Jim Turner | News Service of Florida

Recovery efforts, including restoring power and searching damaged properties, began Wednesday after Hurricane Idalia made landfall in a sparsely populated area of the Gulf Coast before crossing parts of North Florida into Georgia.

Visit Florida's president and CEO said it's partly due to increased competition from other states and countries that shut down longer than Florida during the pandemic.

As the 2023 hurricane season starts, memories are still fresh of Hurricane Ian causing billions of dollars in damage and pushing water across Southwest Florida barrier islands. Emergency-management officials believe they must do more to communicate the risks of approaching storms.

Florida’s unemployment rate remained at 2.6 percent in March, as service-related jobs continued to lead in new hiring and construction jobs fell for a third consecutive month.

The House passed Senate President Kathleen Passidomo’s SB 102 bill, dubbed the “Live Local Act.” It would provide incentives for private investment in affordable housing and encourage mixed-use development in struggling commercial areas, while barring local rent controls and pre-empting various local government rules.

After Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole devastated parts of the state last year, the Florida Senate is pursuing a series of proposals aimed at helping communities recover from future storms.

About a year after the Walt Disney Co. angered him by opposing a controversial education law, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that shifts control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District from Disney to the governor’s office.

Ramping up launches at the nation’s busiest spaceport has increased conflicts with cruise ships at Port Canaveral, a space-industry official told lawmakers this week.

At the governor's urging, lawmakers last year dissolved Reedy Creek and five other special districts across the state after Disney angered DeSantis by opposing a controversial education law.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday pitched a $7 billion proposal to speed completion of 20 highway projects as a deadline nears for him to roll out a budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year.

A forthcoming report will estimate Florida’s agriculture industry sustained about $1.07 billion in damages from Hurricane Ian.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approves over $17M in land-conservation deals that include protecting two properties that are part of an envisioned wildlife corridor.