HOLLY HILL, Fla. – A Holly Hill woman not only lost her husband of 50 years and brother-in-law in a fire but also her livelihood.  

Just before Christmas Eve, a fire broke out in Deborah Blessing-Ortiz’s Holly Hill home. Her husband, Cesar, was sleeping in the back room and died in the blaze.  

“He was in the bedroom, and that’s where they found his body in the bed,” said Deborah. “They said he was burnt — 80% of his body was burned,” she continued with a heavy heart.  

Two brave neighbors were able to pull Deborah and her brother-in-law out of the home as it went up in flames. However, she says, her brother-in-law succumbed to his injuries days later. Neighbors tried to save Cesar too, but couldn’t.  

“Just to think of him yelling for help, and no one can help him. That hurts me,” said Deborah.  

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The home is a total loss as the flames destroyed everything inside, which left this elderly woman with not only a broken heart, but nowhere to go.  

“I thank God for his mercy. He’s given me a second chance. Now I got to find out what to do with it,” said Deborah.  

The 69-year-old woman is staying in a motel room now, as she has nowhere else to go. She’s been living on social security and now has to start from scratch, even needing a new ID and birth certificate.  

The family has now set up a GoFunMe donation page here if you’d like to help Deborah get back on her feet.  

She’s hoping the love of her life can help guide her through this pain.  

“I know he is looking down on me,” said Deborah. “He wants me to continue on, but he’s just going to have to tell me how.”  

Officials say the Fire Marshal is still investigating the cause of the fire.  

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Indiana vs. Florida

• January 3, 2025
• Stephen C. O’Connell Center — Gainesville, FL
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Final Scores:
  • Women: #4 Florida, 164 def. #7 Indiana, 136
  • Men: #2 Indiana, 163 def. #4 Florida, 137
• Full Results: “UF vs. Indiana” on MeetMobile

The Florida Gators hosted the Indiana Hoosiers as they rang in the new year, celebrating their graduating senior class before the dual meet began. This competition marks the first of the second semester for both teams, and it’s a rare matchup. According to the Gators’ communications team, this is just the fifth head-to-head matchup between the Gators and the Hoosiers. Notably, Indiana has taken on a tough schedule this season; the team has already faced a high-powered Texas team.

The swimming portion of the meet was divided into three sections by the diving events. The meet kicked off with the women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter. Then, after seven events, the women’s 3-meter competed. After five more events, the men’s 1-meter dove, then the meet concluded with the final two events.

Indiana had several big additions joining them for the second semester. Rafael Miroslaw returned to collegiate racing at this meet, and Matt King dove in for his first meet as a Hoosier. However, the squad was without Caspar Corbeau, who announced he was returning to the NCAA and joining Indiana’s quest for an NCAA title last month. Fifth-year Adam Chaney remains on the Florida roster but didn’t race today and still hasn’t swum in an NCAA meet this season.

First Period

Order of Events:

• 200 medley relay
• 1000 freestyle
• 200 freestyle
• 100 backstroke
• 100 breaststroke
• 200 butterfly
• 50 freestyle

The Gators started the meet strong, as the team swept the women’s and men’s 200 medley relay and 1000 freestyle. The women’s ‘A’ medley relay of Catie Choate (25.09), Anita Bottazzo (28.00), Olivia Peoples (23.54), and Micayla Cronk (22.21) earned a narrow win over Indiana’s ‘A’ relay of Kacey McKenna (25.35), Kabria Chapman (28.06), Miranda Grana (23.85), and Kristina Paegle (21.61). The Gators held a sizable lead at the final exchange; Paegle, Indiana’s top sprinter, anchored in 21.61 but ran out of pool to chase down Cronk, and the Gators grabbed the opening win by three-hundredths, 1:38.84 to 1:38.87.

