Controversial abortion bill heads to Florida Senate

Abortion Rights Protest — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Bob Korn A bill that would subsequently ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy is set to take another step forward on Monday, February 21. The agenda for Florida’s Senate Appropriations Committee includes the “Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality” bill. The legislation being proposed revises the requirements and

Florida legislature plans to pass first law protecting outdoor workers from heat exposure

Farm Workers Face Heat Exposure in Agriculture Field — Courtesy: Shutterstock — AFZAL KHAN MAHEEN We rarely take time to think about those who built the roof over our heads and picked the fresh produce we enjoy at the table. Field workers work hard in Florida’s unbearable heat to provide us with our most basic

New laws could make craft beer much easier to find in Florida

Craft Beer Pour — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Antov Bannov Craft breweries are heading to Tallahassee to fight for new laws that could make your favorite beers easy to find. Among other requests, they want to be allowed to sell their beer wherever they’d like. Currently, they have to go through a distributor. Matthew Dahm of

Supreme Court halts vaccine mandate for businesses, upholds mandate for health care workers

United States Supreme Court building — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Steven Frame On Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies but allowed a vaccine mandate to remain for medical facilities that take Medicaid or Medicare payments. The rulings come three days after the Occupational Safety and

Up to 1 million COVID-19 rapid test kits found expired in Florida warehouse

BinaxNOW COVID-19 Rapid Test: Courtesy — Image by: Abbott Between 800,000 and 1 million COVID-19 rapid test kits were left to expire inside a Florida warehouse amid a nationwide shortage caused by the winter surge of coronavirus cases. Like many other Americans, Floridians have faced extremely long waits at testing sites for weeks, making the

Florida’s new & improved jobless rate leads to scaled-back benefits

Unemployed Floridians Face Scaled-Back Benefits — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Image by: Blueee77 TALLAHASSEE, Fl. — Floridians laid off in the upcoming new year will get seven fewer weeks of unemployment benefits because of the state’s improved jobless rate for 2021.  On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced that a formula used to determine

Disney halts vaccine mandate after Florida’s ban

Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Jerome Labouyrie The Walt Disney Company has put a halt to its coronavirus vaccine mandate for employees of its Florida theme park after the State Legislature and governor made it illegal for employers to require all workers to get vaccinated, a company spokesperson confirmed on Saturday.

Florida climate summit kicks off in Orlando

Climate Summit — Courtesy: Shutterstock — teerayuth oanwong Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer welcomed attendees to the 2021 Florida Energy & Climate Summit, held at the Florida Hotel & Conference Center in Sand Lake Road on Tuesday. This year, the summit is hosted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Energy and

Miami Mayor says he will take next paycheck in Bitcoin

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Speaks at Bitcoin Convention — Courtesy: Getty Images — Joe Raedle Miami mayor Francis Suarez took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce that he would take his next paycheck in “100% Bitcoin.” Bitcoin is a “decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly, without an intermediary like a

With the end of daylight savings time around the corner, lawmakers continue the fight to make it permanent

Daylight Savings Time — Courtesy: Shutterstock — New Africa The latest end of daylight savings time is Sunday morning, but the sun continues to set on legislative attempts to put a stop on the clock. One Florida congressman has shed more light on the effort to put an end to the annual tradition. The earliest