ORLANDO, Fla. – After another chilly and frosty start Wednesday morning across Central Florida, temperatures will begin the gradual warming trend as high pressure continues to slide across the Southeast.

Highs are expected to remain well below average Wednesday, in the mid to upper 60s.

Later in the evening and early Thursday morning, temperatures will warm up more noticeably, with most areas seeing lows in the mid to upper 40s. However, northern Lake and inland Volusia counties could still dip into the low 40s.

Late Week

Looking ahead to Thursday and Friday, high pressure will shift further into the Atlantic, making room for another cold front to reach the Deep South. By Thursday night, the front will weaken as it reaches east-Central Florida, with minimal rain expected.

The biggest change will be the shift to westerly winds on Thursday, followed by northerly winds on Friday.

Although the warming trend will briefly slow down on Friday, temperatures will still be milder than earlier in the week, with highs returning to near-normal in the low to mid-70s on Thursday. By Friday, areas north of I-4 may not reach 70, while southern areas will still hit the low to mid-70s.

Weekend-Early Week

As the large ridge of high pressure continues to move out into the western Atlantic, temperatures will gradually warm up. Expect highs to be in the lower to mid-70s over the weekend, reaching the lower 80s by Tuesday.

Overnight lows will also rise, from the upper 40s and 50s over the weekend to the upper 50s and low 60s early next week.

It will remain mostly dry, but a mid-level trough could bring a few showers to the northern parts of the area on Tuesday.

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With their Big Ten opener set for Sunday, the Gophers made quick work of an overmatched nonconference opponent on Tuesday night, beating North Florida 90-44 at Williams Arena.

Grace Grocholski and Annika Stewart led six Gophers players in double-figure scoring with 15 points apiece, and Amaya Battle added 11 points and a game-high six steals as the Gophers improved to 10-0 ahead of their conference opener against Nebraska on Sunday afternoon in Lincoln. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.

This is the first time the Gophers have been 10-0 since 2018-19.

The Gophers put the Ospreys (2-6) away early, using a 15-0 run to take a 26-4 lead with just more than a minute to play in the first quarter. Sophie Hart’s layup, after a pass over North Florida’s zone defense from Alexsia Rose, gave Minnesota a 52-18 lead at intermission.

Battle’s steal and layup at 7:34 of the fourth quarter put the Gophers up 74-34, and McKenna Johnson’s free throw with 22 seconds left supplied the final margin of victory.

Minnesota was 12-1 to start last season but they haven’t won their first 10 games since they won their first 12 in 2018-19, Lindsay Whalen’s first year as coach.

The Gophers have been doing it the past five games without one of their best players, junior guard Mara Braun, who injured her surgically repaired right foot during a shootaround. That foot forced her to miss the last three games of Minnesota’s WNIT run to the championship game last spring.

Braun, the Gophers’ leading scorer (13.6 points a game) before she was hurt, decided before Thanksgiving to have a second surgery on the foot and is out indefinitely.

Helena Rafnsdottir led North Florida with 14 points.

Originally Published: December 3, 2024 at 9:00 PM CST

As of 2025, it may become harder to take videos of law enforcement in Florida, even if they’re breaking the law themselves.

A new law going into effect on Jan. 1 requires people to move back 25 feet if first responders, including law enforcement, verbally warn them to, while the responder is performing a legal duty. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis said this was in support of law enforcement officers and accused news media outlets of warping narratives about police for attention and “clicks.” 

Critics say it’s to prevent people from taking videos of law enforcement officers breaking the law or brutalizing people.

Here’s what to know.

What does SB 184, Impeding, Threatening, or Harassing First Responders, do?

SB 184 makes it illegal, after you have been verbally warned, to approach a first responder or remain within 25 feet while the responder is performing a legal duty with the intent to:

• Block or interfere with their ability to perform the duty
• Threaten the first responders with physical harm
• Harass the first responder

Violations will be a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail.

What does SB 184 define as ‘harassment’?

“Harassment” is defined as an action directed at a first responder that “intentionally causes substantial emotional distress in that first responder and serves no legitimate purpose.”

“Emotional distress,” “legitimate purpose” and which parties may decide if they apply were left undefined.

Rep. Angela Nixon, D-Jacksonville, introduced an amendment to clarify that “harass” did not include “asking a first responder questions out of concern, for the health, safety and well-being, of the person that is being responded to” and to stress that a person may still impede a first responder if they are breaking the law or using “unnecessary harm or excessive force.” The amendment failed.

What does SB 184 define as ‘first responders’?

First responders are defined here as law enforcement officers, correctional probation officers, firefighters and emergency medical care providers.

Are you allowed to record or video police officers in Florida?

Yes. SB 184 does not prevent taking video or pictures of law enforcement in the course of their duties, but it does require you, if asked, to move 25 feet away, which can make shooting images or video much more difficult.

An amendment from Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee, which would have defined “the peaceful audio or video recording, photographing, or eyewitness observing of a first responder” as a legitimate purpose, failed to pass.

So did Nixon’s other proposed amendment to change the name of the bill to “The I Don’t Want the World to See the Police Kill an Unarmed Innocent Man Like George Floyd Again, So I Want To Protect Bad Cops and Violate Free Speech Act.”

How did police videos cause the Black Lives Matter protest movement to go worldwide?

Davis’ amendment referred to the video shot of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a police officer in 2020.

The video, and many others shot by bystanders and witnesses, were widely shared online and contributed to the massive widespread Black Lives Matter protests that year by making more Americans aware of incidents of police brutality that otherwise may have gone unnoticed. 

Darnella Frazier, the then-17-year-old girl who videoed Floyd’s murder, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation.

Why was SB 184 necessary?

DeSantis said when he signed the bill that the legislation “recognizes we’ve got some strange currents going on in our society right now that really seek to delegitimize law enforcement,” accusing news media outlets of warping narratives about police for attention and “clicks” and citing media coverage of the controversial police killing of Dexter Reed in Chicago.

Officers fired 96 shots in 41 seconds at Reed during a traffic stop, reportedly over Reed not wearing a seatbelt. A citizen review board questioned both the validity of the stop and the order of events — they say it’s unclear who shot first — and questioned the appropriateness of deadly force in the response. Bodycam footage showed one officer emptying his pistol multiple times at Reed, even after Reed was motionless on the ground.

“You shouldn’t be in a situation where you’re at a traffic stop, you’re responding to a call of someone in distress, and then you have people come trying to interdict or trying to harass you from performing your duty,” DeSantis said. “We view that as a problem, and now you’re going to be held accountable.”

Critics questioned the bill, saying it would be open to First Amendment challenges and prevent recordings of police misconduct and brutality.