Comment on Morning Update: South Florida’s top stories for Friday, Jan. 17, 2025

By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department on Friday announced sanctions in connection with a massive Chinese hack of American telecommunications companies and a breach of its own computer network. The sanctions target a Chinese hacker who officials say is affiliated with Beijing’s Ministry of State Security and was involved in a cyberintrusion disclosed last month that gave hackers access to an untold number of Treasury Department workstations. Also targeted is a China-based cybersecurity company that U.

A House Republican on Thursday filed a proposal that would prevent the development of such things as golf courses, pickleball courts and lodges in state parks. The proposal (HB 209), filed by Rep. John Snyder, R-Stuart, is identical to a Senate bill (SB 80) filed last month by Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. The proposals came after a massive outcry last year after the state Department of Environmental Protection released plans for what was called the “Great Outdoors Initiative.” The department plans would have led to projects at nine parks and included such things as adding golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County — the home county of Snyder and Harrell. Other parts of the initiative that drew heavy criticism included proposals to construct lodges with up to 350 rooms at Anastasia State Park in St.

As Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida legislators discuss rushing to convene a special session on immigration, there’s something key to remember: These politicians want undocumented workers in this state. We have the legislation and their own recorded words to prove it. Two years ago, GOP lawmakers passed a law that specifically ensures companies making illegal hires don’t get punished. That’s like vowing to crack down on human trafficking while giving the traffickers a pass. The politicians claimed their 2023 law cracked down on companies that don’t use the federal government’s E-Verify database to first vet their hires.

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said he plans to elevate one of his closest allies, James Uthmeier, to be the state’s attorney general. Uthmeier’s likely new role results from a political domino chain set off by President-elect Donald Trump nominating U. S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his secretary of state. DeSantis on Thursday announced he is appointing Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill Rubio’s Senate seat, and said he expects to choose Uthmeier to backfill Moody’s job. Read the full story at miamiherald.com

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company, holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States. A sale does not appear imminent and, although experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users’ phones once the law takes effect on Jan.

There is a saying about opioids sometimes referenced by people who use, or once used, or knew someone who used the drug: Chasing the dragon. It’s a term for smoking heroin, but more broadly, it’s the elusive pursuit of a high equal to the opioid user’s first hit. They never quite get there.