Mistrial declared in Rinderknecht LA fire case.
A federal judge declared a mistrial in the case of the Melbourne man accused of starting the devastating Palisades Fire in California. The mistrial was declared after a federal jury in Los Angeles was hopelessly deadlocked following 13 hours of deliberations. Prosecutors claimed 30-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, a former Uber driver, intentionally started a small brush fire on New Year's Eve 2025. Prosecutors claim this fire smoldered underground and erupted into the devastating Palisades Fire. The firestorm killed 12 people, burned over 23,000 acres, and destroyed 6,500 structures across Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu, California. Rinderknecht's defense attorney argued his client was used as a scapegoat for firefighters' failure to extinguish the initial fire and that fireworks caused the blaze. The US Attorney said his office will retry the case. Rinderknecht lived on and off with family in Melbourne.
Rocket launch scheduled for Sunday.
The next rocket launch from the Cape is scheduled for this Sunday evening. SpaceX will loft a broadcast satellite to orbit for SiriusXM. The high-powered digital audio radio satellite is about as heavy as a school bus. The four hour launch window opens at 10:25PM Sunday.
In other space news, Blue Origin posted on social media that the debris from last month’s explosion has been cleared from the launch pad. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp called the May 28th accident the “biggest explosion at the Space Center since they’ve been launching rockets.” Reconstruction has begun at the launch pad, and Blue Origin hopes to fly the New Glenn rocket again before the end of this year.
Undocumented students may be barred from state colleges.
Florida advances a proposal limiting undocumented students at selective public universities. WFIT’s Terri Wright shares details.
Florida's Board of Governors voted Thursday to advance a proposal that would bar undocumented students from the state's more competitive public universities and GED programs. Students already enrolled would not be affected. The move follows last year's decision to eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented students, tripling costs for many who had lived in Florida most of their lives. About 49,000 undocumented students are enrolled in Florida's higher education institutions.
Outro: In the 2026 legislative session, lawmakers tried without success to pass bills that would limit non-residents.
DeSantis vetoes electric bike bill.
Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill yesterday that would have regulated e-bikes. The bill proposed a 10 mph speed limit near pedestrians and a task force to study further regulations. DeSantis cited concerns over increased surveillance and fines for Floridians as reasons for the veto. Sales of e-bikes have skyrocketed in recent years, and so have complaints and crashes.
Campaign launches to defeat property tax amendment.
Three weeks after the Florida Legislature placed a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would increase the state’s homestead property tax exemption, a political committee has launched a campaign opposing the measure. The group claims that there are only two possibilities if Amendment 3 receives the 60% vote required for passage on Nov. 3 — either “crippling cuts to critical services, or a tax shift that will benefit some but hurt others.” The committee, Stop Unfair Tax Shifts, has unveiled a website, VoteNoOnAmendment3.com
Florida farms are disappearing.
Florida has lost thousands of farms and acres of farmland due to rising operational costs and land development. Many Florida farmers are selling their land to real estate developers as it becomes less profitable to continue farming. The result are rising prices for fresh fruits and vegetables. The Florida Farm Bureau Federation in Gainesville report the amount of each dollar consumers spend on fresh produce that actually goes to farmers is just over 11 cents.
