1 of 3 | Florida officials in January opened the floodgates to fill the first cell of a 6,500-acre Everglades Agricultural Area storm water treatment system to help protect the Everglades and nearby communities, while improving local water quality. Photo by Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA-EFE
April 30 (UPI) — A potential crisis in Florida should ease after state lawmakers this month allocated $2.25 billion to improve water quality and restore the state’s imperiled biodiversity.
Gov. Ron DeSantis last week announced the allocation of $1.5 billion to restore the Everglades and improve water quality during the next fiscal year.
The funding comes in addition to DeSantis signing into law April 4 a measure that allocates the state’s share of profits from Seminole gaming revenue toward protecting the state’s natural resources and wildlife. Those comes to some$750 million annually, according to state officials.
“I made a promise to Floridians that we would leave this state better to God than we found it,” DeSantis said in the April 22 announcement. “We are doing that for out future and our children’s future.”
The $1.5 billion allocation provides $850 million for Everglades restoration projects, which includes $614 million to support the state’s Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir.
Some $530 million is allocated to support water improvement in the state, including $100 million toward completing a reservoir to provide better quality water for residents in Palm Beach and Broward counties and reduce the amount of freshwater discharged into the Lake Worth Lagoon.
Another $135 million funds a grant program that covers the costs of local projects that remove harmful nutrients from the state’s waterways. Such projects include wastewater treatment and septic-to-sewer improvements.
Indian River Lagoon projects will receive $100 million, and $45 million will go to water-quality improvements in Biscayne Bay and the Caloosahatchee Estuary.
Largest single investment
The allocation of $1.5 billion is the largest single-year investment Florida officials ever made to protect and improve the state’s natural resources.
The new funding will help counteract what environmentalists and others call one of the nation’s worst biodiversity crises.
Biodiversity refers to the many living species of animals, plants, fungi and bacteria on Earth and in local ecosystems, according to National Geographic.
Florida is one of the nation’s most biodiverse states and one of the most imperiled.
“Florida leads states in drivers of biodiversity loss,” Lindsay Rosa, vice president of conservation research and innovation at the Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife, said during the organization’s April 12 webinar series called “Drivers of the Biodiversity Crisis: America at a Crossroads.”
“Humans are the driving force” of most of the biodiversity loss and potential species extinction in Florida and throughout the United States, Rosa said.
More than a million species globally are identified as at-risk of extinction, including about 40% of species that are native to Florida, according to Defenders of Wildlife.
Many of those species are found only in Florida, which makes them especially rare and vulnerable to changes in climate and habitat.
Florida has more than 4,000 species of animals, including many that are native only to the Sunshine State, according to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office.
Potential extinction
Without significant changes to the state’s natural resources, many of those species might become extinct.
Rosa and the Defenders of Wildlife identified five general threats to biodiversity that negatively impact Florida, the rest of the nation and the world.
Those are:
Rosa said habitat loss is a significant driver of biodiversity loss in Florida and the rest of the world.
Florida’s endemic species adapted to a particular type of habitat over several centuries. When habitat loss occurs due to development and changing climatic conditions, an equal percentage of native species also disappear, according to the IFAS Extension office.
Sometimes, the habitat loss might seem negligible, like the extending in 1950 of U.S. 41, which cuts through the Everglades while connecting Miami and Naples.
U.S. 41 is designated a National Scenic Byway, but the aboriginal Miccosukee Tribe has a different perspective.
Plumbing needs fixing
“U.S. 41 is a giant earthen dam,” Curtis Osceola, chief of staff for the Miccosukee Tribe, said during the Defenders of Wildlife webinar. “We need to fix the plumbing of the western Everglades.”
The western and central Everglades are experiencing water quality issues and losses of local tree-island habitats due to changing water and drainage conditions that endanger native animals, like the Florida panther, black bears and white tail deer, Osceola said.
Enrique Montes, an assistant scientist as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, agreed.
During the webinar, Montes said drastic changes to Florida’s population and resulting development over the past several decades have changed how the Everglades discharges water.
“It’s very important that we understand how the habitats respond to environmental change and human activities to be able to preserve the services that these ecosystems provide,” Montes said.
The wetlands initially discharged water on a north-to-south route toward the Florida Bay and the Keys.
Development largely disrupted that flow, which Montes said now splits into three directions, while greatly reducing the amount of water discharged at the state’s southern tip.
A water-seepage barrier wall project that is underway helps to restore natural water flow from north to south through the Everglades and into Florida Bay. It also protects local communities against potential flooding during tropical storms.
Climate change is another daunting threat that is especially dangerous for Florida, where 1.86 million properties have a 25% chance of being flooded over the next three decades, according to researchers at the Florida Atlantic University’s Archbold Biological Station.
The biological station on April 16 published a report titled, “The Florida Wildlife Corridor and Climate Change,” noting that flooding dangers are especially threatening as tropical storms become stronger and more frequent over time and rising sea levels inundate near-shore properties and freshwater supplies with saltwater.
