In August 2004, Hurricane Charley took an unexpected turn off the Gulf and into Charlotte Harbor, devastating the county and bringing the national spotlight to Florida's Gulf Coast. As Hurricane Harvey ravages east Texas, local reporters and emergency responders are reflecting on the storm and how it changed life in Southwest Florida.

In the wake of a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville , VA—and the terrorist act of ramming a car into a crowd of counter-protesters that injured dozens and killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer—hate groups and other extremists are in the national spotlight. Florida has the dubious distinction of being the state with the second-highest number of such active groups in the country at 63.

The Humane Society of the United States Humane launched “Operation Grey Muzzle” to alleviate overcrowding in under-funded, often windowless, and sometimes flooded shelters in Puerto Rico. This week 200 dogs were put on two planes, landing in Florida and North Carolina, to an effort to find new homes for the castaway canines.

It’s been four months since wildfires raged across Collier County , burning thousands of acres, destroying homes , and coming life-threateningly close to the NGALA Wildlife Preserve in Naples . Locals watched as the flames inched closer to the animals that were difficult to evacuate. Animals like Walter the rhino.

Bees often bring to mind images of large hives dripping with honey and buzzing with the common honey bee. But thousands of North American bee species live solitary lives gathering the nectar and pollen they need to survive. A new study by a University of Florida Ph.D. student found these lonely bees using innovative strategies to get the sugar they need when flowers are scarce.

A "white blob" of discolored water lingering off the south coast of Sanibel Island since Sunday spurred local conservationists into action, with water quality scientists from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation collecting samples Tuesday to determine the makeup of the milky green-white water.

At the end of September, the National Flood Insurance Program will expire unless Congress acts to re-authorize its funding. Many in the real estate and insurance industries say they're cautiously optimistic the federal flood insurance subsidy will be kept in place, but there’s no guarantee amid the chaotic climate in Washington.

Could the next car you buy drive itself? As technology for self-driving or "autonomous" vehicles improves, Florida lawmakers, transportation officials, and businesses are positioning the state as one of the leading test beds for driverless cars. Lee County is making its own preparations, and the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority is just one of three pilot projects in the country getting federal Department of Transportation dollars.

Undocumented workers in Florida who are hurt on the job are not only being denied workers' comp coverage, they’re being charged with insurance fraud, held in jail, and then deported.

Florida farmers face acute needs for labor when the harvest comes, and in recent years they've relied on guest workers from other countries under the H-2A visa program to pick their crops. The visa locks the guest worker into a contract with their employer, who has to meet an array of obligations to those workers as they live and work in the U.S. Some see it as a model program, while others call it a program of last resort.