The Florida men had a bigger margin of victory as Jonny Marshall (22.17), Julian Smith (23.63), Josh Liendo (20.11), and Alex Painter (19.49) logged 1:25.40 to win by .67 seconds over Indiana’s ‘A’ relay. Olympian Matt King got his first NCAA swim in an Indiana cap under his belt by anchoring the Hoosiers’ ‘A’ relay in 19.21.

The Gators’ distance group went to work in the 1000 freestyle. Sophomore Michaela Mattes pulled out another close win for the home team, clocking 9:45.64 to finish ahead of Indiana’s Mariah Denigan (9:46.04) and Ching Hwee Gan (9:46.32). The Florida men earned a 1-2-3-4 finish in the men’s 1000 freestyle, led by Eric Brown’s 9:05.02. Freshman Luke Corey finished second, over a second behind Brown in 9:06.96.

Indiana struck back by sweeping the 200 freestyle. Olympian Anna Peplowski dominated the women’s race, clocking a 1:44.78 to beat her Olympic teammate Emma Weyant by 2.37 seconds. Weyant edged out Gator freshman Julie Brousseau for second place by a hundredth. Rafael Miroslaw earned a win in his return to racing for Indiana after spending the fall term on the World Cup circuit. He swam 1:34.33 for the win, also winning by a wide margin as he touched 3.09 seconds ahead of Florida’s Jake Mitchell (1:37.42).

The 100 backstroke was the first split event, as Florida got back in the win column on the women’s side as sophomores Bella Sims (52.07) and Choate (53.40) notched a 1-2 finish ahead of Indiana’s Miranda Grana (53.50), who’s been a standout for the Hoosiers since transferring to Bloomington this fall. Her fellow transfer, Owen McDonald, earned the win in the men’s 100 backstroke, roaring to a 46.99. He and Knedla (47.74) took first and second for Indiana, while Marshall joined the pair sub-48 with a 47.98 for third place.

Anita Bottazzo and Julian Smith had standout performances in the 100 breaststroke at the Georgia Fall Invitational. Bottazzo became the third-fastest freshman in the event in her first SCY meet (57.49), while Smith broke Caeleb Dressel’s SEC record, swimming 49.98 and moving to fourth-fastest in history. Both won the 100 breaststroke at this dual, with Bottazzo swimming 1:00.63 and Smith 53.20. Bottazzo won by 1.59 seconds, but Smith had a closer race on his hands. He was first at the halfway point, then held off strong closes from Hoosier grad students Brian Benzing and Jassen Yep. Benzing grabbed second in 53.33, with Yep just behind in 53.35.

The Florida women earned another 1-2 finish in the 200 fly, this time courtesy of Addison Reese (1:59.01) and Lainy Kruger (1:59.16). The race was one of the closest of the meet, as the top four swimmers were separated by .97 seconds. Anna Freed broke up the Gators’ party by touching in 1:59.46, earning third ahead of Mabel Zavaros. Indiana earned its second win of the period in the 50 freestyle, as Kristina Paegle soared ahead of Cronk for the win in 22.34.  Cronk swam 22.97 and was the only swimmer to join Paegle under the 23-second mark.

Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Florida closed out the period with two event wins. Mason Laur claimed the 200 butterfly for Florida ahead of a 2-3-4 finish from the Hoosiers. Liendo dominated the 50 freestyle, stopping the clock at 19.32. King finished second in 19.78, while Alex Painter out-touched Mikkel Lee by a hundredth for third (20.12).

Scores At The First Break (no diving):

• Women: #4 Florida, 83 — #7 Indiana, 67
• Men: #4 Florida, 76 — #2 Indiana, 74

Second Period

Order of Events:

• 100 freestyle
• 200 backstroke
• 200 breaststroke
• 500 freestyle
• 100 butterfly

The Indiana women came out of the first break strong, following up their win in the 50 freestyle by going 1-2 in the 100 freestyle. Anna Peplowski, swimming down to the 100 free, earned her second event win of the day. She logged 48.90 to touch .32 seconds ahead of Paegle, who won the 50 freestyle shortly before.

