Florida | featured news

Lights, camera, action: The Republican National Convention officially begins today at 2 p.m. ET inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum. USA TODAY is providing full coverage throughout the three-day event, which wraps up Thursday when Mitt Romney accepts his party's presidential nomination. Check your local TV listings for more coverage. Here is our guide to the five things to watch on Tuesday, Aug. 28...

Less than 12 miles away from the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Texas Rep. Ron Paul gave an impassioned farewell speech to about 8,000 raucous supporters at a farewell rally Sunday night where he declared the so-called Ron Paul Revolution was not over.

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned-independent, continued his political makeover Sunday by endorsing President Barack Obama’s re-election and calling him “the right leader for our times.”

Delegates began to arrive in Tampa on Sunday as convention organizers said they were still working on a revised schedule after canceling the first day because of the weather. Still, many of Sunday’s events were going ahead as planned.

Tropical Storm Isaac headed toward the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Friday, continuing its march across the Caribbean and prompting Florida officials to urge residents to prepare now.

Casey Anthony, the young Florida mother found not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, completed a year of probation early on Friday but her attorney said freedom would be limited for the woman widely reviled after the acquittal.

Tropical Storm Isaac's outreach is expected to be felt in Florida by late Sunday night -- just as Mitt Romney , Paul Ryan and the GOP faithful are gathering in Tampa for the Republican National Convention.

President Obama leads Mitt Romney in Ohio while the two candidates are neck-and-neck in Florida and Wisconsin, according to a new poll of the three swing states. The polling by Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News shows the race tightening in Florida and Wisconsin. Romney is getting a small boost in these states from his selection of Rep. Paul Ryan, who hails from Wisconsin.

The parasailing industry in Florida, and almost everywhere else in the country, is not regulated, leaving most owners to operate at their own discretion.

A woman hired a moving company to take her belongings from Florida to Oklahoma, but they never made it.