The morning edition

Florida offers free credit monitoring after a driver license data breach as divers set a lionfish record

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Good Morning! On Oct. 20, 1958, the University of Florida's new $9.6 million teaching hospital in Gainesville opened, with a ribbon cut by Mrs. J. Hillis Miller. An 8-year-old girl from Williston became its very first patient. Today it's known as Shands.

Weather: Sunny and dry across most of Florida Tuesday, with lows in the 40s inland in North Florida. Rough seas from a powerful low offshore keep the coast hazardous: Coastal Flood Advisories cover Duval, Flagler, St. Johns and eastern Clay and Putnam counties until 4 a.m. Thursday, and High Surf Advisories run from Nassau through Broward into Tuesday night or Wednesday. NWS Jacksonville warns of another surge of strong northeast winds Friday evening, with moderate coastal flooding, significant beach erosion and locally heavy rain possible on the Northeast Florida coast this weekend. (NWS)

Tropical: A storm-force non-tropical low, AL93, sits a few hundred miles off the Southeast coast, and the National Hurricane Center gives it a 20 percent chance of development in 48 hours and 40 percent in 7 days, noting it could briefly turn subtropical midweek. High winds, coastal flooding and rough surf are expected along parts of the East Coast either way, and Florida’s Isaias state of emergency covers 30 counties (Executive Order 26-212). (National Hurricane Center)

Rip Current Report: High rip current risk Tuesday along the entire Atlantic coast from Nassau through Miami-Dade, with surf of 5 to 10 feet from Nassau through Palm Beach. Rip Current Statements run through Thursday. The risk is moderate from Escambia through Walton and in Franklin, low in Bay and Gulf, and low along the peninsula's Gulf coast. (NWS)

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Florida Offers Free Credit Monitoring as It Confirms a "Malicious Actor" Accessed Driver License Records

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says a "malicious actor" using compromised credentials accessed driver license and motor vehicle records on Sept. 4. It says it contained the activity, investigated with the Florida Digital Service and FDLE, and has no evidence the information was misused. It hasn't said how many records were accessed.

Letters going to potentially affected license and ID card holders will offer free identity and credit monitoring plus $1 million in identity theft insurance for one year. Exposed data may include document images and other personal information.

Gulf Marine Life Plunged About 60% After the Deepwater Horizon Spill and Hasn't Recovered, Study Finds

In the Gulf's deep "twilight zone," fish numbers fell 63.5% from the year after the 2010 spill to 2015, crustaceans such as shrimp and krill dropped 62%, and squid and octopuses fell 59.7%, according to a study published Monday in PNAS. Lead author Tracey Sutton of Nova Southeastern University said none of the natural variables tracked the decline; the oil spill did.

Researchers kept sampling after 2015 and found populations stayed low, apart from a slight rise in 2022 and 2023 that wasn't statistically significant or lasting. The BP-operated well dumped 134 million gallons of oil.

Florida Divers Remove a Record 36,000-Plus Invasive Lionfish in FWC's Annual Challenge

Divers removed more than 36,000 invasive lionfish from Florida waters during the 2026 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lionfish Challenge, a new state record. The challenge ran from May through Sept. 14 and drew more than 500 participants.

That's about 5,000 more lionfish than last year's catch. Lionfish are an invasive species known for harming native marine life.

Hurricane Isaias Leaves Nearly $582 Million in Insured Losses as Florida Seeks $237 Million From FEMA

As of Oct. 15, 46,509 insurance claims worth nearly $582 million had been filed after Isaias, mostly from Santa Rosa, Escambia and Okaloosa counties, according to Office of Insurance Regulation data. About 87% of residential claims were still open with no payment. The state has asked FEMA for about $237 million for debris removal, public infrastructure and emergency measures in 15 counties.

The major disaster declaration hasn't been approved. The governor said Monday that the FEMA director told him the request is being processed. The state has received nearly 300 applications for temporary trailers, and its distribution sites handed out more than 350,000 meals and 33,000 tarps.

