For the first time in a decade, a black bear hunt has returned to Florida. FWC reports that they received over 163,000 applications for the chance to win one of only 172 bear tags.

A FEMA grant of more than $11 million has been granted Naples for the reconstruction of the iconic and popular city pier.The funds, $11,401,144.20, were announced Friday afternoon by Congressman Byron Donalds.

The Trump administration argues that providing real-time American Sign Language interpretation for events like White House press briefings would intrude on the president's control over his public image. This stance is part of a lawsuit filed by the National Association for the Deaf, which claims the lack of ASL interpretation denies deaf Americans access to important communications. The Justice Department suggests alternatives like online transcripts and closed captioning provide what's needed. A federal judge recently ordered the White House to provide the interpreting, but the administration has appealed.

The government's focus on perceived illegal immigration has reached a new high as over 65,000 people are being held in ICE Detention Centers, surpassing previous records.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined his proposed $117 billion state budget Wednesday, as the term-limited executive prepares to leave the state's top office. His spending plan includes increased spending on law enforcement and corrections officers. He also recommended new investments in campus security for the state's public universities, following a mass shooting at Florida State University in April that killed two and injured six others. DeSantis also continued his call to slash property taxes in the state, and floated $300 million to backfill local government budgets in rural and fiscally constrained counties.The FEA issued a statement harshly critical of the budget plan.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has designated one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the U.S. a "foreign terrorist organization," following a similar step by Texas last month. The directive against the Council on American-Islamic Relations comes in an executive order DeSantis posted on the social media site X Monday. It also gives the same label to the Muslim Brotherhood. Neither CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. The order instructs Florida agencies to prevent the two groups and those who have provided them material support from receiving contracts, employment and funds from a state executive or cabinet agency.

The Federal Aviation Administration has turned down another extension for the promoters of a huge international cargo hub in eastern Hendry County. The agency is putting the idea on administrative hold.

Lee County Utilities is alerting customers to a scheduled water outage and upcoming precautionary boil water notice along Orange River Boulevard east of Interstate 75. Interruption is due to construction as part of the Lee County Orange River Boulevard Sidewalk and Utility Improvements Project.