Regional

DeSantis signs covid lawsuit protection bill into law

TALLAHASSEE — Florida businesses, governments and healthcare providers will be protected from coronavirus lawsuits if they made a good effort to follow guidelines to prevent the spread of covid-19 under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday.

DeSantis to forbid ‘vaccine passports’

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that he would issue an executive order forbidding local governments and businesses from requiring so-called “vaccine passports” to show proof that customers have been inoculated against the coronavirus.

Legislature targets anonymous tips in code enforcement cases

TALLAHASSEE — Anonymous tips would no longer be justification to begin code-enforcement investigations in many cases, under a proposal advancing in the House and already approved by the Senate.

Senators approve increasing unemployment benefits by $100

TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s unemployment payments, among the lowest in the nation, would increase by up to $100 a week under a measure approved Monday by a Senate committee.

House passes controversial protest bill on party-line vote

TALLAHASSEE — With Black lawmakers condemning the proposal as a return to the Jim Crow era, the Republican-controlled Florida House on Friday approved a measure aimed at cracking down on violent protests by creating a host of new crimes, enhancing riot-related penalties and creating roadblocks for...

Covid legal protections passed; headed to DeSantis

TALLAHASSEE — A little more than a year after covid-19 began wrecking the economy and infecting and killing Floridians, state lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to a bill that will shield from coronavirus-related lawsuits businesses ranging from nursing homes to grocery stores to restaurants.

ANOTHER OPINION: We must fight to protect the right to know

For democracy to function, citizens must have the right to know what their elected officials are doing and saying. The right to full and public notice of when elected officials are discussing or making decisions must be ensured.

Shepherd: Why deprive public the right to know?

We have a wonderful, “newfangled” church in western Volusia County. It’s a modern church, created in response to changing ways of worship, and the rejection, by many, of religious traditions.

ANOTHER OPINION: Bill would limit public’s access

Call it the fox guarding the hen house, or government telling government to hold itself accountable.

Solar farm finds sunny skies from commission

LIVE OAK — One week after being clouded by a short turnaround, the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners provided clear, sunny skies for a proposed solar farm project.