The 28 state colleges remove sociology as a general education course • Florida Phoenix The Florida Board of Education has removed sociology from the 28 state college general education lists, following the example of the 12 state universities.  Community colleges, often used as a steppin...

The 28 state colleges remove sociology as a general education course floridaphoenix.com/briefs/the-2...

Under state warning, FAMU boosts pharmacy, law licensure exam passage rates • Florida Phoenix Florida A&M University students posted significantly improved licensure exam passage rates for law and pharmacy last year, two programs the now-chair of the Board of Governors said two years ago he wa...

Under state warning, FAMU boosts pharmacy, law licensure exam passage rates floridaphoenix.com/2026/04/15/u...

DeSantis signs Trump Highway expansion; Tallahassee airport named for Coach Bobby Bowden • Florida Phoenix Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday signed a law designating the Tallahassee airport as Bobby Bowden-Tallahassee International Airport, honoring the late Florida State University football coach. “And just think...

DeSantis signs Trump Highway expansion; Tallahassee airport named for Coach Bobby Bowden floridaphoenix.com/2026/04/14/d...

FGCU extends its president's term for one year, boosts salary • Florida Phoenix Florida Gulf Coast University trustees agreed Tuesday to extend President Aysegul Timur’s contract for one year by unanimous vote. The board extended the contract, initially three years long starting ...

The board extended the contract, initially three years long starting in July 2023, and approved a salary increase to $750,000. floridaphoenix.com/2026/04/14/f...

Tomorrow is the inaugural Local News Day, a new nationwide day of action connecting people with trusted local news. Florida Phoenix is proud to be a founding partner of this important event, and we hope you’ll participate. Please share this post to support local journalism. More tomorrow!

Alabama Senate passes bill requiring display of Ten Commandments in public schools | Alabama Reflector Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, the presiding officer of the chamber, refused to recognize Democrats who wanted to speak on the bill. 

Via Anna Barrett: SB 99, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, would require schools to display a poster of the religious document in fifth through 12th-grade classes and within common areas, such as cafeterias and school libraries, in every school within the district.

Sociology no longer a general education course at Florida universities • Florida Phoenix The board governing Florida’s universities voted Thursday to remove sociology as a general education offering at the state’s public universities, leaving it available as an elective course. The decisi...

ICYMI from last week: Sociology no longer a general education course at Florida universities floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/26/s...

University leaders grapple with the upside and downside of AI • Florida Phoenix Florida’s public university leaders are consulting in-house and private-sector artificial intelligence experts to help formulate the state system’s approach to the technology. In a discussion at the F...

“I just think that, as a board, we and the trustees are going to be faced with a lot of students in the next 48 months who are saying, ‘I just went through four years of education and I can’t find a job.'" floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/26/u...

Sociology no longer a general education course at Florida universities • Florida Phoenix The board governing Florida’s universities voted Thursday to remove sociology as a general education offering at the state’s public universities, leaving it available as an elective course. The decisi...

"The media has framed a false choice before the board today — that you either violate academic freedom and comply with state statute or you can violate state statute and comply with academic freedom,” Rodrigues said. floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/26/s...

FSU owns a hospital: City of Tallahassee deal green-lit by trustees, governors • Florida Phoenix The Florida State University Board of Trustees and State University System Board of Governors gave approval Thursday for the university to purchase Tallahassee’s main hospital.  Both boards by a voice...

“This is the first major step in building FSU Health and taking a big step toward improving health care but also building clinical and biological biomedical research for Florida State University, so it’s a big deal." floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/26/f...

University leaders grapple with the upside and downside of AI • Florida Phoenix Florida’s public university leaders are consulting in-house and private-sector artificial intelligence experts to help formulate the state system’s approach to the technology. In a discussion at the F...

University leaders grapple with the upside and downside of AI floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/26/u...

2025 extended session cost Florida taxpayers more than $259K • Florida Phoenix Indecision has a price. At least, it does for Florida taxpayers. Last year’s extended session that featured a lengthy standoff between the Florida House and Florida Senate over spending and taxes cost...

That’s the second highest total associated with a special or extended session since 2018. A special session in May 2021 to ratify a gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe cost more than $131,000. floridaphoenix.com/briefs/2025-...

Farm bill gets DeSantis’ signature • Florida Phoenix Gov. Ron DeSantis, flanked by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and Senate President Ben Albritton, signed the 2026 Florida Farm bill in Highlands County Monday.  SB 290, the agency bill for the...

Leaf blowers, conservation lands, CDLs: Farm bill gets DeSantis’ signature floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/23/f...

Ex-reporter Eliott Rodriguez announces challenge to Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar Eliott Rodriguez, an Emmy-winning South Florida journalist, announced Tuesday a challenge to incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in November.Rodriguez, a 69-year-old Cuban American…

Eliott Rodriguez, an Emmy-winning South Florida journalist, announced Tuesday a challenge to incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in November.

via @floridaphoenix.com

Albritton's priorities — rural spending and school voucher fixes – seem dead • Florida Phoenix Rural Renaissance appears to have been put out to pasture for a second consecutive session. House Speaker Daniel Perez told reporters Wednesday that the House won’t consider in the last eight days of ...

Albritton’s priorities — rural spending and school voucher fixes – seem dead floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/05/a...

