Hate groups are on the rise nationwide and Florida has the third-most of any state in the country. These findings are part of the new Intelligence Project report from the Southern Poverty Law Center , which found a 30 percent increase in hate groups over the past four years. There were 75 hate groups listed across the state of Florida with at least 9 based in our region.

Senator Jeff Brandes has been a leading voice in the Florida Legislature calling for drastic changes to the state’s criminal justice system. In late January, Sen. Brandes filed and sponsored Senate Bill 642, “Florida First Step Act,” a new law that would aim to reduce criminal sentences by allowing judges to depart from mandatory minimums for drug trafficking charges. The bill is modeled on federal legislation signed by President Donald Trump last year. Sen. Brandes joined Sundial to talk about

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried has been an outspoken advocate for medical marijuana her first two months in office.

Family has always been an essential part of Haitian American artist Inez Barlatier's musical life. Barlatier began performing in South Florida when she was 12, singing with her father's band Koleksyon Kazak. Later in her teens, she went solo and built recognition for her multilingual singing, loop pedals and guitar, which keeps crowds mesmerized. In 2017, Barlatier was awarded $10,000 from the Knight Foundation to make her first EP. And last year, her music was featured in Complex's Miami web

Since starting her position in January, Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried has advocated for access to smokable medical marijuana. She recently appointed Holly Bell as new Director of Cannabis to oversee the state's medical marijuana program. Fried has also been addressing the state's concealed weapons permitting program and tackling the water crisis along the state of Florida. All of these decisions seemed to be based on the " three W's:" weapons, water and weed , that Fried based her

Comedian Paula Poundstone has become an iconic voice for fans of NPR’s show “Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!” Hosted by Peter Sagal, Poundstone is a regular guest on the show. She started her career in stand-up as a teen and has been performing for almost 40 years. She's known for the way she interacts with the audience, asking audience members three basic questions: what's your name, where are you from and what do you for a living? Recently, Poundstone has been working on projects away from the

For 20 years, the Pottinger Agreement was a policy in the City of Miami that set strict rules and guidelines for police interaction with the homeless community to prevent violations of their civil rights. Last fall, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the City of Miami went to court after the city violated the agreement in their attempts to clear out homeless encampments. On Friday, Federal Court Judge Federico Moreno terminated the agreement. WLRN’s Daniel Rivero has been following

Long overlooked in the history of Key West is the influence of the Jewish community on the island city. From cigar factories in the 1880s to smuggling and immigration, Arlo Haskell's book “The Jews of Key West: Smugglers, Cigar Makers, and Revolutionaries” goes back almost 200 years to tell the forgotten story. Haskell documents how Jews helped rebuild after a massive fire in the 1880s and three powerful hurricanes in the early parts of the 20th century, as well as their role during the Cuban

President Donald J. Trump was at Florida International University’s (FIU) campus in Doral on Monday discussing the ongoing crisis in Venezuela and how the U.S is responding. WLRN Latin America Correspondent Tim Padgett was following the speech and getting reactions from the Venezuelan community. Padgett joined Sundial to give an update on the speech and the latest happenings in the Latin American country. The Homestead Detention Facility is not only the biggest shelter for migrant children in

It’s been one year since a gunman stormed into the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and took 17 lives. Today’s Sundial program focused on the memories of those lives lost, the activism it inspired, the actions taken by the government and how those affected continue to handle the anguish. First, we heard from Marjory Stoneman Douglas students Leni Steinhardt, Nadia Murillo and journalism teacher and yearbook advisor Sarah Lerner. All three contributed stories to the new book “