Michael Leon is a successful New York-based actor who grew up in Miami. Since graduating from Florida International University and Manhattan’s Atlantic Acting School, he has worked with high-profile companies including the LAByrinth Theater Co., New York Theatre Workshop, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, INTAR Theatre and more.

Leon also has been an admirer of complex family plays, but he’s felt that diverse voices are too often missing.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday appointed Ryan Petty to the Florida Board of Education, subject to state Senate approval.

Petty’s 14-year-old daughter Alaina was murdered in the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and he has since become a national advocate for school safety reforms.

Petty founded a nonprofit called the WalkUp Foundation. The organization’s mission is to persuade students to “walk up” to their peers who seem like they need a friend and seek help from adults if necessary.

A pair of bills seeking compensation for descendants of the 1920 Election Day race riots in Ocoee will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

Invasive iguanas burrowing into the soft dirt around an aging dam cost a Florida city $1.8 million in emergency repairs.

Employees noticed last year that water was seeping round the edges of a decades-old weir that controls water delivery in West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Post reported.

The Florida investigative commission that has driven changes to school safety laws since the Parkland shooting could feature more educators and be more diverse after this year’s legislative session.

The state Senate education committee is considering a bill Tuesday that would add three seats to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission. The new positions would have to be filled by current school district superintendents, principals and teachers.

Matthew Holland left prison prepared to get a job, but the Spring Hill resident wasn’t prepared for the $3,000 in court fees, the 45 day deadline to pay it, the driver license suspension when he didn’t have the cash, or the 10-year toil it would take on his plan to reenter society.

“They shouldn’t be able to suspend your license because you can’t afford to pay your tickets or your fees,’’ said Holland 32, who has a steady job, a wife and two kids, but has been without a license for the last 10 years.

Two Democrats who are critical of Florida’s school guardian program have filed long-shot legislation seeking to redirect money earmarked for training and arming school personnel toward other school security measures.

The proposals, filed by Tampa Sen. Janet Cruz and Boca Raton state Rep. Tina Polsky, would allow school districts that do not opt into the guardian program to request leftover funding from the program for other purposes, such as school hardening or salaries of school resource officers.

Electric scooter rentals are likely to stay in Florida — even though some companies have started pulling their business out of other parts of the country.

The e-scooters, which grew popular on U.S. streets in 2018, have helped thousands of tourists, residents and even well-tailored businesspeople quickly get around the streets. But they’ve also drawn public safety concerns as the number of accidents kept mounting. And cities such as Fort Lauderdale, one of the first Florida cities to allow them, still are refining their rules for the two-wheeled devices, focused on safety.