House Speaker: 'Fast is not on the menu this session' • Florida Phoenix With just nine days left in the regularly 2026 legislative session, it appears unlikely the Legislature will accomplish the one thing it’s mandated to do: Pass a budget. In an availability with report...

House Speaker: ‘Fast is not on the menu this session’ floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/04/h...

Farm bill, stripped of food libel language, is headed to the governor • Florida Phoenix The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services package, amended and defended, is on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The House passed it, 94-10, Tuesday; the Senate approved it unanimously l...

Farm bill, stripped of food libel language, is headed to the governor floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/03/f...

Feds block millions for 'Alligator Alcatraz,' 'Deportation Depot' over pending environmental review • Florida Phoenix The federal government is withholding a $608 million grant to help pay for Florida's migrant lockups because a required environmental review still hasn't been completed, newly released records show.

Feds block millions for ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ ‘Deportation Depot’ over pending environmental review, ICYMI from @livcaputo.bsky.social yesterday floridaphoenix.com/2026/03/02/f...

CDC: Florida has 107 confirmed measles cases • Florida Phoenix Florida ranks third in the number of confirmed measles cases across the country, new data published the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. The CDC data, updated Friday, show 107 con...

DOH data, which include cases reported to the state health department through Feb. 21, show 104 confirmed measles cases in 11 counties: Alachua, Broward, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Pinellas, and St. Johns. floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/27/c...

Post-FSU shooting package clears House, floor-ready in Senate • Florida Phoenix Less than a year after a gunman opened fire on Florida State University’s campus, killing two and injuring more, the Florida House has passed a bill intended to prevent another shooting. Members voted...

"The average duration of an active shooter incident in a school is three to five minutes. The average law enforcement response time after a 911 call is seven to 10 minutes. The outcome ... is almost entirely determined before the first patrol car arrives." floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/26/p...

Post-FSU shooting package clears House, floor-ready in Senate • Florida Phoenix Less than a year after a gunman opened fire on Florida State University’s campus, killing two and injuring more, the Florida House has passed a bill intended to prevent another shooting. Members voted...

Post-FSU shooting package clears House, floor-ready in Senate. Read how Parkland families feel: floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/26/p...

FSU votes to keep president amid turnover at other universities • Florida Phoenix Florida State University trustees want another three years of President Richard McCullough. The board voted Wednesday to extend McCullough’s contract until 2029, adding to his initial five-year contra...

FSU votes to keep president amid turnover at other universities floridaphoenix.com/briefs/fsu-v...

History in the making: State adds Maduro overthrow to anti-communist curriculum • Florida Phoenix The overthrow of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela is one for the history books in Florida.  In November, the Florida Board of Education adopted standards for teaching middle and high school students about ...

History in the making: State adds Maduro overthrow to anti-communist curriculum floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/20/h...

State responds to Schools of Hope outcry, tightens rules • Florida Phoenix State education officials amended the rules governing Schools of Hope, a program that was expanded at the end of the last legislative session and caused a stir in public schools around the state ever ...

State responds to Schools of Hope outcry, tightens rules floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/20/s...

Freeze dropped agricultural production by $3 billion, ag commissioner estimates • Florida Phoenix Early data following the unusually cold weather that blanketed Florida this month and last show that producers lost more than $3 billion. A report from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consum...

Freeze dropped agricultural production by $3 billion, ag commissioner estimates floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/20/f...

Leafblowers, door-to-door salesmen, and surplus land addressed in Senate-passed ag bill • Florida Phoenix Florida senators gave unanimous approval Thursday to an omnibus agricultural bill that would turn over state-owned land to agriculture. A similar bill, but carrying a controversial provision about agr...

Leafblowers, door-to-door salesmen, and surplus land addressed in Senate-passed ag bill floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/19/l...

Veterans Day measure seeks uniformity in observing the holiday in schools • Florida Phoenix Public school students statewide would get the day off from classes to honor veterans next year, if the Florida Senate and the governor agree with the House.  On the most recent Veterans Day, 19 schoo...

Veterans Day measure seeks uniformity in observing the holiday in schools floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/17/v...

House contemplates shifting USF land to New College, following DeSantis' lead • Florida Phoenix This year’s budget negotiations will entail negotiating the future of University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus. The Florida House Higher Education Budget Subcommittee Monday approved tran...

House contemplates shifting USF land to New College, following DeSantis’ lead floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/16/h...

Florida emergency agency ran up $405 million immigration tab in six months • Florida Phoenix Florida’s emergency managers spent more than $405 million in taxpayer dollars in six months to fight illegal immigration, but that doesn't just include law enforcement, state spending records show: It...

Forgot to post this on but: Scoop 🚨

FL's emergency managers spent over $405M in 6 months to fight illegal immigration

That's 70% of FL's immigration dollars in 4 years

Doesn't just include law enforcement: It covers private jet flights and restaurants

floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/10/f...

Senate moves along agriculture bill without provision ‘muzzling MAHA’ • Florida Phoenix Florida senators responded to public outcry Tuesday by approving an agriculture omnibus bill but leaving behind a provision that limited disparaging speech about food products.  Senators approved SB 2...

Senate moves along agriculture bill without provision ‘muzzling MAHA’ floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/10/s...