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Inflation is making thousands of Florida houses and condos ineligible for coverage by Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-owned “insurer of last resort.” Owners of Citizens-insured homes with replacement values in the $500,000 to $600,000 range just a couple years ago have been receiving notices of non-renewal, forcing them to seek far-more expensive coverage in the unregulated surplus lines market. Advertisement The notices say that rising costs of construction and labor... Read More

Tony Sirico, the former mobster turned movie star best known as Paulie Walnuts on “The Sopranos,” died Friday. He was 79. Sirico’s death was announced by his brother, Robert, and his “Sopranos” co-star Michael Imperioli. Advertisement “It pains me to say that my dear friend, colleague and partner in crime, the great Tony Sirico has passed away today,” Imperioli wrote on Instagram. “Tony was like no one else: he was as tough, as loyal and as big-hearted as anyone I’ve... Read More

TALLAHASSEE — In what at times appeared more like a tent revival than an agency rule hearing, state health officials on Friday received public input on a proposal that would deny Medicaid coverage for treatments such as puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapy for transgender people. The state Agency for Health Care Administration rolled out the proposed rule in June, drawing harsh criticism from national and state legal and LGBTQ-advocacy groups. Advertisement Friday’s... Read More

Omar Smith, a 42-year-old Royal Palm Beach man who has worked as a political consultant on South Florida campaigns, pleaded guilty Friday to lying on a loan application for COVID relief funds and fraudulently receiving over $200,000 from the application. Smith previously worked as a consultant for former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness. Holness, who is currently a Democratic candidate for Florida’s 20th Congressional District, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in May that Smith no... Read More

CAPE CORAL — Calling for more “transparency” in prescription-drug costs, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday issued an executive order designed to increase scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers. The executive order, in part, will require audits of pharmacy benefit managers that provide services in the state’s Medicaid managed-care program and the state-employee health insurance program. Pharmacy benefit managers act as sort of middlemen and play roles such as representing insurers in... Read More

BROWARD COUNTY — Broward County Public Schools donated boxes full of LGBTQ-oriented children’s books to a museum this summer — just weeks before Florida’s new Parental Rights in Education law, known to critics as “don’t say gay,” took effect. The school district says it donated the books to clear office space and make room for new departments as part of a district reorganization. Advertisement But the Stonewall National Museum and Archives in Fort Lauderdale, which... Read More

Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist are making their pitches to Broward County voters as they enter the final stretch of their campaigns to win the Democratic nomination for Florida governor. Both candidates are ramping up efforts to attract voters in Broward, a reliably blue speck of Florida. Fried and Crist spent time in the second most populous county in the state on Wednesday, Fried to make one of her final appointments as agriculture commissioner in Fort Lauderdale and Crist to meet with... Read More

Greg Everett found it inconvenient that his new Broward voter registration card is breaking tradition: The cards have been supersized — large enough that they no longer fit in wallets. Everett, of Fort Lauderdale, worried the cards’ new size is a hindrance: If voters stop storing their cards in their wallets or purses, no longer within reach will be all the handy election information they provide. Advertisement For the longest time, “voter registration cards have been the same... Read More

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an arch-conservative and one of the country’s most divisive figures, was shot and critically wounded during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan. He was airlifted to a hospital but officials said he was not breathing and his heart had stopped. Police arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of the shocking attack in a country that’s one of the world’s safest and has some of the strictest gun control laws... Read More

South Floridians are becoming used to not being able to use their tap water. Every week, it seems there’s a boil-water order affecting people’s homes and businesses. Among the most frequent causes of unsafe water: breaks in water mains or sewer lines; contamination such as E. coli and other bacteria; and power failures at pumping stations. Advertisement The most common health problem is severe intestinal issues. Advertisement Typically, the orders are lifted after two... Read More