CURT ANDERSON

AP Legal Affairs Writer
FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks during a press conference at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District headquarters at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. The University of Florida is eliminating its chief diversity officer position, Friday, March 1, scrapping the program’s staff jobs and halting any contracts involving the subject because of a new law passed last year by the Republican-dominated state Legislature. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)
U of Florida axes diversity and inclusion office under GOP-led law aimed at ridding similar programs
The University of Florida is eliminating its chief diversity officer position, scrapping the program’s staff jobs and halting any contracts involving the subject because of a new law passed last year that was pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
 
FILE - This photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein, March 28, 2017. The transcripts of a 2006 grand jury that investigated Epstein's sexual assaults of underage girls would be released to the public under a bill heading to Florida's governor after it was unanimously passed by the Legislature, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File)
Jeffrey Epstein grand jury records from underage girl abuse probe to be released under Florida law
Grand jury transcripts from a 2006 Florida investigation into wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of dozens of underage girls will be released publicly later this year under legislation signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
 
In this image provided by the Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Highway Patrol troopers are on the scene of a small airplane landing on southbound Interstate 75 in Naples, Fla., Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. The plane collided with a vehicle as it made the emergency landing. (Florida DOT/The News-Press via AP)
NTSB: Engine oil warnings sounded moments before jet crash-landed on Florida highway, killing 2
Moments before the deadly crash of a charter jet on a Florida highway, three warnings about oil pressure problems in its two engines sounded.
 
FILE - Robert DuBoise is released from prison at the Hardee County Correctional Institute, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Bowling Green, Fla. DuBoise spent 37 years in a Florida prison for a 1983 rape and murder he did not commit. Now, he's set to receive $14 million from the city of Tampa as compensation for all those lost years. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius, File)
A Florida man was imprisoned 37 years for a murder he didn’t commit. He’s now getting $14M
The Tampa City Council has agreed to pay former prison inmate Robert DuBoise $14 million to compensate him for the 37 years he spent behind bars for a murder that he did not commit. DuBoise was 18 when the crime occurred.
 
Investigators look at the burned out remains of a mobile home after a plane crash Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 in Clearwater, Fla. Fire officials say a small plane has crashed into a home at a Florida mobile home park, killing several people aboard the plane and in the home. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
3 killed as a small plane crashes into a Florida mobile home
Authorities say a pilot and two people on the ground died when a small plane crashed into a Florida mobile home park.
 
FILE - This GOES-East GeoColor satellite image taken at 9:56 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, and provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows Hurricane Ian passing over western Cuba. The familiar “cone of uncertainty” produced by the National Hurricane Center to forecast the location and ferocity of a tropical storm is getting an update this year to include predicted impacts in inland areas, where wind and flooding are sometimes more treacherous than damage to the coasts. (NOAA via AP, File)
US center’s tropical storm forecasts are going inland, where damage can outstrip coasts
The National Hurricane Center will add inland predictions to its forecast of the location and ferocity of tropical storms.
 
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis listens as Bob Vander Plaats speaks to media following a Fox News Town Hall in Des Moines, Iowa, Tuesday, Jan 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Court sends case of prosecutor suspended by DeSantis back to trial judge over First Amendment issues
A Democratic Florida prosecutor suspended by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis will get another chance to show his political advocacy was protected by the First Amendment and could not be the basis for his removal. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S.
 
FILE - Invited guests look at artist renderings of what the planned Tampa Bay Rays stadium will look like after the team announced plans for a new stadium during a news conference, Sept. 19, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Officials in the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, want to make it clear that their city is the current and future home of the Tampa Bay Rays as negotiations continue on details surrounding a proposed new $1.3 billion ballpark that would be ready for the 2028 season opener. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
St. Petersburg seeks profile boost as new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark negotiations continue
Officials in St. Petersburg, Florida, want to make it clear that their city is the current and future home of the Tampa Bay Rays as negotiations continue on a proposed new $1.3 billion ballpark. The Rays oppose changing the team name to the St.
 
In this image taken with a fisheye lens, Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, is shown Thursday, March 26, 2020, in St. Petersburg, Fla. They began as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998, then shortened their name in 2007 to simply Tampa Bay Rays. Now, as plans for a new ballpark take shape, there’s talk about changing the name again to reflect the team’s actual location: the St. Petersburg Rays. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
Home of Tampa Bay Rays eyes name change, but team says it would threaten stadium deal
They began as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998, then shortened their name in 2007 to simply Tampa Bay Rays.
 
FILE - Bridget Ziegler speaks at the Moms for Liberty meeting in Philadelphia, July 1, 2023. A Florida school board is scheduled to consider whether to seek the resignation of a co-founder of the conservative Moms for Liberty group, who is embroiled in the fallout of a sexual assault investigation into her husband, the Republican Party state chairman. The Sarasota County School Board cannot oust Ziegler outright from the panel but was set to vote Tuesday, Dec. 12 on a resolution requesting that she step down. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)
Florida school board recommends ouster of Moms for Liberty co-founder over Republican sex scandal
A Florida school board has recommended the resignation of one of its members who is embroiled in the fallout of a sexual assault investigation into her husband, Republican Party state chairman Christian Ziegler.
 
