MIAMI, Florida, April 11 -- Carnival, a leisure travel company, issued the following news release on April 10, 2024: Carnival Cruise Line and Effy Jewelry are set to introduce first-at-sea technology on board Carnival Firenze when the ship launches later this month. Guests will have a fun, new way to shop the latest Effy designs with a digital kiosk that puts more than 100 rings at their fingertips. To enhance the shopping experience, guests will use the new kiosk to browse through an extensiv  more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 -- The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issued the following news release: Today, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson and the Florida Forest Service held a press conference to highlight Florida's current wildfire conditions and urge residents to be wildfire ready. Historically, Florida's year-round wildfire season peaks in April, May, and June, and the National Interagency Fire Center has predicted a relatively normal wildfire  more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 10 -- The Florida Auditor General released the following operational audit (No. 2024-192) on April 5, 2024, involving Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation. Here are excerpts: * * * SUMMARY This operational audit of the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation (CCOC) focused on selected CCOC processes and administrative activities. Our audit did not disclose any findings and recommendations regarding the CCOC processes and administrative activities   more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 -- Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Florida, issued the following news release on April 10, 2024: Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed five pieces of legislation to enhance and create additional criminal punishments for abusing children through grooming or other sexual offenses. These bills provide law enforcement with more tools to keep kids safe and ensure sexual predators and offenders are punished to the fullest extent of the law. "In Florida, we let kids be kids, and we   more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 -- Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Florida, issued the following news release on April 10, 2024: Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the following bills: HB 1131 - Online Sting Operations Grant Program CS/CS/HB 1235 - Sexual Predators and Sexual Offenders CS/HB 305 - Offenses Involving Children CS/HB 1545 - Child Exploitation Offenses CS/CS/CS/SB 1224 - Protection of Children and Victims of Crime To view the transmittal letters, click here (https://www.flgov.com/wp-con  more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 -- The Florida Democratic Party issued the following news on April 10, 2024: Today, the Florida Democratic Party is proud to announce the launch of the Take Back Florida Coordinated Campaign and the hire of its Coordinated Campaign Director. The Take Back Florida Coordinated Campaign is a unified statewide effort to register voters, re-enroll Floridians to vote by mail, and elect Democrats up and down the ballot in 2024. Lisa Peth, a veteran political strategist   more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 -- The Florida Democratic Party issued the following news on April 10, 2024: Yesterday, during an interview on Fox Business, Rick Scott celebrated Arizona's 1864 total abortion ban going into effect saying "this is exactly what ought to happen." WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ytgG2d5ls Larry Kudlow: The Arizona Supreme Court upholds a near-total abortion ban. Do you have a thought on that? Rick Scott: Well, look, this is what's going to happen as a re  more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 -- Florida State University issued the following news: By Kelsey Klopfenstein Anna Romanova, Ph.D., a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament and Secretary of the Committee on Family, Youth, Sport, and Tourism Policies in Ukraine, will speak at Florida State University at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, on "The Truth Behind Ukrainian Statehood: Dispelling Myths and Misconceptions". In collaboration with FSU's Ukraine Task Force, this event is presented by the Ce  more

SANFORD, Florida, April 11 -- Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Florida, issued the following news release on April 9, 2024: This week, First Lady Casey DeSantis joined officers from the Sanford Police Department for a law enforcement de-escalation training at Decision Tactical's facility. The First Lady also met with families of fallen officers and awarded the Seminole County Sheriff's Office Community Foundation and Central Florida Concerns of Police Survivors nonprofits with $20,000 each through the Hope  more

WASHINGTON, April 10 -- George Washington University issued the following news: 2023 was the warmest year on record since documentation began in 1850, and the southeastern state of Florida is no exception. The Grist reports, it's the hottest state. Despite its record breaking land and water temperatures, Florida's legislation has proposed a bill banning offshore wind energy, relax regulations on natural gas pipelines, and delete the majority of mentions of climate change from existing state law  more

