State | South Central Florida Life

Alpine Income: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

WINTER PARK, Fla. (AP) — WINTER PARK, Fla. (AP) — Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. (PINE) on Thursday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results surpassed Wall … more

4/18/24

FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media, March 7, 2023, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida school districts can opt to allow volunteer chaplains under a bill signed Thursday, April 18, 2024, by DeSantis, who dismissed critics who say religion shouldn't be mixed with public education. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)

Florida will open schools to volunteer chaplains

Florida school districts will soon have the option of allowing volunteer chaplains in as student counselors. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday letting school districts create … more

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON | 4/18/24

CSX: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — CSX Corp. (CSX) on Wednesday reported first-quarter profit of $893 million. The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said it had profit of … more

4/17/24

People wait in line to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Voters go to the polls on July 28th. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

US reimposes oil sanctions on Venezuela as hopes for a fair presidential election fades

The Biden administration has reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela in a rebuke to President Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the U.S. eased … more

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and REGINA GARCIA CANO | 4/17/24

FILE - Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., speaks with the media during his 408th and final workday in Islamorada, Fla., Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004. Graham, who gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and as an early critic of the Iraq war, has died, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. He was 87. (AP Photo/Hillery Smith Shay, File)

Florida's Bob Graham dead at 87: A leader who looked beyond politics, served ordinary folks

Former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham is being remembered as a politician who genuinely loved people and encouraged them to get involved in civic affairs. Graham died Tuesday at 87. He was … more

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON | 4/17/24

Bob Graham, ex-US senator and Florida governor, dies at 87

Former Florida Sen. Bob Graham, who chaired the Intelligence Committee following the 2001 terrorist attacks and opposed the Iraq invasion, has died. He was 87. His family announced the death Tuesday … more

4/16/24

FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media, March 7, 2023, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. DeSantis admits the book challenge law he enacted two years ago is causing problems for school districts. He signed a bill Tuesday, April 16, 2024, that adjusts the law that made it easy for anyone to have any book removed from school libraries and classrooms, either temporarily or permanently. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)

DeSantis tweaks Florida book challenge law, blames liberal activist who wanted Bible out of schools

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has acknowledged that a law he enacted two years ago making it easier for people to challenge books in schools and libraries has caused problems for school districts. He … more

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON | 4/16/24

NASA confirms mystery object that crashed through roof of Florida home came from space station

NASA says it determined that an object that crashed through the roof of a Florida home last month was a chunk of space junk from equipment discarded at the International Space Station. The debris … more

4/15/24

Endangered Bornean orangutan born at Busch Gardens in Florida

An endangered Bornean orangutan baby has been welcomed into the world at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida. The female newborn was delivered by cesarean section on Saturday, weighing just over three … more

4/15/24

PetMed: Fiscal Q3 Earnings Snapshot

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — PetMed Express Inc. (PETS) on Monday reported a loss of $2 million in its fiscal third quarter. The Delray Beach, Florida-based company … more

4/15/24

Detectives solve 1968 killing of World War II veteran who became milkman, Florida sheriff says

Authorities say they've identified a man they believe killed a World War II veteran who worked as a milkman in a Florida cold case that dates back 56 years. Hiram “Ross” Grayam was last seen … more

4/14/24

Authorities say they believe they’ve found the body of a woman who was taken in a Florida carjacking. Investigators found what they believe was the woman's burning SUV with her body inside less than two hours later.

Sheriff believes body in burned SUV to be South Florida woman who went missing after carjacking

Authorities in central Florida say they believe they’ve found the body of a South Florida woman who was taken in a carjacking. Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma says 31-year-old Katherine … more

4/12/24

Former US ambassador sentenced to 15 years in prison for serving as secret agent for Cuba

A former career U.S. diplomat has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after admitting he worked for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba. Manuel Rocha was sentenced Friday after … more

By GISELA SALOMON and JIM MUSTIAN | 4/12/24

Sawfish rescued in Florida as biologists try to determine why the ancient fish are dying

A large sawfish that showed signs of distress has been rescued by wildlife officials in the Florida Keys, where more than three dozen of the endangered fish have died for unexplained reasons in … more

By CURT ANDERSON | 4/12/24

FILE - Walt Nauta, center, valet to former president Donald Trump, his attorney Stanley Woodward, rear, and Carlos De Oliveira, foreground, the property manager of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, leave the Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse, Aug. 10, 2023, in Fort Pierce, Fla. Lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira are set to ask U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon during a Friday, April 12, 2024, hearing to throw out charges of conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into the hoarding of classified documents at the former president's Palm Beach estate. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Trump's co-defendants in classified documents case are asking judge to dismiss charges against them

Lawyers for two co-defendants of former President Donald Trump in the Florida classified documents case are asking a judge to dismiss charges against them. Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago … more

By STEPHANY MATAT and ERIC TUCKER | 4/12/24

FILE - In this May 27, 2020, photo, missionaries with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from left to right, Andrew Zitting, Seth Rather, and Guenter Castrillo pray during a Zoom meeting with a local family while on a smartphone at their apartment, in Brigham City, Utah. In Utah and possibly Idaho, too — the return of Latter-day Saints missionaries from abroad who would be counted as international migrants even if they’re U.S. citizens. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file)

International migrants were attracted to large urban counties last year, Census Bureau data shows

Population estimates show international migrants were attracted to some of the largest, most urban counties in the U.S. last year. This migration often blunted population losses caused by locals … more

By MIKE SCHNEIDER | 4/12/24

Jenni Tilton-Flood poses for a photograph in a dairy barn at Flood Brothers Farm, Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in Clinton, Maine. Foreign-born workers make up fully half the farm's staff of nearly 50, feeding the cows, tending crops and helping collect the milk — 18,000 gallons every day. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A healthy US economy's secret ingredient: Immigrant workers, eager to fill jobs

Millions of jobs that new immigrants have been filling in the United States appear to solve a riddle that has confounded economists for at least a year: How has the U.S. economy managed to prosper, … more

By PAUL WISEMAN, GISELA SALOMON and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER | 4/12/24

A healthy US economy's secret ingredient: Immigrant workers, eager to fill jobs

Millions of jobs that new immigrants have been filling in the United States appear to solve a riddle that has confounded economists for at least a year: How has the U.S. economy managed to prosper, … more

By PAUL WISEMAN, GISELA SALOMON and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER | 4/12/24

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks Wednesday, April 10, 2024, after arriving in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Trump to host embattled Speaker Mike Johnson as House swirls in turmoil

House Speaker Mike Johnson is making a campaign pilgrimage to visit Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. It's a rite of passage as the embattled Republican leader positions himself, and his GOP majority, … more

By LISA MASCARO and JILL COLVIN | 4/12/24

FILE - Students from Thomas Leadership Academy play on the school's playground in Eatonville, Fla., Aug. 23, 2023. Children age 4 and under in Florida were undercounted by almost 10% during the last once-a-decade census in what was the largest undercount of young children of any U.S. state, according to estimates released Thursday, April 11, 2024 by the U.S. Census Bureau. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Almost 10% of Florida's youngest children were missed during the 2020 census

Children age 4 and under in Florida were undercounted by almost 10% during the 2020 census. The estimated error was the largest undercount of young children by any U.S. state. That's according to … more

By MIKE SCHNEIDER | 4/11/24