🏠 News From Your Neighborhood
Florida
3 Florida property insurance companies announce reduction in rates, desire to give homeowners some relief
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three Florida property insurance companies have either announced a reduction in their rates or the desire to pass some relief on to homeowners.
Insurance experts call this move a glimmer of hope in an otherwise troubled insurance market in Florida.
The reductions in property insurance premiums don’t equate to a whole lot of money, but they could mean a step in the right direction.
Bridget Shearn talked about how much she pays right now for property insurance; in a house she’s owned for the past 26 years.
″It’s huge, 4,000 is a lot of money, it’s not like I have a huge house,” Shearn said. “It went up $1,000 from last year, and from that year, it went up like $2,000.”
RELATED | 8 new property insurance companies coming to Florida to promote market stability | Property insurance expert says 8 new companies will increase competition, opportunities
News4JAX spoke with Cooper Nightingale, who said his premium skyrocketed steadily from 2019 to the present.
“When I first moved in my house I was paying, $1,600 a year, and now it’s like $5,000,” Nightingale said.
TELL US | Has your bill gone up in the last year?
Nightingale said his premium consistently jumped 15 to 20% each year. But now, there’s some potentially good news on the horizon for Florida homeowners.
The following three companies have either reduced their rates or are seeking a rate reduction from the Office of Insurance Regulation:
-
Florida Peninsula Insurance announced a 2% average reduction in property insurance for the more than 122,000 residential policies it insures, for new policies and renewals, starting in July.
-
Slide Insurance Company is seeking a 0.5% decrease in the average rate it charges to insure single-family homes.
-
Florida Family Insurance Company is also seeking a 0.5% decrease in premiums for owners of houses, condominium units and rentals.
There’s also encouraging news from the state-backed insurance company Citizens, which posted a net income of $746 million last year, compared to a $2.2 billion loss in 2022.
Citizens has also successfully used depopulation to decrease its policy count – that’s where customers are shifted to private insurance. They’ve gone from 1.4 million customers in Sept. 2023, to 1.17 million by the end of February.
MORE | Approval of thousands of property insurance policies taken from Citizens means ‘good news’ for Florida, experts say
The homeowners News4JAX spoke with on Monday just learned about what could be positive news. However, they remained skeptical because they hadn’t seen any relief on their premium yet.
“I don’t think so, that would be great, that would be wonderful,” Nightingale said.
Nightingale said he’d have to see it to believe it.
Fraudulent lawsuits were also a big reason for the property insurance crisis, but the reforms in the legislation last year seem to be working.
According to S&P’s global report, the spending on legal defense costs by Florida Insurance fell by approximately 4%.
Florida still leads the nation in the number of litigated property insurance claims. But there appears some headway in this direction as well.
Copyright 2024 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
Florida
Traffic stop goes viral after Florida deputy accuses driver missing right hand of holding phone
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Video of a traffic stop in Palm Beach County is going viral over an awkward exchange between the driver and a deputy who accused her of holding a phone while driving.
Leer en español
“You drove past me holding a phone with your right hand, manipulating that phone,” the deputy tells 36-year-old Kathleen “Katie” Thomas.
“Obviously not,” Thomas says while laughing and holding up her right arm, showing that she’s missing her right hand.
“So you wanna call this a day?” she asks.
“I don’t want to call this a day. You had a hand up, manipulating,” the deputy responds.
“You just said my right hand,” Thomas counters.
“Well, I thought I saw your right hand,” the deputy says.
“So you didn’t,” Thomas responds.
Thomas posted the bodycam footage on Instagram and TikTok where it gained millions of likes.
In the video, although she shows the deputy she doesn’t have a right hand, the deputy doubled down.
“I’m asking you now; did you or not have your phone in your hand?” the deputy asks.
“I did not,” Thomas responds.
“You did not have your phone in your hand?” the deputy asks again.
“I did not,” Thomas responds.
“Hand to God, you didn’t have a phone in your hand?” the deputy asks.
“Hand to God,” Thomas says.
Court records show Thomas was given a $116 citation despite the presented evidence, but it was later dismissed at the request of the deputy involved.
