Here's a local and state news update from Florida Today and WFIT. I'm Evan Niemczyk.
Seven Florida International University students are suing the school over allegedly violating their First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit comes from a silent student protest in response to FIU's collaboration with immigration authorities that took place back in March at a campus event.
Recently on the Florida Round Up, WLRN investigative reporter Danny Rivero – who’s been covering the legal fallout – explained the university has a policy that bans so-called expressive activities indoors. The university referred the students for disciplinary action.
“This ban on expressive activity indoors was put in place in 2024 as Palestine-related activism was spreading on campus. So the board of trustees actually did this in some way to prevent pro-Palestine actions from happening on campus.”
FIU previously told WLRN that its policies are in accordance with the first amendment.
Florida settles a second free speech lawsuit over Charlie Kirk firing. WFIT’s Terri Wright has more.
"Haley Massung was awarded $65,000 in a lawsuit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission after she was fired last September for responding to a Facebook post about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Massung was one of three FWC employees fired over critical comments about Kirk following his death. The agency previously settled another free-speech lawsuit over the firings for nearly $500,000.
The latest settlement comes as FWC faces additional scrutiny over free-speech issues, including its use of a statewide law-enforcement database to search sensitive information about people who criticize the agency online or speak out at public meetings."
A Florida Power & Light pilot program is exploring the feasibility of bringing solar energy and agriculture together on the same land, advancing innovative solutions while supporting Florida’s natural environment.
One such program highlights a milestone of more than 40 honeybee projects at its solar energy centers across the state.
"It's been great keeping bees with FPL on their solar sites because it allows us to have access to remote areas and different locations that we never had access to before, finding more natural resources for the bees."
That’s Mark McCoy of McCoy's Sunny South Apiaries in Loxahatchee. FPL is working with Florida beekeepers like McCoy across 18 counties to integrate honeybees into existing green space at solar sites. The pollinators play a critical role in local ecosystems by increasing neighboring farm yields and supporting food production.
Taylor Hernandez from FPL, has more:
"This is called agrivoltaics and it's one way that we are co-locating solar energy infrastructure with agricultural activity."
In addition to the honeybees at 40 sites, FPL is exploring cattle grazing in DeSoto County and sheep grazing in Northwest Florida, to supplement traditional vegetation management like mowing on sites.
Florida is under a heat advisory with heat indices peaking at 105-112 degrees.
The National Hurricane Center is tracking three tropical waves in the Atlantic basin.
No tropical cyclones are expected to form within the next seven days.
Forecasters still urge residents to remain prepared as conditions can change quickly.
For these stories and more, visit FloridaToday.com and WFIT.org. I'm Evan Niemczyk