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❖ Broward — Spirit Christmas Brings Its First Florida Stores to Coral Springs and Three Other Cities: Coral Springs/Broward: Spirit Christmas, from the company behind Spirit Halloween, will open a holiday store Nov. 6 in the former Big Lots at 725 N. University Drive. It's one of the chain's first four Florida stores, along with Clearwater, Jacksonville and Winter Garden, as the retailer grows to 44 locations in 15 states in its third season.

❖ Palm Beach — Boca Raton Regional Opens $600 Million, 8-Story Patient Tower: Boca Raton/Palm Beach: Boca Raton Regional Hospital's $600 million Gloria Drummond Patient Tower adds 216 private rooms and 20 operating rooms. That brings the hospital to 561 licensed beds, the most in Palm Beach County; Lincoln Mendez is CEO.

❖ Orlando — Devereux Florida Opens Autism Specialty Center for Young Children in Winter Park: Winter Park/Orange: Devereux Florida has opened an Autism Specialty Center in Winter Park that serves up to 8 children ages 2 to 6 with applied behavior analysis therapy, said Executive Director Michelle Llorens.

❖ Tampa Bay — Penny Lane Beatles Museum Opens in Downtown St. Pete With Nearly 1,000 Artifacts: St. Petersburg/Pinellas: The Penny Lane Beatles Museum has moved from Dunedin to downtown St. Petersburg, across from the Sundial. It shows almost 1,000 artifacts that Dr. Robert Entel collected over 35 years. It's open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and tickets are $15.

❖ Jacksonville — Northeast Florida Unemployment Falls to 4.5% in September: Jacksonville/Northeast Florida: Unemployment across Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties fell to 4.5% in September from 4.8% in August, CareerSource Northeast Florida reported. The Jacksonville metro had 802,800 nonfarm jobs, 2,400 more than a year ago, and education and health services added the most, at 4,300.

❖ North Florida — North Florida Wildlife Center Draws 10,000 Visitors a Year to Jefferson County: Jefferson County: Visits to the North Florida Wildlife Center have risen 25% over two years to 10,000 last year, and the center employs about 15 people, said Community Relations Manager Tiffany Fredette.

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❖ Florida Adds More Than 225,000 Voters Since the Primary, Split Nearly Evenly Between the Parties — Florida has 13.7 million voters registered for the Nov. 3 election, with more than 225,000 added since the August primary, Gulf Coast News reports, citing the Division of Elections. Between the July 20 and Oct. 5 registration deadlines, Republicans added 86,694 voters and Democrats 85,134. Overall, Republicans lead with nearly 5.69 million to almost 4.15 million. About 250,000 fewer voters are eligible than in 2024, due partly to required list maintenance.

❖ Miami's Archbishop Pushes Back on Uthmeier Over Catholic Schools' Vaccine Rules — Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski defended Catholic schools' refusal to grant religious exemptions to required vaccines, saying the church doesn't consider them objectionable, after Attorney General James Uthmeier warned the schools could risk state voucher funding, WUSF reports. "Somebody going to a Catholic school expects the Catholic school to be Catholic," Wenski said. He called Uthmeier's July letter an improper attempt by a state official to influence church teaching.

❖ Erika Donalds Says Her 'Heart Goes Out' to Floridians Who Lost Temporary Protected Status — Erika Donalds, wife of Republican gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds, told WLRN that she sympathizes with the more than 300,000 Venezuelans and Haitians in Florida who lost Temporary Protected Status. She said it's "not realistic" to deport them all now and that the Trump administration needs to explain how enforcement will work, WUSF reports. On local control, she said there needs to be "a balance" between community preferences and businesses' ability to grow.

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❖ 201-Room Nora Hotel Opens in West Palm Beach With Pastis and Jack's Bar — The 201-room Nora Hotel opened Monday at 1135 North Railroad Avenue in West Palm Beach's Nora District, developed by New York hotelier Sean MacPherson and BD Hotels founders Richard Born and Ira Drukier, whose properties include Hotel Chelsea and The Bowery Hotel, CBS12 reports. It brings two restaurants, Stephen Starr's Parisian-style brasserie Pastis and the lobby bar Jack's Bar, with a rooftop venue called Lillys planned. Room rates start at $395, according to the hotel's press release.