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Florida
Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on launch pad in Florida
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded Thursday night on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. ET. Blue Origin said there were no injuries from the incident.
“We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin said in a statement. “All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more.”
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station also confirmed in a separate statement that “all personnel have been accounted for and there were no injuries/fatalities.”
Blue Origin was scheduled to fuel the rocket Thursday evening ahead of a planned test firing of the rocket’s engines.
Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, successfully launched its third New Glenn rocket last month.
This rocket was being prepared for the fourth New Glenn mission as soon as June 4 to launch 48 satellites for Amazon’s Leo internet service, which competes with Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The 48 satellites were not aboard the rocket during the test. It was not immediately clear how much damage the launch pad and ground equipment sustained, or how long it might take to repair it.
Space Launch Complex 36, where the explosion occurred, is the only launch pad equipped to launch New Glenn rockets.
The New Glenn rocket is key to Blue Origin’s and NASA’s moon base plans, and the explosion will likely be a setback. Next year, the New Glenn is supposed to launch another Blue Moon lander as part of the Artemis III mission in low Earth orbit.
In a social media post, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote, “Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets.”
The New Glenn rocket had just been cleared on May 22 to return to flight after being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration after an anomaly with the second stage during an April 19 launch.
In a statement Thursday, the FAA said it was aware that the rocket had “experienced an anomaly during a static fire test on the pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida,” adding that the “test was not within the scope of FAA licensed activities.”
The FAA also noted that “there was no impact to air traffic” from the explosion.
Bezos wrote on X Thursday night, “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it. Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.”
Musk wrote: “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly.”
Florida
Florida to pay Sumrall’s assistants a combined $11.2M in 2026
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Jon Sumrall’s assistants will make a combined $11.2 million in 2026, a significant investment for a program desperate to win more often.
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner tops the list after signing a three-year, $6.6 million contract to leave Georgia Tech and join Sumrall in Gainesville. Faulker will get $2.1 million in 2026 – the first $2 million coordinator in school history – and has a $100,000 raise set for each of the next two years.
Only six college offensive coordinators were paid $2 million or more in 2025, according to CBS Sports. Fifteen defensive coordinators topped $2 million.
Florida defensive coordinator Brad White signed a three-year, $5.85 million deal that starts at $1.85 million and also includes a $100,000 raise in 2027 and 2028.
The Gators released the contracts Thursday in response to a public records request.
Sumrall signed a six-year, $44.7 million contract last year that averages $7.45 million annually. The Gators will dole out more than $20 million to Sumrall, his staff of 15 assistants and a front office led by new general manager Dave Caldwell.
Four of the assistants are scheduled to earn at least $1 million during their deals.
Defensive line coach Gerald Chapman and offensive line coach Phil Trautwine will join Faulker and White in the seven-figure club. Chapman, the lone holdover from former Florida coach Billy Napier’s staff, will make $950,000 this year and $1 million in 2027. Trautwine, meanwhile, starts at $750,000 and jumps to $1 million. Both signed two-year deals.
Their salaries show Sumrall’s commitment to rebuilding the team along both lines of scrimmage in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference.
Napier’s 12-man coaching staff was paid a combined $7.5 million in 2025. The Gators posted three losing seasons in Napier’s four years.
The rest of Sumrall’s staff range between making $350,000 and $600,000 annually, all of them on two-year contracts.
-
Los Angeles, Ca15 minutes agoRescued sea lion pups released in Manhattan Beach
-
Detroit, MI39 minutes agoSunda New Asian brings bold flavors to Detroit
-
San Francisco, CA51 minutes agoDriver Arrested After Pedestrian Killed, Three Injured In Mission District Crash
-
Dallas, TX57 minutes agoMcAllen Welcomes Texas Hockey | Dallas Stars
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoPair arrested in connection with armed home invasion robbery in Miami, cops say
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoSaturday storm will bring bursts of rain, strong winds, and… snow?
-
Denver, CO1 hour agoVon Miller lobbying Broncos to bring him back (here’s the latest update)
-
Seattle, WA1 hour agoSeattle travel alert: Massive road closures, light rail shutdowns this weekend