The Latest Breaking News from Fla

TAMPA, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced a package of major reforms to Florida’s higher education system, including tighter controls on faculty tenure, the establishment of “civics institutes” at three universities and prohibitions on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Police officers are investigating a drive-by shooting that injured multiple people in a residential neighborhood Monday afternoon, just north of downtown Lakeland.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Mayor Ken Welch made the biggest decision of his political career on Monday, selecting the team led by the Tampa Bay Rays to redevelop Tropicana Field.

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida House Speaker Paul Renner is pushing a measure that would allow people to carry concealed firearms without a permit and without training, saying he wants to remove the “government permission slip.”

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Grounded in sand bars, adrift in the sea or washed onto private beaches, the boats keep piling up: rafts made from Styrofoam, sailboats, hollowed-out drums attached to ironing boards.

ORLANDO, Fla. — SeaWorld Orlando has set the dates for its lineup of 2023 theme park festivals, including its third edition of Howl-O-Scream, its after-hours, separate ticket Halloween event.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Royal Caribbean and the shipbuilders tackling what will be the world’s largest cruise ship performed a Herculean task to get the most prevalent feature in place for the Florida-bound Icon of the Seas.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Space Coast saw a record number of launches from the two facilities with 57 in 2022. Space Launch Delta 45 commander Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy said in January that there could be between 86 and 92 potential launches in 2023.

TAMPA, Fla. — Fresh off his inauguration and two weeks into his second term, Gov. Ron DeSantis called a news conference to announce one of his first policy proposals since his reelection. It trod familiar ground.

"I think I’m going to have a lot of fun on this committee,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

ORLANDO, Fla. — “Never again” is the phrase echoed among NASA leaders recalling the last major tragedy in the space program that occurred 20 years ago this week, when Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003, never making its way back home to Florida.