House and Senate leaders reached a final deal on the state budget late Sunday night, the last step in an extended process that required a special session to complete for the second year in a row.

A new report found that Florida homeowners’ insurance premiums rose nearly double the national average between 2021 and 2025. Across the United States, homeowners insurance premiums increased an average of 38 percent, while in Florida, premiums shot up 75 percent during the same period.

It’s been a few years since Florida nabbed the top spot in the annual Dr. Beach Top 10 beaches in the U.S. list, but with three Sunshine State strips of sand making the list in 2026, that wait could be ending soon.

Across the state’s heartland, communities such as Indiantown are weighing proposals for hyperscale data centers. The massive facilities would reshape Florida’s rural lands.

There are 26 letters in the alphabet but only 21 are set aside each year for potential tropical storm and hurricane names in areas tracked by the National Hurricane Center.