Your daily look at news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today.
FLOIRDA POISED TO REVISE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS
After a lengthy legal battle that has veered through multiple courtrooms and cost taxpayers millions of dollars, the Florida Legislature has decided to go ahead and draw a new map for the state’s 27 congressional districts. But the big question remains: When will voters start using it? In an extraordinary move, House Speaker Will Weatherford emailed legislators late Sunday and told them to return to the state Capitol for a special session to devise a new map. The week-long session will start Thursday.
HEALTH INSURERS RAISE 2015 FLORIDA EXCHANGE RATES
The majority of insurance companies are raising the price of health plans in Florida through the Affordable Care Act exchange. State insurance officials said Monday that 14 companies filed plans, including three new insurers. Of the 11 returning plans, eight filed average rate increases ranging from 11 to 23 percent, and three filed rate decreases ranging from 5 to 12 percent.
MOM OF TEEN SUICIDE VICTIM SUES SCHOOL BOARD
The mother of a 13-year-old girl who authorities say jumped to her death because she was bullied is suing the Polk County School Board, a construction materials company and a teenager accused of stalking her daughter. The lawsuit was filed Monday in Polk County. Rebecca Sedwick was 12 when she leaped to her death at an abandoned concrete plant in September 2013.
TEEN ACCUSED OF KILLING SW FLORIDA HOMELESS MAN
Police say a 13-year-old southwest Florida boy is charged with the second-degree murder of a homeless man. The teen was arrested at his home on Sunday and was being held without bond. Authorities say 51-year-old Thomas J. Bergstrom was found dead in a homeless camp on Saturday morning. Police say he had been stabbed multiple times.
GULF POWER WANTS POLLUTANTS LAWSUIT DISMISSED
Gulf Power Company is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that it’s allowing pollutants from aging coal ash pits to leak into the Apalachicola River. The nonprofit law firm Earthjustice filed the lawsuit in Tallahassee federal court in June on behalf of three environmental groups who say Gulf Power is illegally discharging arsenic, lead and other pollutants from its coal-fired plant near Sneads into the river.