Dan Durica gestures during an interview at the Sweetwater Community Farm Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Drought vs deluge: Florida’s unusual rainfall totals either too little or too much on each coast
In Florida, this year has been a tale of two states as far as rainfall totals, with the southeast coast deluged by sometimes-record rainfall and much of the Gulf coast facing a major precipitation deficit.
 
FILE -Tampa police officers stand in the street in the Ybor City section of Tampa, Fla., after a shooting Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. A fight between two groups turned deadly in a shooting during Halloween festivities. A 14-year-old boy has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 20-year-old during a Halloween weekend mass shooting that left two people dead and 16 injured in Tampa's Ybor City, officials said, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
Tampa teen faces murder charge in mass shooting on Halloween weekend
Police say a 14-year-old is now facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of a 20-year-old during a Halloween weekend mass shooting that left two people dead and 16 injured in Tampa’s Ybor City.
 
FILE - A group of manatees are pictured in a canal where discharge from a nearby Florida Power & Light plant warms the water in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dec. 28, 2010. Wildlife officials say a two-year experimental feeding program for starving Florida manatees will not immediately resume this winter as conditions have improved for both the threatened marine mammals and the seagrass on which they depend. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Florida discontinues manatee winter feeding program after seagrass conditions improve
Wildlife officials say a two-year experimental feeding program for starving Florida manatees will not immediately resume this winter as conditions have improved for the threatened marine mammals and the seagrass on which they depend.
 
A pair of Green Sea Turtle hatchings make their way to the Atlantic Ocean in this Aug. 8, 2023, photo at the Canaveral Sea Shore in Cape Canaveral, Fla. By most measures, it was a banner year for sea turtle nests at beaches around the U.S., including record numbers for some species in Florida and elsewhere. Yet the positive picture for turtles is tempered by climate change threats, including higher sand temperatures that produce fewer males, changes in ocean currents that disrupt their journeys and increasingly severe storms that wash away nests. (Stella Maris/Florida Space Coast Office of Tourism via AP)
Sea turtle nests break records on US beaches, but global warming threatens their survival
It’s been a record-breaking year for sea turtles in Florida. Just as they have for millions of years, the turtles have crawled onto beaches, digging pits in the sand to lay their eggs.
 
AP Top News at 11:57 p.m. EST

Democrats win in several states on abortion rights and other highlights from Tuesday’s elections




WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats had plenty of good news to celebrate in Tuesday’s off-year election and more evidence that they can win races centered on the national debate over abortion.
 
FILE - A witch hat, left, and an unidentified object are shown in the street near evidence markers in the Ybor City section of Tampa, Fla., after a shooting, Oct. 29, 2023. Shootings across the U.S. over the party weekend before Halloween have left at least 11 people dead and more than 70 injured. Authorities say the deaths between Friday and Sunday included two in Tampa, Florida, three in Texarkana, Texas, and two each in Kansas, San Antonio, Texas and Mansfield, Ohio. Many involved altercations arising from Halloween celebrations, including the mass shooting in Tampa’s Ybor City section early Sunday as bars were closing and scores of people in costumes spilled out on the streets. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, file)
Halloween weekend shootings across US leave at least 11 dead, scores injured
Shootings across the U.S. over the weekend before Halloween have left at least 11 people dead and more than 70 injured.
 
Tampa police officers stand in the street in the Ybor City of Tampa after a shooting Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. A fight between two groups turned deadly in a shooting on a Tampa street during Halloween festivities. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Arrest made in Halloween weekend’s fatal shooting of 2 in Tampa; 18 more victims injured
Police in Florida say they’ve arrested a suspect in the mass shooting on a Tampa street overnight. Two people were killed and 18 injured after a fight erupted between two groups.
 
FILE - Members of the Tampa Bay Rays take batting practice at Tropicana Field before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in St. Petersburg, Fla., July 24, 2020. The Rays are pushing for swift approval of a financing deal for a new 30,000-seat ballpark, part of a much larger $6 billion redevelopment project that includes such things as affordable housing, a hotel, a Black history museum and many other items. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
Rays push for swift approval of financing deal for new Tampa Bay ballpark, part of $6B development
The Tampa Bay Rays are pushing for swift approval of a financing deal for a new 30,000-seat ballpark, part of a much larger $6 billion redevelopment project that includes affordable housing, a hotel, a Black history museum and many other items.
 
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, greets sheriffs from different counties in Florida before he delivered remarks at an event, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Ron DeSantis sharpens his attacks on Donald Trump in their shared home state of Florida
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is turning up the heat on frontrunner Donald Trump and defending his own trailing campaign, warning that the former president will deliver the 2024 election to Democrats because he energizes his critics.
 
FILE - New College of Florida's Interim President Richard Corcoran speaks during a meeting of the college's board of trustees, Feb. 28, 2023, in Sarasota, Fla. Amid a conservative makeover launched by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the New College of Florida trustees voted Tuesday, Oct. 3, to stick with DeSantis ally Corcoran as the school's president. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Amid conservative makeover, New College of Florida sticks with DeSantis ally Corcoran as president
Trustees of the New College of Florida have voted to stick with a Ron Desantis ally as the school’s president amid a conservative makeover launched by the governor.
 
