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Gov. Rick Scott and executives of Florida's largest ports Thursday called on negotiators to avert a strike that could cripple the majority of container shipments along the eastern and gulf coasts as early as this weekend. 

Barring an agreement between longshoremen and shippers, the group urged President Barack Obama to use his authority to keep containerized cargo moving while talks continue, saying any interruption would have a ripple effect throughout Florida and across the country.

South Florida lost a number of notable figures in 2012.

Bee Gees singer and former Miami resident Robin Gibb died at 62 after a battle with cancer.

Tony Goldman, the developer credited with turning South Beach and Wynwood into thriving destinations, died at 68 from heart failure.

Transportation engineers are planning to install pay-per-drive express lanes as part of the next big I-95 makeover in Palm Beach County.

Already in use in Miami-Dade County and under construction in Broward, express lanes provide a faster, limited-access drive for commuters who can commit to the entire distance. Tolls rise and fall as a function of traffic congestion.

In Miami, the tolls range from 25 cents to six and seven dollars, according to traffic conditions.

Many years from now, hundreds of Lynn University alumni will be able to tell their grandkids, "Yep, I was there."

2012 was the year Lynn went from relatively unknown university to center of the political universe when it hosted the final presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

Just before the October 22nd event, Lynn President Kevin Ross repeatedly referred to the debate as the moment the university had long been waiting for.

tvOur friends at WUSF in Tampa have been collecting holiday stories and traditions from around the state for a series they call "Florida Holidays." The following was originally posted by WUSF reporter Dalia Colón.

Confession: Publix holiday commercials turn me to mush.

Maybe it's the music. Maybe it's because I'm already in the holiday spirit. Or maybe it's just good marketing.

Our friends at WUSF in Tampa have been collecting holiday stories and traditions from around the state for a series they call "Florida Holidays." The following was originally posted by WUSF reporter Dalia Colón. It came to her as an email with subject line "That's so Florida." Here's a strange tale from Anna Maria Island  resident Peggy Bode:

Our friends at WUSF in Tampa have been collecting holiday stories and traditions from around the state for a series they call "Florida Holidays." Becky Wanamaker shared this story on WUSF's Facebook page and Scott Finn, WUSF's news director, originally posted this story.

Every December, our family drives to Orlando for a little winter wonderland fun at the Gaylord Palm's ICE! show. We bundle up in those big, heavy blue coats and marvel at the beautiful sculptures that created wonderful Christmas vignettes.

We all know South Florida can be a pretty weird place, and it's something of a holiday tradition for news organizations around the state to put together lists of the weirdest stories of the year.

We decided to go straight to the people on the front lines, WLRN's anchors, producers, editors and reporters, and ask them what they thought were the most bizarre Florida stories of 2012. 

Some stories were funny, others perplexing and some macabre.

-- State officials had some early holiday gifts for Florida on the employment and education fronts.

Education officials say nearly half of Florida's high schools received an A grade for the 2011- 2012 school year.

The letter grades for high schools in our region were generally positive.

In Broward, two schools went from a C to an A grade. In Miami-Dade, six schools made the same jump.

And the number of Palm Beach County high schools earning an A grade rose from 8 to 14.