The recent actions by state officials with support from environmentalists and stakeholders seek to mitigate the effects of climate change and other threats that are endangering Florida’s biodiversity and natural resources.
Florida football receiver Tank Hawkins announced Wednesday through social media that he plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, bringing his time in Gainesville to a close after two seasons with the Gators.
Hawkins thanked Gator Nation on a social media post, accompanied by a graphic that reflected on his journey with the Orange and Blue and confirmed his decision to explore new opportunities.
The sophomore wideout’s announcement makes him one of the latest Florida players to enter the portal during the winter window.
A former four-star recruit out of IMG Academy, Hawkins arrived in Gainesville as part of Florida’s 2024 recruiting class.
Florida’s roster continues to see movement as the program navigates the offseason, with departures and additions expected to reshape the depth chart ahead of the 2026 season.
Hawkins appeared in 11 total games during his two seasons with the Gators, contributing as both a receiver and occasional ball carrier.
As a true freshman in 2024, he played in seven games and recorded 10 receptions for 100 yards and one touchdown, while adding three rushing attempts for 11 yards. He caught a 36-yard touchdown against Samford, which marked his first collegiate reception.
In 2025, Hawkins appeared in just four games. He finished the season with two receptions for 16 yards.
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STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of fatally shooting a man and woman during home invasion robbery and later…
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of fatally shooting a man and woman during home invasion robbery and later confessing to three other killings is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening.
Frank Athen Walls, 58, is set to receive a lethal injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Walls was convicted of two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, burglary and theft and sentenced to death in 1988. The Florida Supreme Court later reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial, and Walls was again convicted and sentenced to death in 1992.
It would be Florida’s 19th death sentence carried out in 2025, further extending a state record for total executions in a single year.
According to court records, Walls broke into the Florida Panhandle mobile home of Eglin Air Force Base airman Edward Alger and his girlfriend, Ann Peterson, in July 1987. Walls tied the couple up, but Alger managed to break free and attack Walls. Walls cut Alger’s throat and them shot him in the head when the airman continued to fight. Walls then went to attack Peterson and shot her as she struggled.
Walls was arrested the day after the bodies were found when his roommate tipped off police about Walls’ odd behavior. During a search of the home, investigators reported finding items from the crime scene, and Walls later admitted to the killings.
After his conviction, DNA evidence linked Walls to the May 1987 rape and murder of a woman, Audrey Gygi. Walls pleaded no contest, avoiding another trial and possible death sentence. Walls also admitted responsibility for the killings of Tommie Lou Whiddon in March 1985 and Cynthia Sue Condra in September 1986 as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Attorneys for Walls filed appeals in state court claiming that his intellectual disability and other medical issues should disqualify him from execution, but the Florida Supreme Court ruled against Walls last week. Appeals were still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
A total of 46 men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and more than a dozen other people are scheduled to be put to death in 2026.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the highest previous annual total of Florida executions was eight in 2014. Florida has executed more people than any other state this year, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas with five each.
All Florida executions are conducted by lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
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Follow David Fischer on the social platform Bluesky: @dwfischer.bsky.social
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There is a reason why bettors adore bowl season. Each game feels like a series of riddles. How do these two teams match up? Will they be motivated for this game? Who is opting out? Who is even coaching this game?
All of that comes into question in Old Dominion vs. South Florida in Wednesday’s Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
Let’s try to sort through all the details for this contest, which features a spread of 2.5 points in favor of South Florida.
There’s no doubt over who the better team is in this matchup. Up until a loss to Navy on Nov. 15, it looked like South Florida was headed to the AAC Championship Game, and quite possibly, the College Football Playoff.
But that loss ended those hopes, and subsequently allowed head coach Alex Golesh to have his head turned by Auburn. Golesh will undoubtedly bring plenty of his best players with him to the Plains, a list that could include quarterback Byrum Brown.
Brown has already indicated that he will opt out of the Cure Bowl, though he will serve as an assistant coach, for whatever that’s worth.
It’s hard to understate Brown’s importance to the Bulls. The 21-year-old’s statline was as impressive as just about any quarterback in the country this side of Fernando Mendoza, and he will command a whopping payday in the coming weeks as he decides whether to hit the portal or stick with USF for 2026.
The Monarchs will also be without their starting quarterback, Colton Joseph, who is entering the transfer portal after a stellar 2025 campaign. Losing Joseph’s dual-threat capabilities isn’t a good thing, but they should have a like-for-like swap with Quinn Henicle running the show.
Like Joseph, Henicle has shown he can beat you with his legs, which should keep the Monarchs in some sort of rhythm when they have the ball.
The same can’t be said of the Bulls. Going from Brown to Gaston Moore figures to be a massive dropoff, as Brown accounted for almost 4,200 yards and 42 touchdowns when you combine his passing and rushing stats.
With all the unknowns, this feels like a coin flip, so we’ll take the plus-money on Old Dominion.
The Play: Old Dominion moneyline (+128, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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