SLS rocket waiting, patiently.
NASA’s giant SLS rocket made the slow crawl from the Vehicle Assembly Building to its launch pad over the weekend. It’s sitting upright at Pad 39B, waiting patiently for its opportunity to launch four astronauts on their trip around the moon. But first, NASA has scheduled a series of tests and checkouts, the failure of any one of them will send the rocket back to the VAB for fixes. The first opportunity for the lunar flyby is in two and half weeks, on February 6th.
Florida Obamacare registrants dips.
The number of Floridians relying on a federal health care exchange established under the Affordable Care Act dropped by more than 261,000 people after Republicans in Congress let expire the tax credits that help hold down coverage costs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said 4.4 million Florida residents used the federal health exchange to get health insurance for 2026, down from the 2025 enrollment of 4.7 million
E-Verify mandate passes Florida House.
Every Florida business would be required to use a federal verification tool to determine whether new hires can legally work under a bill that cleared the Florida House last week. Four Democrats voted with the Republican majority to pass the bill that forces even small businesses to use E-Verify.
Florida beef prices hit all-time high.
Beef prices soared to an all-time high as 2025 drew to a close and Floridians should expect to pay even more for hamburger and steaks this year. The beef economist at U of F says prices can be expected to remain elevated maybe increase. One reason: America and Florida's beef herds are at 70-year lows, due to a combination of unprofitable prices, persistent drought and record costs to raise and feed cattle. Although Florida claims over 860,000 head of beef cattle, the state fell from ninth to 10th place nationally. Don’t expect any decrease in beef prices until 2027 or 2028.
DeSantis fights recreational pot amendment.
Proponents of recreational marijuana in Florida are trying to get the issue before voters again this year. But a state agency is throwing another roadblock in their way. The Secretary of State’s office last week issued a directive to Florida’s 67 county supervisors of elections that complicates the verification of voter signatures. Meanwhile a legal fight continues over previously collected amendment signatures. WFIT’s Terri Wright has more.
Leon County Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom ruled that elections officials improperly rejected about 42,000 petitions signed by inactive voters, but upheld the invalidation of nearly 29,000 signatures collected by out-of-state petition gatherers.
The group Smart & Safe Florida faces a Feb. 1 deadline to submit 880,062 valid signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot, which would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older.
Meanwhile, Attorney General James Uthmeier has urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject the proposed ballot language.
“Scary” amounts of seaweed.
This year looks like it will be a major one for floating seaweed, known as sargassum. Researchers at the University of South Florida say the measurements for sargassum in the Atlantic were “scary.” The measurements are made using satellite data. Sargassum starts thousands of miles away from Florida, traveling across the Atlantic before washing up on our beaches. One university researcher reported the levels spotted were the highest ever seen in December.
