News Service Florida

2 days ago | newsserviceflorida.com | Dara Kam

TALLAHASSEE — State university system leaders’ stunning rebuke of Santa Ono’s selection as president of the University of Florida brought into sharp focus efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republicans to push higher education into closer alignment with conservative ideology. The University of Florida Board of Trustees last week unanimously recommended Ono, an immunologist who recently stepped down as president of the University of Michigan, to lead the state’s flagship university.

3 days ago | newsserviceflorida.com | Jim Saunders

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier quickly appealed after a federal judge Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking a 2024 state law aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms. Uthmeier, who is the defendant in a lawsuit filed by two tech-industry groups, filed a notice of appealing Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Wilson’s ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

3 days ago | newsserviceflorida.com | Jim Saunders

TALLAHASSEE — Florida is continuing to battle at a federal appeals court over a 2023 state law designed to prevent children from going to drag shows. Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office on Tuesday asked for a rehearing by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a three-judge panel last month upheld a preliminary injunction blocking the law. Such a rehearing, if granted, could be held by the full appeals court. kAm%96 A2?6=[ :?

3 days ago | newsserviceflorida.com | Dara Kam

TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge Wednesday refused to block parts of a new Florida law that placed additional restrictions on the state’s ballot-initiative process, turning down arguments by groups seeking to take issues to voters in 2026. Florida Decides Healthcare, a committee sponsoring a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at expanding Medicaid coverage, quickly filed a lawsuit last month after the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the law.

4 days ago | newsserviceflorida.com | Jim Saunders

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday backed one of his top aides to become state education commissioner as Manny Diaz Jr. prepares to leave the commissioner’s job to take over as interim president of the University of West Florida. DeSantis recommended the appointment of Deputy Chief of Staff Anastasios Kamoutsas to succeed Diaz. The State Board of Education is scheduled Wednesday to consider appointing a commissioner, and it was unclear Tuesday whether other candidates might be considered.