Free Community Bulletin Board for Windmill Reserve, FL

Researchers are proposing a new hurricane rating system to better communicate the storm's potential impact.

“We know that wind only accounts for less than 10% of fatalities in general, but yet our current category system is based on wind alone. Storm surge accounts for closer to 50% and rainfall accounts for closer to 30%,” said Jennifer Collins, a hurricane researcher at the University of South Florida.

The new scale is called the Tropical Cyclone Severity Scale and it provides a different category for each hazard such as wind, storm surge, and rainfall, along with a combined final category.

"Frequently, people use the storm’s category to decide whether to evacuate, that’s incredibly dangerous, because if they hear it’s only a tropical storm or Category 1, too often no alarm bells go off, and they see no cause for concern," 

On Wednesday, Florida's 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that the 1987 statewide open-carry ban on firearms is no longer constitutionally enforceable, requiring gun laws to be rooted in historical tradition.

The case stemmed from the July 4, 2022, arrest of a man in downtown Pensacola carrying a visible, holstered pistol and a copy of the U.S. Constitution. The three-judge panel in Escambia County vacated the man's sentence.

Attorney General James Uthmeier announced he will not appeal to the state Supreme Court, making Florida an open-carry state. Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the decision and said the Second Amendment "says what it means and means what it says."

Several elected officials from Parkland—the site of the state's deadliest school shooting—criticized the decision as dangerous. Restrictions on carrying firearms in sensitive locations, such as schools and courthouses, will remain in effect.

Lawmakers will be back in Tallahassee next month to convene committee hearings, including the new House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting announced by House Speaker Daniel Perez last month.

Rep. Mike Redondo, a Republican first elected in 2023 to represent part of Miami-Dade County, will chair the 11-person committee. The committee will explore questions related to redistricting before the next decennial census. The Senate doesn't have a similar panel.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said he's intent on a mid-decade congressional redistricting that would help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House in 2026. A new survey shows Floridians may disagree.

Watchdog group Common Cause surveyed almost 500 Floridians from all political affiliations, finding that 55% oppose the idea of redistricting, 26% support it, and 19% are undecided.

The enrollment drop in Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is 

due to a combination of declining birth rates, rising competition from other schooling options, high costs of living driving families away, and a decrease in parental confidence in the public school system. This has led to a decade-long decrease in enrollment, and the district is now facing budget shortfalls and considering school consolidations. 

Competition from other schools

• Growing school choice programs: The expansion of state-funded school vouchers in Florida has made private and home-school education more accessible to Broward families.
• Charter schools: While charter schools have also experienced recent enrollment drops, they have historically drawn students away from traditional BCPS schools. A 2024 analysis showed charter school enrollment in Broward had grown, even as district schools lost students.
• Non-traditional options: A district survey of parents who unenrolled their children found that 53% chose non-traditional schooling, seeking higher quality instruction, smaller class sizes, and more program options. 

Parent dissatisfaction

A May 2025 survey of former BCPS parents identified key areas of dissatisfaction that led them to leave: 

• Education quality: 26% of parents cited dissatisfaction with the quality of education as the primary reason for unenrolling their children.
• Safety concerns: 24% of former parents listed concerns about school safety as a primary reason for leaving.
• Support for students with disabilities: 18% of surveyed parents said that better support for students with disabilities would have encouraged them to stay in the district.
• Bullying: Concerns over how the district handles bullying also motivated some families to leave. 

Demographic and economic factors

• Fewer families with young children: The district has observed a decline in the number of families with young children moving into Broward County.
• Declining birth rates: Lower birth rates in the county have led to fewer new students entering the school system. In 2025, for example, a decline of about 2,000 kindergarteners was attributed to falling birth rates.
• High cost of living: Many families are leaving Broward County for financial reasons, relocating to places with a lower cost of living where their paychecks can go further.
• Post-pandemic shift: While enrollment trends were already downward, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the decline. BCPS experienced a steep drop when it started the school year remotely in 2021. 

Impact on the district

• Budget cuts: The decrease in enrollment directly impacts state funding. With thousands of empty seats, the district is facing a significant budget shortfall and must make difficult decisions. In 2025, the superintendent proposed cutting $64.6 million from the budget due to the enrollment drop.
• School closures and consolidations: To address the low enrollment and budget issues, BCPS is actively considering closing, consolidating, or repurposing dozens of schools. For the 2025–2026 school year, the district is considering action on 34 schools. 

At a press conference in Valrico on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo announced the state is establishing its own Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission.

The initiative mirrors that of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the federal level.

Dr. Ladapo announced that the Florida Department of Health will work with DeSantis to end all vaccine mandates in the state—"every last one of them," Ladapo repeated several times.

First Lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins will chair the Florida MAHA Commission. Dr. Ladapo and a list of experts in various health and medical fields will also serve on the commission.

 Watch here.

Attorney General James Uthmeier is investigating a camera maker with Chinese ties that watchdogs warn could put footage from U.S. baby monitors, nanny cams, and doorbells in the hands of Beijing spies.

Uthmeier said he has issued a subpoena to Lorex, which was previously owned by China's Dahua Technology, as part of an investigation into consumer protection and data breaches.

Available at retailers like Target and Home Depot, Uthmeier expressed concern that Lorex misled Floridians about the privacy and security of its cameras and apps.

"The Chinese Communist Party cannot be allowed to spy on American children. Florida will not tolerate it, and we will hold bad actors accountable," Uthmeier said.

On Monday, Attorney General James Uthmeier held a press conference in Live Oak to announce that truck weigh stations around the state will also serve as ICE checkpoints as part of a new immigration enforcement initiative.

The new partnership with federal agencies will check for English proficiency while continuing agricultural inspections along major interstate highways. It follows the arrests of two truck drivers found to be in the country illegally with licenses from other states.

Officials said that the 23 interdiction stations "will serve as critical enforcement points to stop human smuggling, fraudulent documents, and unsafe commercial vehicles."

Illegal immigrants are unable to obtain driver's licenses in Florida. Uthmeier said that sanctuary states that provide illegal immigrants with licenses are creating a "major liability." Nineteen states, plus Washington, D.C., issue licenses regardless of immigration status.

A new law removes the option for a Certificate of Completion for high school students with disabilities who could not meet the requirements for a diploma, instead choosing to focus on alternate pathways to a diploma.

"I’ve had a very busy phone the last 24 hours—families calling, absolutely mortified. But what I want them to know is—it’s okay. Florida’s intent with this law is to make sure every student, no matter their disability, can leave with a standard diploma through access points. That actually gives them more opportunities than a certificate ever could," said disability advocate Stephanie Norden.

Florida first introduced the Certificate of Completion in the 1970s. Until this week, it was one of only three states to still offer it.