The Florida Wildlife Commission reports that a third panther has been found dead since the beginning of December.The most recent big cat death is a 9-month-old, male Florida panther. Remains of the juvenile animal were collected on Monday in Hendry County and the suspected cause of death is vehicle collision.

The Robin Dawn Academy Holiday Showcase 2025 takes place at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on Monday, December 15. Academy dancers ages 3–18 will light up the stage with high-energy routines in every style — ballet, jazz, hip hop, and more — set to favorite holiday hits.

A new program that put cameras on school buses will catch and fine drivers who pass school buses that have their red stop lights on and arm out.

Approximately 2,277,540 pounds of a ready-to-eat Korean barbecue pork jerky product shipped to Costco and Sam's Club sites nationwide that may be contaminated with pieces of metal is being recalled, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced.The affected jerky product made by LSI, Inc., an Alpena, S.D. establishment, has a one-year shelf-life with “best by” dates ranging October 23, 2025, through September 23, 2026, printed on the side of the packaging.

The race to become the governor of Florida is beginning to bubble, with U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds leading what is becoming a crowded field of hopefuls, all jockeying to assume the mantle.It’s way too early to divine who will win the open governor’s seat next November, but Donalds, who is Black and represents Florida’s 19th Congressional district, is bumping up against the reality that in its 180-year history, Florida has never elected a Black governor, man or woman, Democrat or Republican.

Conservation photographer Ian Wilson-Navarro was born in Miami but has lived his entire life in Key Largo. He got his first camera as a teenager, and first visited the Dry Tortugas around that same time camping and fishing with his father. In 2021, he and a friend were chosen for a National Parks Arts Foundation artist residency in the Dry Tortugas on Loggerhead Key. His proposal for the residency pitched the idea of capturing images to create a book, and that book is now out. "Dry Tortugas: Stronghold of Nature" was published last month by University Press of Florida. It features about 200 of his photographs along with essays by people with intimate knowledge of the park who explore its history, culture, and environment.

The president says a third term is "not something I'm looking to do," and the U.S. economy is in a "transition period."

The newly elected vice chair of the Republican Party of Florida was convicted in 2019 as part of a state felony investigation into whether he had a sexual relationship with an inmate when he was a jail guard. Details of the court case and its outcome haven’t previously been reported.

A proposal to carve an exemption in the state’s voter-approved minimum wage isn’t expected to pass during this year’s legislative session, Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, told reporters last week.