Florida’s Aug. 18 primary will decide hundreds of local and statewide races. Register or change party by July 20 and request a mail ballot by Aug. 6.

A 38-year-old Arizona man was ordered to serve 40 years after prosecutors say he groomed and abused a teenage girl in Vero Beach, then preserved images of the abuse. The sentence follows a multi‑agency probe led by the FBI Fort Pierce resident agency.

St. Petersburg plans to raise the Trop’s wind-and-flood insurance sublimit from $25M to $50M as repairs wrap up after Hurricane Milton. City staff call it a modest hedge.

Lawmakers broadened Florida’s public‑nuisance law to include gambling houses, boosting fines and letting cities place liens and force foreclosure for repeat offenders.

Austin‑based NinjaOne is relocating its Tampa‑area office from Oldsmar into Bridgeport Center in Westshore, occupying roughly 43,400 square feet this fall.

Union volunteers and Feeding Tampa Bay distributed groceries and gas cards to Tampa‑area TSA officers after a DHS funding lapse left them working without pay.

A new Bradenton police headquarters is taking shape downtown, with officials projecting a late‑2026 opening and aerial photos showing visible progress.

Florida’s attorney general has subpoenaed Discord in a civil probe into whether the chat app exposes children to predators. The state is seeking moderation, age-verification and NCMEC records.

Three men were arrested after deputies say a woman was forced into a car, battered and held for hours before she escaped and found help. The sheriff’s office says the investigation is active.

A federal judge sentenced Cristian Diaz‑Garcia to 3 years and 2 months after a jury found he used stolen IDs to get work on a Pinellas County highway project.

Speaks Clam Bar closed its St. Armands outpost on Sunday after nearly eight years; owners said the Lakewood Ranch location will remain open.

Philip Morris U.S. will open a $50 million Business Solutions Center at Highwoods Bay Center in Tampa, creating about 180 high‑skilled jobs and consolidating several operations.

Cuts to local safety‑net capacity are pushing uninsured Tampa Bay residents toward county plans, community clinics and ERs, straining clinics that once handled routine care.