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TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s ban on smokable forms of medical marijuana is one step closer to repeal, after the Senate voted 34-4 on Thursday to remove the prohibition. The bill now heads to the House. Lawmakers in 2017 passed a law carrying out the legalization of medical marijuana, approved by 71 percent of voters in 2016, but it barred patients from access to smokable marijuana, restricting them to oils and baked goods. Advocates for the amendment filed suit, and a lower court ruled last... Read More

In an issue driven by South Florida’s history with professional sports owners, the House has started moving forward with a plan to reduce the potential of tax dollars being used to build sports facilities. The House Workforce Development & Tourism Subcommittee on Thursday backed a measure (HB 791) that would go further than a similar Senate proposal (SB 414), which would repeal an unused pool of sales-tax dollars intended for building and improving professional sports stadiums. The... Read More

Sometimes, common sense prevails. Plans to build a controversial $25 million pedestrian bridge over the New River are dead. State transportation officials killed the project Wednesday, more than two years after coming up with the plan. In the end, too many people were opposed, from residents to business leaders to officials at Fort Lauderdale City Hall. The bridge would have been built near the spot where the U.S. 1 tunnel burrows under the river in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It would have... Read More

Rapper and Pompano Beach native Kodak Black stopped to check on the driver of a car that had flipped over onto its side Wednesday night — and the exchange was recorded live on his Instagram account. It’s not clear where the rollover happened, but Kodak seemingly could barely believe what he had come across while driving: a car on its side in the grass, with the female driver standing up in it, her upper body emerging from one of the skyward-pointing side windows. “Damn y’all,... Read More

On Thursday, former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel challenged his suspension in a petition filed in Broward County Circuit Court. His claim: Gov. Ron DeSantis exceeded his legal authority when ousting Israel from office. The petition says “DeSantis engineered a political power play that interferes with the right of the public to determine their elected officials.” Israel is entitled to reinstatement, the petition states. Stuart Kaplan, an attorney representing Israel, said... Read More

Miramar police are searching for a hit-and-run driver described as a blue-haired woman behind the wheel of a white, four-door car, who struck a 23-year-old man and drove away. Yimmy Santana Mendez was walking to work on Sunday and when he crossed the street at Miramar Boulevard and Palm Avenue someone ran the red light and struck him, police said. The car — believed to be a Honda or Toyota that would have front-end damage from the crash — stopped, a woman got out, looked at Mendez and... Read More

It was not a happy birthday for a 24-year-old Pembroke Pines man who was not only shot in the foot but was arrested for possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, court records showed. According to the arrest report, Ronald Jean Duverge was shot, along with a 9-year-old girl, as he got into a confrontation with Noah Jackson in the 500 block of Northwest Sixth Street in Hallandale Beach about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. Officers responded to reports of several shots being fired in the area of Foster... Read More

A driver was killed before dawn Thursday when her car slammed into a pole along Interstate 95 in Fort Lauderdale. The crash happened about 4:20 a.m. in the southbound side of the highway near Griffin Road. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the 2015 Honda Civic being driven by Gabriela Alexandra Botta, 19, of North Miami Beach, went out of control for unknown reasons, veered to the right and crashed into the metal pole. The car came to rest on its side in a grassy area off the highway.... Read More

Former police officer Nouman Raja is guilty of armed manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder for shooting stranded motorist Corey Jones to death in a roadside encounter, a Palm Beach County jury decided Thursday. The verdict was announced about 9:15 a.m. following nearly five hours of deliberations over two days. Raja will be sentenced April 26. He faces a minimum term of 25 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life. Circuit Judge Joseph Marx immediately ordered Raja to be placed... Read More

20 Things You Should Never Do in a Fancy Restaurant Shutterstock Dining out is meant to be a fun and pleasant experience. We show up, we sit down, we order, we eat, we pay, and we leave. But even though that may sound like a rather straightforward experience, there are actually a lot of unspoken rules that you really should be playing by, especially at a fancier establishment. Arrive Right Before the Kitchen Closes Shutterstock If a restaurant closes at 11, that doesn’t... Read More