Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Danny McAuliffeMarch 14, 2018

Of the 67 counties in the Sunshine State, St. Johns County is the healthiest and Union County is the least healthy. The rankings are included in a new research report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Health rankings were determined by “how long people live and […]

Bill RuftyAugust 20, 2017

The drum beat a slow, mournful cadence as a procession of soldiers in 1842 uniforms led by two mounted cavalrymen proceeded down St. Augustine’s Marine Street to the National Cemetery where Maj. Francis Dade and all but two men of his command are buried. The event is an annual re-enactment of the burial of the […]

Associated PressJanuary 29, 2017

The Rev. Rene Robert devoted his life to helping society’s most troubled, working with drug addicts and criminals, and even signing a “Declaration of Life” that called for his killer to be spared execution in the event of his murder. More than two decades after filing that document, his wish will be tested. Robert’s body […]

Associated PressNovember 3, 2016

st.-Augustine-hurricane-matthew-ap-photo.jpg

St. Augustine’s iconic Spanish fortress escaped serious harm during Hurricane Matthew, but more than 1,000 historic homes and buildings in north Florida’s landmark colonial city were damaged by the storm, according to preservationists. Experts with the University of Florida said water flooded all seven of St. Augustine’s federally designated historic districts last month, damaging about […]

Scott PowersOctober 22, 2016

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will be holding rallies in St. Augustine and Sanford during his swing through Florida early this week. Already scheduled for Trump to appear in Naples and Tampa on Sunday and Monday, the campaign has added stops in St. Augustine Monday, and in Sanford and Tallahassee on Tuesday. RSVPs are required […]

A.G. GancarskiOctober 17, 2016

In St. Augustine Monday for an event promoting tourism in America’s oldest city, Gov. Rick Scott reiterated his call for the federal government to approve Florida’s entire request for a “major disaster declaration.” The federal government has not approved funding, asserts the governor’s office, “for individual assistance or for permanent work to roads, parks, and government buildings […]

Associated PressOctober 10, 2016

Maureen Miller was among the 2 million people ordered to evacuate coastal areas in the Southeast ahead of Hurricane Matthew. Her family and their dog spent two nights in a hotel and struggled through police roadblocks to return. When they finally got back, their Brunswick, Georgia-area home was unscathed. Now they wish they had never […]

Brendan FarringtonOctober 9, 2016

Sure, lots of people in St. Augustine are picking up branches and leaves after Hurricane Matthew blew through town. But only a few are doing it surrounded by alligators. That’s what Jim Darlington and Amie Mercado were doing on Sunday, raking up debris in an alligator pit with the enormous reptiles just a couple of […]

Brendan FarringtonOctober 9, 2016

Marina owner Joe Taylor has a different take on whether Florida dodged a bullet during Hurricane Matthew. “We stood still. It dodged us. But we’re grateful,” the 81-year-old Taylor said. Taylor and his wife were in their second home in Portland, Oregon, last Wednesday when forecasts of widespread devastation sent him rushing to Florida to […]

Brendan FarringtonOctober 7, 2016

As millions of people were being warned to evacuate, two 18-year-old storm chasers packed food and snacks and drove nearly 1,000 miles from New Jersey to Florida just to watch Hurricane Matthew roll past the nation’s oldest city of St. Augustine. “I have an obsession with severe weather, snowstorms, hurricanes tornadoes, anything crazy that most […]

Tag: St. Augustine

St. Johns ranked healthiest county in Florida

History comes alive at St. Augustine Seminole Wars convocation

Plea in murder case from unlikely spot: the victim, a priest

Hurricane: Many historic buildings in St. Augustine damaged

Donald Trump adds Sanford, St. Augustine, Tallahassee to Florida swing

Rick Scott wants feds to declare ‘major disaster’ in Florida after Matthew

After Matthew, some second-guess decision to evacuate

Surrounded by alligators, Matthew cleanup goes on in Florida

Marina owner post-Matthew: Dodged a bullet? No, it dodged us

Wet and wild: New Jersey teens drive 1,000 miles for Matthew