Liendo, the men’s 50 freestyle winner, picked up his second event win of the day in the 100 freestyle. Once again, he came out on top in his battle with King, swimming 43.40 to beat the second-place King by .32 seconds. Lee, a sophomore looking to keep rolling after big improvements as a freshman, took third (43.88).

The 200 backstroke is a strength for the Florida women, and indeed, Sims earned the backstroke sweep by placing first in the 200 backstroke with a 1:54.77. She won by over three seconds, but the Hoosiers didn’t let the Gators run away with the event; they earned second through fourth place, led by Freed’s 1:57.99. McDonald completed his backstroke sweep in the next event, hitting 1:43.48.

Florida freshman Aiden Norman, the double backstroke gold-medallist at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacs, took second in 1:45.05, splitting 53.75 on the back half of the race to pass Knedla’s fast start. The Czech freshman earned third in 1:45.21.

Norman’s classmate Gracie Weyant followed up by winning the women’s 200 breaststroke in the next event. She swam 2:13.33, touching over a half-second ahead of Indiana freshman Mary Elizabeth Cespedes (2:13.98). The Indiana men currently have a stronger men’s breaststroke group nationally, but the Hoosier women did their job here, earning another 2-3-4 finish. Unsurprisingly, Indiana won the men’s 200 breaststroke, with Jassen Yep swimming 1:54.93. Aleksas Savickas got in for second place (1:59.66), but Josh Matheny (1:59.94) and Benzing (2:00.03) added points with their third and fourth-place finishes.

The Florida women extended their lead in the 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly, earning 1-2 finishes in both events. Weyant and Brousseau took the top two spots in the 500 freestyle; like the 200 freestyle, it was a close race between the two Olympians. Weyant bested Brousseau again, this time with a wider margin of victory as she swam 4:44.32 to out-touch Brousseau’s 4:44.68. Denigan and Gan finished third (4:50.89) and fourth (4:52.43). Sims picked up her third event win in the 100 butterfly, swimming 52.84 in the 100 fly to beat Peoples (53.57), the reigning SEC champion. Grana earned her second third-place finish of the day in 53.79.

The Florida men’s distance group returned to work in the 500 freestyle and earned the top two spots. However, they weren’t nearly as dominant as they were in the 1000 freestyle, where they swept the top four spots. Mitchell (4:23.41) and Brown (4:25.55) were the top two finishers, but the Hoosiers cleaned up the rest of the points by taking third, fourth, and fifth. Miroslaw led the Hoosier finishers with a 4:27.00 for third.

Liendo won his third individual event of the meet with a 47.13 in the men’s 100 butterfly; sophomore Scotty Buff followed him to the wall in 47.52. Buff’s swim earned the Gators a 1-2 finish, with Indiana’s Raekwon Noel finishing third in 47.61, unable to close the gap to Buff. Indiana earned another 3-4-5 finish for the second straight event. That ensures that though they were down by two at the first break, they head into the last men’s diving event and the final two swimming events with a one-point lead over the Gators.

Scores At The Second Break (no diving):

• Women: #4 Florida, 148 — #7 Indiana, 116
• Men: #2 Indiana, 123 — #4 Florida, 122

Third Period

Order of Events:

• 200 IM
• 400 freestyle relay

Paris Olympic teammates Peplowski and Weyant faced off for the second time this meet in the women’s 200 IM. Peplowski led Weyant by over two seconds at the halfway mark; she still led with 50 yards to go, but Weyant had closed the gap significantly with a 33.99 breaststroke split. Weyant headed to the free leg just three-tenths behind Peplowski.

She out-split Peplowski by three-hundredths on the freestyle leg, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap, and Peplowski earned the win by .27 seconds, 1:59.10 to 1:59.37. Indiana picked up some points against the Gators as they touched first, third, and fourth in the event.