❖ Boynton Beach Mall Tenants Ordered Out as Owner Eyes Redevelopment; Mall to Run Through Jan. 15 — Boynton Beach Mall, open since 1985, is expected to operate through Jan. 15, 2027, after owner Washington Prime Group issued lease termination notices "in anticipation of the prospective redevelopment of the center," a WPG spokesperson told CBS12. JCPenney, Cinemark and Christ Fellowship Church may continue operating beyond that date, the spokesperson said. Newmark, which is marketing the 92-acre site, is positioning it for a mixed-use redevelopment, and no sale has been announced.

❖ Tampa-Based Metro Diner Raises $20.6 Million Toward $45 Million Funding Round — Metro Diner, the Tampa-based chain with more than 60 locations in 12 states, is seeking $45 million from investors and has raised $20.65 million from 11 investors, according to an Oct. 15 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tampa Bay Business & Wealth reports. The filing doesn't say how the money will be used, but specifies that the offering is not tied to a merger or acquisition. The chain was founded in Jacksonville in 1992 by the Davoli family.

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Rays Win the AL Pennant, Will Face the Brewers in the World Series

Freddy Peralta threw 5⅓ gritty innings, and Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz each hit a two-run homer as the Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in Game 6 of the ALCS on Monday night in St. Petersburg. Tampa Bay heads to the World Series for the third time in the franchise's 29 seasons and will meet the Milwaukee Brewers, the first Series since 1980 in which both teams are chasing their first title. Game 1 is Friday night in Milwaukee. The loss stretches Cleveland's championship drought to 78 years.

Gators Are No. 1 in Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll

Florida opens the men's college basketball season at No. 1, getting 47 of 59 first-place votes in the preseason AP Top 25, with Duke second and Illinois third. It is the Gators' first time on top since the final 2025 poll, after they beat Houston for the school's third national championship. Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Denzel Aberdeen all played on that title team. "We've been No. 1 before. We won a national championship before. That's what I want our program to expect," coach Todd Golden said.

Mayfield to Return to Practice, but Bucs Prepare for Daniels to Start

Baker Mayfield is set to practice Wednesday for the first time since dislocating his right thumb in Week 3, but the Buccaneers will prepare as if rookie Jalon Daniels makes his fourth straight start Sunday at Carolina, coach Todd Bowles said. "We're gonna take a good look at him there and then we'll kind of evaluate him during the week and see how he does," Bowles said. The Bucs are 1-5.

Scoreboard

MLB ALCS Game 6: Rays 7, Guardians 3 FINAL (Rays win series 4-2)

Schedule (all times ET)

Tue Oct 20 — NHL: Lightning at Golden Knights, 10:30pm ET, ESPN

Wed Oct 21 — NHL: Panthers at Senators, 7:30pm ET, Scripps Sports

Fri Oct 23 — MLB World Series Game 1: Rays at Brewers, American Family Field, 8pm ET, Fox

Sat Oct 24 — MLB World Series Game 2: Rays at Brewers, American Family Field, 8pm ET, Fox

More Scores: NFL | MLB | NHL | NCAAF | WNBA

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Florida regular averaged $4.08 a gallon Monday (AAA, as of 10/19/26), down about 2.6 cents from Sunday ($4.11) and up about 1.5 cents from a week ago (about $4.07). That is about 21 cents under the national average of about $4.30. West Palm Beach–Boca Raton is the most expensive metro at about $4.25, and Pensacola is the cheapest at $3.89.

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❖ Miami-Dade's Michael Rosenberg, 330 Broadway Shows Deep, Is Playing for "Broadway's Biggest Fan": Michael Rosenberg, who has attended more than 330 Broadway productions over the last 50 years, is playing The Phantom of the Opera on his seven-foot Steinway for a 60-second video to convince judges he deserves to be named Broadway's Biggest Fan. Along the way he sold nearly two million personalized lullabies that began as songs to get his toddler Rachel to sleep, and he once spent 55 hours living inside a cage at Miami-Dade Animal Services for a cause. "That piano saves my life," he says. "I play and I'm reborn."

