliency officer position are slated to be reviewed Monday by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. The resiliency officer position is among the duties of Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah […]

A Leon County circuit judge has scheduled a hearing next month to decide whether to toss out a class-action lawsuit that seeks damages because of problems with the state’s unemployment-compensation system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As hospitals treat thousands of COVID-19 patients, the state Agency for Health Care Administration updates information about available intensive-care unit beds. As of about 6 p.m. Monday, 19.7 percent of adult intensive-care unit beds statewide were available,  but numbers varied by county. Here were county-by-county percentages of available adult ICU beds as of Monday:

— Hendry County: 100 percent

— Martin County: 65.2 percent