The final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, saw another close race between Florida and Indiana. The Gators’ ‘A’ relay of Sims (49.44), Addison Reese (50.27), Kruger (50.24), and Cronk (48.68) prevailed by .24 seconds. The quartet once again held off a late charge from the Hoosiers ‘A’ relay. Paegle led off in 49.40, giving the Hoosiers the lead, though they got a 50.75 split from Mya DeWitt and a 50.51 split from Reese Tiltmann, the Gators went past them on the middle 200 yards. Fresh off the 200 IM, Peplowski anchored in 48.21, out-splitting the Gators’ anchor, but couldn’t quite pull ahead.

Florida cemented its win with a 3:18.63, while Indiana claimed second in 3:18.87. Florida’s ‘B’ relay was disqualified, and the Hoosiers claimed the final points in the relay with a 3:27.37 from the ‘B’ squad.

On the men’s side, McDonald won his third individual event of the meet in the 200 IM. Smith was ahead of him after the butterfly leg, but McDonald passed him on the backstroke leg. Smith closed the gap with a 31.02 breaststroke split, but McDonald’s 25.48 anchor was enough to keep him ahead of Smith. McDonald swam 1:46.20, winning by a half-second over Smith (1:46.70). Notably, the Gators went 2-3 with Smith and Laur, with Indiana picking up points from its first, fourth, and fifth place finishes in the event.

Then, the Hoosiers dominated the 400 freestyle relay. They went with Miroslaw (43.43), King (43.10), Lee (43.10), and Frankel (43.83) for the ‘A’ relay, and the quartet won with a 2:53.46, beating Florida’s ‘A’ squad by 2.54 seconds. Florida’s ‘A’ team of Dilger (43.87), Painter (43.53), Buff (43.91), and Smith (44.69) swam 2:56.00.

There were disqualifications in the men’s 400 free relay as well. Indiana has been jumpy all season, and that continued here as the Hoosiers’ ‘B’ relay was disqualified. Florida’s ‘D’ squad was disqualified as well.

The meet administrators didn’t add the diving points in until before the final two events of the day. Quinn Henniger and Carson Tyler were the top two divers on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards (each won one event), which extended the Hoosiers’ lead. At the end of the final event, the Indiana men had racked up 163 points, beating Florida by 26 points. On the women’s side, the Gators claimed victory, scoring 163 points to the Hoosiers’ 136.

According to Florida’s communications department, the Gator men held a 4-0 series advantage heading into the meet, meaning this win marks the Indiana men’s first against the Gators. The Florida women’s win means they improve to a 2-3 record against the Hoosiers.

Minimum wage workers in Florida, your paychecks will get another bump this year and the next on the way to $15 an hour.

That’s thanks to the amendment Floridians approved in 2020 to raise the wage incrementally, first from $8.65 to $10 in 2021 and then another dollar every year until it reaches $15 an hour for non-tipped employees and $10.98 for tipped employees.

It’s part of a growing trend for higher minimum wages. On Jan. 1, 2025. 21 states and 48 cities and counties raised theirs, according to a report provided exclusively to USA TODAY by the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group. More states and a few more cities and counties will be raising their minimum later this year.

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has been since 2009.

What will Florida’s minimum wage be in 2025?

Florida’s minimum wage will become $14 an hour for non-tipped employees and $10.98 for tipped employees.

When will Florida’s minimum wage rise again?

The minimum wage rates for both tipped and non-tipped employees will rise on Sept. 30, 2025, and will rise again in 2026.

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Florida passes $15 minimum wage Amendment 2

Florida voters approve raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Rob Landers, FLORIDA TODAY

Which states have the highest minimum wage?

