Crazy coincidence or divine intervention? Two Florida teenagers who became stranded at sea were rescued by a man traveling to New Jersey, and the name of his boat has them saying their savior must have been heaven-sent — literally. Longtime best friends Tyler Smith and Heather Brown, both 17-year-old soccer players at Christ's Church Academy, decided to skip class on April 18 and go swimming at Vilano Beach near St. Augustine, WJAX reports.

A 737 with more than 100 people on board overshot the runway at NAS Jacksonville and crashed into the St. Johns River late Friday evening. There were 136 passengers and seven crew members aboard the Miami Air aircraft, and all were safe and accounted for, officials said.

The Florida Senate on Tuesday passed an environmental bill that includes prohibiting local governments from enforcing regulations on plastic straws over the next five years. On a 24-15 vote, the Senate imposed a moratorium on plastic-straw bans, the latest example of the constant tug-of-war between the Legislature and cities and counties over local regulations. The decision to pass the bill also followed numerous failed attempts by lawmakers over the years to prevent plastic-straw bans. Currently, 10 cities across the state have rules governing the use of plastic straws, which have drawn environmental concerns.

A Florida breeder who was fatally attacked by a large, flightless bird native to Australia and New Guinea did not have a permit to own the animal, officials said. Marvin Hajos, 75, was killed by a cassowary Friday near Gainesville, according to authorities.

St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office deputies say Casey Michael Lewis was released from jail on grand theft charges but he immediately started breaking into cars in the jail’s parking lot. He was re-booked.

On Thursday, Florida Power and Light (FPL) announced that it would retire two natural gas plants and replace those plants with what is likely to be the world's largest solar-powered battery bank when it's completed in 2021. The utility says its plan, including additional efficiency upgrades and smaller battery installations throughout its service area, will save customers more than $100 million in aggregate through avoided fuel costs. FPL also says its battery and upgrade plan will help avoid 1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Thousands of adorable but poisonous Bufo toads, which can kill pets and are dangerous to children, have invaded a suburban Florida neighborhood. Cane toads, as they are known, range from 6 to 9 inches in length. Their babies are dime-sized, though, and those are the creatures hopping around in droves.

The Florida Everglades is known for its exotic landscape and its invasive pythons. But kittens? Thanks to a hungry stray that bit a compassionate, animal-loving biologist, they might be the region’s costliest risk.

A dog found with its mouth taped shut and wandering the backyards of Lehigh Acres, a community near Fort Myers, Fla., is making the most of his second chance. The Florida Cur was found “panting, drooling and reportedly suffocating,” the Lee County Sheriff’s Office told Fox 13 News. But not long after, the abused and abandoned pup was adopted, appropriately named Chance and made an official deputy and “Spokes-dog” by the sheriff’s office.

A Central Florida couple is crediting Bella for saving their lives. Bella is not their daughter or their dog, she is their cat. Paul and Leona Jones say when they got home from eating dinner on Feb. 27, they just wanted to get inside out of the rain. In their haste, they forgot to push the off button on their car. It sat in the garage all night emitting carbon monoxide, silently poisoning the entire house. At around 1:00 a.m., Bella started crying and woke them up.

Two Florida lawmakers want all the energy used in the Sunshine State to come from renewable sources like solar and wind power by 2050. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, and Sen. José Javier Rodríguez, D-Miami, have filed identical bills HB 1291/SB 1762. The measure directs the Office of Energy within the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to create a unified plan to generate 100 percent of Florida's energy from renewable sources by 2050.

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The Space Coast is adding another rocket launch company to its ranks. Small- to medium-sized rocket builder Firefly Aerospace announced Friday it plans to build a manufacturing facility on the Space Coast and launch its rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As part of Firefly’s agreement brokered with the state’s spaceport authority, Space Florida, the Florida Department of Transportation will reimburse 50 percent of what the company spends on common infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, up to $18.9 million. In return, Firefly has committed to spending $52 million locally.

You've probably seen the heart-wrenching photos of the damage plastic six-pack rings can do to marine life. They tangle the wings of sea birds, choke seals and warp the shells of growing sea turtles. A Florida brewery has a solution: six-pack rings that can either biodegrade or serve as a snack for wildlife. After years of research and development, the rings - made of wheat and barley - are now popping up in south Florida stores.

Just $5.9 million will let you float above the water in self-sufficient, air-conditioned comfort. Miami-based Arkup LLC is showing off its new livable yacht at this weekend's Miami Yacht Show.

The man standing outside the front door is seen leaning into the camera, showing a stack of newspapers and rotating a lighter on top of the stack. Before he leaves the front porch, the man is seen coming back to the lick the doorbell a few more times. In January, a man was recorded in Salinas, California, licking the doorbell for three hours while looking into the camera.

When it comes to anthropogenic climate change, one of the biggest problems is grasping the problem’s sheer scale—and what its follow-on effects could mean for the everyday life of us fortunate enough to live in developed countries. After all, it is one thing to say that the Paris agreement could allow global average temperatures to rise by as much as an intolerable 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). But it’s still just a bunch of numbers.

A bus driver in Florida is being hailed a hero after helping 16 elementary school students safely disembark from a burning bus. A Broward County school bus driver, whose name has not been released, was on her usual route bringing students home from Nova Blanche Forman Elementary School in Davie, Florida, on Thursday afternoon when the engine caught fire, and she jumped into action. According to onlookers who spoke with Miami news station WSVN, the scene was “unbelievable.”

Is it time to revise Florida’s motor vehicle laws to prepare for a future dominated by driverless vehicles? At least two lawmakers think so. A new legislative bill aimed at preserving Florida’s status as a pioneering state for autonomous vehicle development would eliminate requirements that human operators always be on hand to take control of fully autonomous cars while in turn legalizing driverless vehicles fully run by software systems.

During a presentation about electronic privacy rights on Wednesday in Tallahassee, Florida House members received their first formal lesson on facial recognition surveillance – an increasingly popular machine-learning policing tool developing faster than lawmakers can understand it. The briefing to the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee was led by four law enforcement officials, including Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, and comes as technology giants like Amazon...