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South Florida is fighting a growing infestation of one of the world's most destructive invasive species: the giant African land snail, which can grow as big as a rat and gnaw through stucco and plaster.

A 2-year-old Florida girl's feet were severed when her father accidentally ran over her with a riding lawn mower in a tragic mixup, officials said. The toddler, identified by police as Ireland Nugent, was running in her Palm Harbor yard on Wednesday evening as her mother, Nicole, yelled after her to stop, NBC affiliate WFLA reported.

Police say Joshua Hakken tied his mother-in-law up around 6:00 a.m. last Wednesday in Tampa and drove off with the two children, who were still in their pajamas. After ditching a black pickup truck that was later recovered by police, the Hakkens apparently boarded a blue 25-foot sailboat and left John's Pass Marina in Madeira Beach, Fla., bound for Cuba.

It is three miles from where a sinkhole opened under a man's bedroom, killing him.

It’s a lottery nightmare: You decide not to kick in for the office Powerball pool — and your coworkers strike it rich. It happened at a real estate agency in Florida. Jennifer Maldonado, who started working at the firm two weeks ago and had yet to receive a paycheck, opted out of the $20 buy-in because she was watching her money. She showed up for work Sunday to find the rest of the office screaming, hugging and crying.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has double-digit leads over either of Florida's favorite sons, former Gov. Jeb Bush or U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, in an early look at the 2016 presidential election, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

A college student killed himself in a dorm at the University of Central Florida and authorities found explosives and guns in the room early Monday, authorities said, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of students and cancellation of morning classes.

A small plane crashed into a parking lot near a South Florida airport Friday afternoon, killing all three people onboard and burning about a dozen cars. No one on the ground was hurt.

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll abruptly resigned amid law enforcement questions about a Florida Internet sweepstakes company at the center of a nationwide criminal investigation. Florida Department of Law Enforcement interviewed Carroll Monday about her connections to the company, Allied Veterans of the World, a Florida-based non-profit that operates a chain of Internet cafes.

A Florida Senate committee voted Monday against expanding Medicaid to roughly 1 million of the state's poorest under the federal health overhaul and instead proposed a voucher plan that would require patients to pay premiums and co-pays.