Several states have passed minimum wage increases in recent years. The current highest minimum wages in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, are:

• Washington D.C.: $17.50 an hour
• California: $16.50 an hour
• Washington state: $16.66 an hour
• Connecticut: $16.35
• New York (New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County, & Westchester County): $16.50 an hour
• New Jersey: $15.49 an hour
• Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, rest of New York, Rhode Island: $15 an hour

Fourteen states pay the federal minimum rate of $7.25, as all states must do at a minimum for jobs covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Some have higher rates for businesses that meet certain conditions.

Georgia and Wyoming businesses pay $5.15 an hour, although in Georgia it only applies to employers of six or more employees. In Montana, businesses with gross annual sales of less than $110,000 pay $4 an hour.

Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee have no state minimum wage law.

What is the highest minimum wage in the country?

Burien, Washington will set its minimum pay at $21.16 for employers in King County with 500 or more workers.

Where workers are getting a raise: Minimum wage set to rise in 23 states next year as $15 an hour, and beyond, picks up steam

What happens after Florida’s minimum wage hits the $15 cap?

The amendment was intended to get minimum wages more in line with current costs of living. After it reaches $15, the state will return to the previous method of calculating cost-of-living adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index.

What is the living wage in Florida?

The minimum wage is different from a living wage, however, which tries to calculate how much a person needs to earn per hour to afford the necessities — housing, childcare, health care, food, etc. — where they live.

In February 2024, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) living wage calculator found that the living wage in Florida is $22.43 an hour for one adult with no children, $37.27 for an adult with one child, $45.36 for an adult with two children and $58.76 for an adult with three children.

How is the minimum wage for tipped employees calculated in Florida?

Employers of tipped employees must pay their employees minimum wage, but they can count the tips the employees receive toward it up to the maximum of $3.02, the allowable Fair Labor Standards Act tip credit of 2003. So the direct wage they must pay is the minimum wage minus $3.02.

The current minimum wage in Florida is $13 an hour, so the tipped minimum wage is $9.98. Both will go up a dollar each until they reach $15 an hour for non-tipped employees and $11.98 for tipped employees.

Do minimum wage laws in Florida apply to all employers?

No, there are certain occupations and situations where the Department of Labor allowed exemptions to the federal minimum wage law where employees may be paid less. These include, among others:

• Executive, administrative and professional employees
• Commissioned sales employees
• Farm workers
• Seasonal or recreational establishment workers
• Newspaper delivery people
• Federal criminal investigators
• Informal workers such as babysitters
• Minors under certain circumstances
• Student workers
• Employees with disabilities if the employer has a certificate from the Department of Labor allowing it (a measure to encourage more employers to hire people with disabilities)
• Nonprofit or educational organizations that have applied for an exemption, and others.
• Employees of enterprises with an annual gross income of less than $50,000

What was the minimum wage in Florida before?

Florida’s minimum wage was tied to the federal minimum wage created in 1938 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 which set the minimum hourly wage at 25 cents, banned oppressive child labor and capped the maximum workweek at 44 hours. But in 2005, Florida voters approved Amendment 5 to establish a state minimum wage over the federal standard. Florida has paid its minimum wage workers more than the federal minimum ever since.

Amendment 5 brought the hourly wage for non-tipped employees to $6.15, a dollar more than the federal minimum at the time, and required the Department of Economic Opportunity to calculate an adjusted state minimum wage rate based on the rate of inflation for the 12 months prior to Sept. 1, based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. New adjustments were to take effect the following Jan. 1.

There have been several increases since:

• 2005: Raised to $6.15 an hour
• 2006: Raised to $6.40 an hour
• 2009: Raised to $7.21 an hour
• 2010: Raised to $7.25 an hour
• 2016: After 6 years, raised to $8.05 an hour
• 2017: Raised to $8.10 an hour
• 2018: Raised to $8.25 an hour
• 2019: Raised to $8.45 an hour
• 2021: Raised to $10 an hour to meet requirements from the 2020 amendment
• 2022: Raised to $11 an hour
• 2023: Raised to $12 an hour
• 2024: Raised to $13 an hour