Florida Government News

The 2014 Southwest Florida Poetry Contest is now underway. Submit one original poem no longer than 32 lines to tropicalia@news-press.com.

March is Florida Archaeology Month, can you dig it? The Florida Anthropological Society has partnered with the Department of State and the Division of Historical Resources to host events around the Panhandle celebrating Florida's history.

Florida's version of Bigfoot is called the Skunk Ape, for its terrible odor. It's been sighted for many years in the swamplands of the Everglades.

Dennis Thurnado Glover , 50, was convicted in December 2013 for the first-degree murder of 51-year-old Sandra Jean Allen in her Fourth Avenue home in May 2012.

The Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, circa 1950, long before it was replaced by the current tall version where the Legislature now meets.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist are the headliners at this weekend's Gridiron dinner, a 129-year-old event that features political leaders and journalists poking fun at each other.

Florida's governor would have new powers to pack the state's Supreme Court under a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow him to make prospective appointments to the bench even if a vacancy occurs the day the governor is leaving office.

You in the market for a new home? How about, instead of buying a house with a pool and a white-picket fence, you buy yourself and your family a prison that used to hold female serial killers? It's plenty spacious! And it has a yard! There'll be a 60-day marketing period, of course, but then you'll be free to own your very own 66-acre prison.

QUESTION:Let us take a quick look at each of these issues, starting with Florida's potential expanded participation in the Affordable Care Act.

A Florida bill that would make it legal to fire a warning shot at an attacker has advanced in the Florida legislature.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may provide a comeback story for the Republican Party, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said.

The Florida Supreme Court reluctantly issued an opinion that prohibited illegal aliens who graduated from law school admittance to the Florida bar.

The Republican candidate to fill the late-Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young in Florida's 13th congressional district is fully committed to repealing Obamcare, but some seniors who have already voted for him don't think that's such a hot idea.

The Florida Legislature is in Tallahassee and is looking at the legalization of medical marijuana .

The old Broward Correctional Institution is expected to begin accepting bids by the end of March, Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Patrick Gillespie told Local10.com on Wednesday.

You might say George P. Bush, the newly-minted Republican nominee for Texas Land Commissioner, is making a name for himself in politics.

Attorney Jose Godinez-Samperio, a Mexican immigrant from Tampa, cannot practice law because he's not a U.S. citizen, the state Supreme Court rule.

The sponsor of a bill that would bring Florida into line with two U.S. Supreme Court decisions on juvenile sentencing offered a compromise Wednesday - but critics said it didn't go far enough.

The court said federal law prohibits people who are unlawfully in the country from obtaining professional licenses.

Are you a smart First Coast writer who isn't afraid to knock on doors? If so, send us the clips to prove it.