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Operation Holiday Cheer fed dozens of Northwest Florida military personnel and their families for Thanksgiving, and will do the same on Christmas Day.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Less than 24 hours before the Florida Legislature passed the state’s first medical marijuana law in May 2014, Matt Gaetz and other members of the state House of Representatives rewrote the bill to limit who would be able to get in on the ground floor of what has since become a billion-dollar business. A number of Gaetz’s friends and allies managed to squeeze through that narrow door. Among them: — The brother of Gaetz’s friend and fellow state Rep. Halsey Beshears, who co-founded one of Florida’s first licensed marijuana companies and amassed a fo...

Matt Gaetz helped set off Florida’s marijuana ‘green rush.’ Some of his friends, allies scored big Orlando Sentinel 1 hr ago Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel © Red Huber/TNS Patient consultants assist patients at Trulieve's medical marijuana dispensary in Orlando on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. ORLANDO, Fla. — Less than 24 hours before the Florida Legislature passed the state’s first medical marijuana law in May 2014, Matt Gaetz and other members of the state House of Representatives rewrote the bill to limit who would be able to get in on the ground floor of what has...

State Rep. Brad Drake amends bill that would have impacted Freeport city alcohol ordinance Tom McLaughlin, Northwest Florida Daily News © FILE PHOTO/DAILY NEWS Jay Odom poses in his office in 2019. Odom is seeking state legislation to allow alcohol sales in his Hammock Bay development in Freeport. Replay Video Skip Ad FREEPORT — State Rep. Brad Drake has introduced an amendment to a local bill that removes the prospect of wiping out a city ordinance pertaining to the distance from a school that alcohol can be sold.  The amendment changes just a few words, but removes ...

Drake, R-Eucheeanna, introduced the amendment Thursday, the day the bill was scheduled to have been considered before the entire state House. It is now slated to be heard Tuesday. State Sen. George Gainer, R-Panama City, said he suggested changing the bill language after speaking to Drake and Freeport Mayor Russ Barley. In a Friday email, Barley said he had spoken to Gainer but did not indicate that he taken a firm stance either for or against making changes to the existing city ordinance, which was passed in 1980.  "The City Council has not discussed the issue at hand and I did speak wit...