Florida

Mark your calendars: 10th Annual Lionfish Festival May 17–18 in Destin

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and Destin–Fort Walton Beach invite everyone to celebrate the 10th annual Lionfish Festival May 1718 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. CT at AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar and HarborWalk Village in Destin. 

This two-day outdoor festival is free, open to the public and will include conservation and art booths, live music, an interactive kid’s zone and the world’s largest lionfish tournament, the Emerald Coast Open. 

FWC, FDACS to conduct public meeting about chronic wasting disease

FWCFollowing confirmation of Florida’s first known case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in June 2023, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) are hosting the following public meeting in Bonifay: 

Florida to provide more toll relief for commuters

(The Center Square) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that Floridians will receive additional funding for toll relief.

Toll relief began April 1 and will save some commuters who frequently drive through toll plazas hundreds of dollars over the course of a year after the state has promised to reimburse 50% of those toll costs back to drivers.

"We were able in 2023 to do the most significant toll relief program in the history of the state, we were able to rebate 50% of all the tolls from our commuters on a monthly basis," DeSantis said.

Family, friends, community, agency leaders attend unveiling of marker designating Kyle Lee Patterson Memorial Way on State Road 70

St. Lucie, FL – In honor of the late FWC Senior Investigator Kyle Lee Patterson's profound contributions to his community and his enduring legacy, a special dedication ceremony took place on March 29, unveiling the marker designating a portion of State Route 70 as Kyle Lee Patterson Memorial Way. 

Florida utility to refund $5M to customers over nuclear plant outages

(The Center Square) — The Florida Public Service Commission approved a settlement Tuesday that will allow Florida Power & Light to provide its customers with a reimbursement.

FPL will reimburse its customers $5 million after they were charged "replacement" power costs when the Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear plants experienced outages between 2020 and 2022.

Permit spawning season closure inside the Special Permit Zone starts April 1

The spawning season closure for permit inside the Special Permit Zone in south Florida starts April 1. This closure includes all state and federal waters south of Cape Sable on the Gulf coast, and south of Cape Florida on the Atlantic coast including all of the Florida Keys and Biscayne Bay south of Rickenbacker Causeway. 

Permit will reopen inside the Special Permit Zone on Aug. 1.