Page 18 - Lee Constantine News Today

To restrict developers from clear-cutting every tree on a tract of land before erecting a subdivision of new homes or shopping centers, Seminole has started updating portions of its land development rules to provide broader arbor protections and protect tree canopies around the county. As part of that process, Seminole commissioners are considering hiring an urban forester who would be charged ...

Handwriting experts say Orlando political strategist Eric Foglesong likely wrote the $1,187 check that paid qualifying fees for Jestine Iannotti, a non-party affiliated candidate whose run for state Senate District 9 has drawn scrutiny as one of several possible "ghost" candidates in key races.

Seminole County leaders fight to get funds back after Greenbergs guilty pleas Share Updated: 8:48 PM EDT May 18, 2021 Seminole County leaders fight to get funds back after Greenbergs guilty pleas Share Updated: 8:48 PM EDT May 18, 2021 Hide Transcript Show Transcript SUMMER: FIRST ON WESH 2 NEWS AT 4:00, JOEL GREENBERG’S GUILTY PLEA INCLUDES MISUSE OF CASH FROM THE SEMINOLE COUNTY TAX COLLECTOR’S OFFICE, A POSITION HE RESIGNED AS LEGAL ISSUES STARTED PILING UP. ...

4 hours ago by Amy Green (WMFE) Play Audio The St. Johns River. Photo courtesy the University of North Florida Stay tuned in to our local news coverage: Listen to 90.7 WMFE on your FM or HD radio, the WMFE mobile app or your smart speaker — say “Alexa, play NPR” and you’ll be connected. TALIA BLAKE: Utilities will face fewer limits on withdrawals from the fragile Floridan aquifer under a new legal settlement.  The aquifer is where Central Florida draws most of its drinking water.�...

A review of Gov. Ron DeSantis' tenure so far reveals a mixed record on Florida’s biggest environmental threat, climate change.

2 hours ago by Amy Green (WMFE) and James Bruggers (Inside Climate News) Play Audio Anticipating significant impacts associated with sea level rise by 2040, Satellite Beach is moving its public works building to higher ground. Photo by Amy Green Stay tuned in to our local news coverage: Listen to 90.7 WMFE on your FM or HD radio, the WMFE mobile app or your smart speaker — say “Alexa, play NPR” and you’ll be connected. SATELLITE BEACH, Florida—Brick by brick, the stucco shell of...

DeSantis Recognizes the Threat Posed by Climate Change, but Hasn’t Embraced Reducing Carbon Emissions Environmentalists are relieved the Trump-allied Florida governor isn’t a climate denier. Still, they criticize his opposition to renewables and say his climate record is half-baked. By James Bruggers, Inside Climate News, and Amy Green, WMFE Orlando April 15, 2021 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a new conference in the state held at the Jackson Memorial Hospital on July 13, 2020 in Miam...

The commission is expected to vote on whether to rescind the county’s mask mandate on April 27.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is losing his grip on the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the state, which for weeks he held tightly, as the federal government moves to expand eligibility and local officials test the boundaries of the governor’s rules.

“It’s really a travesty,” said Deborah Shelley, who was the manager of the state’s Wekiva River Aquatic Preserve from 1987 to 2017. She noted that pollution from sewage and fertilizer holds the river system’s health under chronic distress. But the mass of eroding soil gorging and displacing the Little Wekiva is unsurpassed in her memory as a single act of harm. “It is one of the most devastating events that has happened to the Wekiva over the years,” Shelley said. The Wekiva River...