News Service of Florida – Page 2

Five questions for state Rep. Jason Shoaf

Posted onDecember 3, 2025December 3, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

By NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

State Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, joined the Florida House in 2019 after winning a special election and has been reelected three times. Shoaf’s sprawling district covers a largely rural region made up of Dixie, Franklin, Gulf, Hamilton, Lafayette, Liberty, Suwannee, Taylor, Wakulla and parts of Jefferson and Leon counties. Shoaf is chairman of the House Transportation & Economic Development Budget Subcommittee.

The News Service of Florida has five questions for Jason Shoaf, with questions and answers edited for clarity and brevity.

Weekly Roundup: A jab at vaccines

Posted onSeptember 10, 2025September 9, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

By JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Florida grabbed national headlines this week as an appellate court injected new life into a controversial immigrant-detention center in the Everglades and the state’s top doctor vowed to end vaccine mandates for schoolkids.

Weekly Roundup: Turn out the lights?

Posted onSeptember 3, 2025September 2, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

By JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE – Florida heads into the Labor Day weekend amid swirling questions about the state’s immigrant-detention efforts.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that federal immigration officials are deporting detainees “very quickly” from a controversial Everglades facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” DeSantis made the comment when asked about reports that the Everglades facility would soon be empty.

Weekly Roundup: Ruling swamps ‘Alcatraz’

Posted onAugust 27, 2025August 26, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

By JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE – Florida leaders made a show this week of bringing back from California an immigrant involved in a deadly traffic crash and removing locally approved artwork — including gay pride rainbow colors — from crosswalks.
But Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration found itself late Thursday rushing to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that targeted the controversial immigrant-detention center in the Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Weekly Roundup: Blanding out, Baker in

Posted onAugust 20, 2025August 20, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

By JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis finally filled the vacant lieutenant governor’s position this week, and days later brought along his newly appointed second-in command to announce the expansion of the state’s deportation efforts.
DeSantis for weeks has floated the prospect of opening a second immigrant-detention center at Camp Blanding, a North Florida training facility for the Florida National Guard.

‘Limited’ oyster harvesting eyed in Apalachicola

Posted onAugust 13, 2025August 13, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will review on Aug. 14

BY JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE – State wildlife officials could allow oyster harvesting in part of Northwest Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, where the fishery collapsed more than a decade ago and continues to struggle to recover.

Weekly Roundup: Pause in paving… for now

Posted onAugust 13, 2025August 13, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

By JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — As the state House moved forward this week with a rare mid-decade look at drawing new congressional maps, a federal judge put a temporary hold on construction at Alligator Alcatraz.

Weekly Roundup: Coloring in the lines

Posted onAugust 6, 2025August 6, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

By JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — As Texas Republicans advanced a mid-decade redistricting map this week, Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to toy with having Florida engage in a similar effort to fulfill President Donald Trump’s call to strengthen the GOP’s hold in Congress.

Storm forecast is trimmed

Posted onJuly 16, 2025July 15, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

News Service of Florida

While still anticipating above-normal hurricane activity through the end of November, Colorado State University researchers Wednesday trimmed their forecast for the Atlantic storm season.

Attention is on alligators, ICE

Posted onJuly 2, 2025July 1, 2025AuthorNews Service of Florida

By JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Amid what Gov. Ron DeSantis called the “sauna stage of Tallahassee weather,” attention shifted this week to a proposed migrant detention center in the Everglades and speculation about what the governor will redline from the state’s 2025-26 budget.