Law enforcement officials walk the site of a weekend fatal train collision, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023 in Plant City, Fla., that killed six people and left another in critical condition, when they were crossing the train tracks, on their way to a birthday party. The weekend crash between a train and a sports-utility vehicle that killed six people in Florida happened at a private road crossing where little more than a sign or two is required, no crossing gates, no flashing lights, no sound. (Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Fatal Florida train crash highlights dangers of private, unguarded crossings that exist across US
The weekend crash between a train and an SUV that killed six people in Florida happened at a private road crossing where little more than a sign or two is required. There were no crossing gates, no flashing lights and no sound.
 
FILE - A road cuts through a flooded area south of Perry, Fla., following the passage of Hurricane Idalia, Aug. 30, 2023. Florida agriculture losses from Hurricane Idalia are estimated at between $78 million and $371 million, with producers also suffering widespread damage to such infrastructure as irrigation rigs and fences. That's according to a preliminary report Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023 from the University of Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, file)
Florida agriculture losses between $78M and $371M from Hurricane Idalia, preliminary estimate says
Florida agriculture losses from Hurricane Idalia are estimated at between $78 million and $371 million, with producers also suffering widespread damage to such infrastructure as irrigation rigs and fences.
 
Invited guests look at artist renderings of what the planned Tampa Bay Rays stadium will look like after the team announced plans for a new stadium during a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Rays finalizing new ballpark in St. Petersburg as part of a larger urban project
The playoff-bound Tampa Bay Rays have put the finishing touches on plans for a new 30,000-seat ballpark in St. Petersburg.
 
In this July 8, 2013 photo, a rare ghost orchid blooms in Charleston, W.Va. The rare ghost orchid found mainly in Florida and Cuba should be immediately protected by the U.S. as an endangered species, three environmental groups claimed Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023 in a lawsuit arguing that federal officials are unduly delaying a decision. (Chris Dorst/Charleston Gazette-Mail via AP, file)
Environmental groups sue US over sluggish pace in listing the rare ghost orchid as endangered
The rare ghost orchid found mainly in Florida and Cuba should be immediately protected by the U.S. as an endangered species, three environmental groups claimed Wednesday in a lawsuit arguing that federal officials are unduly delaying a decision.
 
FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media in the Florida Cabinet following his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on March 7, 2023, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. The fate of abortion rights in Florida is at stake Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 when the state Supreme Court takes up a challenge to a law banning the procedure in most cases after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which will determine whether an even stricter six-week ban signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis can take effect. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File)
Florida abortion rights at stake as state Supreme Court takes up challenge to GOP-led restrictions
The Florida Supreme Court must decide whether to overrule broad abortion rights protections provided for decades under the state constitution and instead uphold a law signed by Republican Gov.
 
FILE - A giant tarp, bottom, covers a section of rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, July 4, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. The probe into the 2021 collapse of the beachfront condominium building that killed 98 people in South Florida should be completed by the fourth anniversary of the disaster, federal officials said Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Probe of Florida building collapse that killed 98 to be completed by June 2025, US investigators say
Federal officials say the probe into the 2021 collapse of a beachfront condominium building in South Florida that killed 98 people should be completed by the fourth anniversary of the disaster.
 
South Florida NCAA college football head coach Alex Golesh smiles during a spring scrimmage Friday, April 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. The University of South Florida is looking for some big changes when the Tampa school plans to open a new $340 million on-campus football stadium in 2026. The stadium is expected to seat about 35,000, far smaller than the 75,000 or so where the Bulls now play at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
USF is building a $340M on-campus football stadium despite concerns academics are being left behind
The University of South Florida is looking for some big changes when the Tampa school plans to open a new $340 million on-campus football stadium in 2026.
 
Water from the Hillsborough River rises onto Plant parkk at University of Tampa, Fla., in downtown as Hurricane Idalia approaches the Big Bend region on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Ivy Ceballo/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Tampa Bay area gets serious flooding but again dodges a direct hit from a major hurricane
Last year it was Hurricane Ian that drew a bead on Tampa Bay before abruptly shifting east to strike southwest Florida more than 130 miles away.
 
Bar stools fill the open second story at the Sea Hag Marina in Steinhatchee, Fla., as employees prepare for the expected arrival of Hurricane Idalia, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in Florida’s Big Bend, the ‘Nature Coast’ far from tourist areas
Florida’s Big Bend is one of the last truly natural places in the state. It’s not Disney World. It’s not South Beach. This is where people go to hunt alligators, fish for tarpon and search for scallops in the shallow waters.
 
Carlos De Oliveira, center, property manager of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, leaves the Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse following his arraignment hearing, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, in Fort Pierce, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Mar-a-Lago property manager pleads not guilty to charges in Trump’s classified documents case
Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, has pleaded not guilty to scheming with Trump to try to delete security footage sought by investigators probing the former president’s hoarding of classified documents.
 
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