MIAMI, Florida, April 11 -- Miami Dade College issued the following news release: In an ongoing effort to expand career opportunities for students, Miami Dade College (MDC) and Florida International University (FIU) announced several transfer articulation agreements to expand opportunities for students in tech and hospitality programs. The agreements were officially signed by MDC President Madeline Pumariega and FIU President Kenneth A. Jessell at a special ceremony to mark the 26th Annual FIU-  more

LANSING, Michigan, April 11 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: Newsweek has reported that voters are "disgruntled" at Mike Rogers for abandoning Michigan and living in a "large, $1.7 million home in Cape Coral, Florida, which was reportedly his official residence until his decision to run for the U.S. Senate." The story notes that Rogers "is still registered to vote in the Sunshine State." Voters are bashing Rogers for being a "'carpetbagger,' a term for a cand  more

LANSING, Michigan, April 11 -- The Michigan Democratic Party issued the following news release: Mike Rogers is facing more heat for abandoning Michigan and moving to a million-dollar mansion in Florida. News outlets have reported that Rogers has "suffered a setback" for living in Florida, leaving voters "disgruntled" and calling him out for being a "carpetbagger." Here's the latest on Rogers getting "busted" for living in Florida: * Rogers abandoned Michigan for Florida where he "is still reg  more

ORLANDO, Florida, April 11 -- Orange County issued the following news: In order to address the increasing number of overdose deaths related to prescription opioids and illicit drugs, Orange County has engaged with the Centers for Disease Control and recently was awarded a grant funded by the CDC to implement its Stop Overdose campaigns locally. The series of campaigns focuses on four key areas: the dangers of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, the risks and consequences of mixing drugs (polysubs  more

ORLANDO, Florida, April 11 -- The city of Orlando issued the following news release: This update is meant to continue to further transparency around the City of Orlando's development of a permanent memorial on the Pulse site and to keep the community updated on those efforts. Stakeholder and Community Engagement As Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer committed when the city purchased the Pulse site in late 2023, a priority is taking a collaborative approach to the development of the memorial to ensure t  more

ORLANDO, Florida, April 11 -- The Orlando Utilities Commission issued the following news on April 10, 2024: To keep pace with increasing water demand as Central Florida's population grows, OUC's Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday (4/9) to approve a new alternative water supply project. To be built at an existing repump station on 15 acres in Lake Nona, the 40,000-square-foot Southeast Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant is estimated to be a $125 million to $155 million investment at complet  more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 -- Florida State University issued the following news: By Anna Gutfreund Florida State University Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Jim Clark visited the FSU London Study Centre earlier this semester to see the facilities and meet with students, faculty and staff. Engagement with FSU's study centers abroad is a priority to Clark, who also delivered the commencement address at FSU's branch campus in the Republic of Panama last fall. "FSU'  more

LAKELAND, Florida, April 11 -- Textron Aviation, a subsidiary of Textron, issued the following news release on April 10, 2024: Textron Aviation today announced the legendary Cessna Caravan turboprop family has surpassed 25 million flight hours, reinforcing the Caravan as the most produced single-engine utility turboprop of all time. The Cessna Caravan and Cessna Grand Caravan EX are designed and manufactured by Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company. "The Cessna Caravan's ve  more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 -- Florida State University issued the following news: By Kathleen Haughney Triumph Gulf Coast Wednesday gave the final sign-off on a project that will give Florida State University $98.4 million to build advanced manufacturing and aerospace facilities in Bay County. The Triumph Gulf Coast (TGC) board voted in November to support the project, which allowed the university and TGC to negotiate the terms and settle the final budget details. TGC gave full approval t  more

CORAL GABLES, Florida, April 11 -- The University of Miami issued the following news: By Victoria Leal In the bustling halls of the University of Miami College of Engineering, you'll likely cross paths with Kaylee Diaz and other Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) members. Diaz is a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering with a concentration in electrical engineering and the president of the University's SHPE chapter. For Diaz, SHPE stands as a beacon of empowerment in th  more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, April 11 (TNSres) -- Florida State University issued the following news: By Trisha Radulovich Modern life relies on plastic. This lightweight, adaptable product is a cornerstone of packaging, medical equipment, the aerospace and automotive industries and more. But plastic waste remains a problem as it degrades in landfills and pollutes oceans. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering researchers have created a potential alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastic that is m  more