❖ Laila's Wrong Turn Brings the Right People: A Key West Mom Thanks the Deputies Who Found Her Daughter: Laila Jones, 21, who has Down syndrome and rides an adult trike, headed north instead of south on her way to work and ended up near mile marker 7, where Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies found her sitting in the shade. Her mother, Nada Khalaf-Jones, writes that the deputies and a fire rescue lieutenant treated Laila as if she could decide things for herself, and she still worked her shift. "Somewhere in Key West there are three sheriff's deputies and a fire rescue lieutenant who probably think they just did their jobs on a Monday. They did, but they did it with kindness."

❖ Lynn Haven's Josephine Nancy Celebrates Her 106th Birthday: Family members, fellow residents and staff gathered at BeeHive Homes in Lynn Haven to honor Josephine Nancy as she turned 106. She had a joke ready for the occasion: "It's wonderful to have a family. And, you know, they're with me all the time and it gets kind of monotonous. No, my kids are good. They're good kids."

❖ "The Unicorn Baby": Martin County Woman, 20, Who Saved a 3-Year-Old From a Pool Earns First Heroic Heart Award: Madison Isler, 20, spotted 3-year-old Luna Hernandez lying motionless at the bottom of their apartment complex pool on Aug. 23, pulled her out and began CPR. Martin County fire officials presented Isler with the first-ever Heroic Heart Award, and at a recent meeting Luna clung to her new best friend. "Drownings don't end like this," Isler said. "And she's a unicorn."

❖ Punta Gorda's Mark Van Patten, 78, Writes Songs for Sick Kids While Facing His Own Health Battles: Mark Van Patten, 78, started writing songs last year with the nonprofit Songs of Love Foundation for children with serious illnesses, even as he faces kidney cancer that has returned and a Parkinson's diagnosis. "I just hope that they feel it in their heart that, oh, this is about me," he said. "It's very fulfilling. I love doing it. I'm going to do more."

❖ Plantation Key School Marks 50 Years Since 376 Students First Walked Through Its Doors: On Oct. 18, 1976, some 376 students walked into the new Plantation Key School, which then had 18 teachers and paid them $10,000 a year. Now nearly 550 students from pre-K through 8th grade attend a new state-of-the-art school at mile marker 90, and former students and principals joined current pupils and teachers to celebrate the milestone. Along the way PKS kept an "A" rating for 16 consecutive years, and its parent network still contributes 14,000 service hours a year.

Today’s Quote

"In Florida, 'just around the corner' can mean anywhere from the next block to the next county."

— original / Front Porch

Florida Almanac

Moon: Waxing gibbous Tuesday, Oct. 20 (about 69% illuminated). Full moon arrives at 12:12 a.m. EDT Monday, Oct. 26 (USNO).

Sunrise / Sunset: In Orlando on Tuesday, sunrise is at 7:29 a.m. and sunset at 6:51 p.m. EDT, for about 11 hours, 22 minutes of daylight. Times vary across the state, and Pensacola is on Central time.

Gardening Notes: Florida gardeners should plant onions from September through December, choosing “short-day” varieties such as the Granex type sold as Vidalias, UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says. Sets are quicker and easier than seed: plant them an inch deep and 4 to 6 inches apart in a sunny, well-drained spot.

Coastal / Red Tide: FWC’s Oct. 16 update found only background red tide levels in Southwest Florida. Samples still being processed show low levels in St. Joseph Bay (Gulf County) on Oct. 14.

Florida by the Numbers

Florida averaged 80.7 degrees statewide in September 2026, the 11th-warmest September in 132 years of records dating to 1895, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. That is 1.6 degrees above the 20th-century September average of 79.1. The record is 82.4 degrees, set in 2018.