Tallahassee – A federal judge this week shielded Escambia County School Board members from having to testify in a legal battle about the removal of the children’s book “And Tango Makes Three” from school libraries.

Tallahassee – Rescue and recovery efforts were underway Friday morning in North Florida’s Big Bend region and other areas of the state after the Category 4 Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night in Taylor County.

Tallahassee – Gov. Ron DeSantis warned time is “running out quickly” for people to prepare for large, life-threatening Hurricane Helene, which was already a Category 2 storm Thursday morning as it raced toward making landfall on North Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Tallahassee – Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that “time is running out” for Gulf Coast residents, particularly in North Florida’s Big Bend region, to finalize preparations as powerful Hurricane Helene is poised to slam into the state Thursday.

Tallahassee – Hurricane and storm-surge watches were in effect Tuesday for much of Florida’s Gulf Coast as a weather system is expected to rapidly grow into “a potentially very dangerous storm” and hit the state as a hurricane this week.

Tallahassee – Nearly three dozen new state laws will take effect Oct. 1, including a contentious measure that will limit where homeless people can sleep.

Tallahassee – Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday declared a state of emergency for 41 counties as a storm system is expected to rapidly grow into a powerful hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tallahassee – A federal judge this week refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Florida has violated the Endangered Species Act because of sewage discharges into the Indian River Lagoon that have helped lead to manatee deaths.

Tallahassee – As the state looks at expanding the use of nuclear energy, Florida Power & Light has received federal approval to continue operating its Turkey Point nuclear plant in Miami-Dade County into the 2050s.

Tallahassee – Florida this week argued a federal appeals court should overturn a ruling about permitting for projects that affect wetlands, contending that “disastrous consequences flow” from the ruling.