The morning edition

Florida says a breach of its student financial aid website may have exposed data on 4.9 million people

Friday, October 30, 2026

Friday, October 30, 2026

Good Morning! On October 30, 1963, the Alvin G. Shands Bridge was dedicated across the St. Johns River, a two-lane, 6,662-foot span carrying State Road 16 between Green Cove Springs and Orangedale. Until the Buckman Bridge opened in 1970, it was the only crossing of the river between Jacksonville and Palatka. A wider replacement span is now going up just south of it, and parts of the old bridge are slated to become fishing piers.

In This Issue: Florida's Education Department says a breach of its student financial aid website may have exposed data on 4.9 million people; FEMA aid opens for Isaias victims in eight Panhandle counties; more than 824,000 homeowners get insurance rate cuts this month; and the state puts $100 million into springs and water supply projects. Plus: investors commit $200 million to Moffitt's Pasco cancer-drug hub, and Florida-Georgia heads to Atlanta for the first time.

Weather: The breezy northeast winds keep easing Friday, leaving North Florida and the Panhandle partly sunny and dry with highs in the low to mid 80s, while a few showers and an isolated storm turn up from Orlando south, most likely near the Southeast coast. NWS Miami says a wetter pattern sets in for the weekend, with showers and storms likely in South Florida on Saturday. King-tide flooding lingers at Atlantic coast high tides: Coastal Flood Advisories run from Palm Beach to Miami-Dade until 8 p.m. Friday and from Volusia to Martin into Saturday morning, and a Coastal Flood Warning stays up for Duval County and the St. Johns River until 5 a.m. Saturday. (NWS)

Tropical: The National Hurricane Center does not expect any tropical cyclones to form in the Atlantic, Caribbean or Gulf over the next seven days. (National Hurricane Center)

Rip Current Report: The rip current risk stays high Friday along the whole Atlantic coast from Nassau to Miami-Dade, with surf of 5 to 7 feet in Northeast Florida and around 6 feet from Volusia to Martin; NWS Jacksonville and Melbourne keep the high risk through Sunday. The risk is also high in Franklin County, moderate in the rest of the Panhandle, and low from Levy to Collier. (NWS)

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Florida Education Department Says Data Breach May Have Exposed 4.9 Million People's Information

The Florida Department of Education said Thursday that personal information, including Social Security numbers, belonging to as many as 4.9 million people may have been exposed in a breach of its student financial aid website. Staff learned of the "unauthorized criminal access" on Oct. 19. The department says the breach appears limited to that site, and that current financial aid, tuition payments and scholarship or loan eligibility are not affected. The site showed a maintenance page Thursday afternoon.

The department says it stopped the activity and secured its systems. FDLE and the Florida Digital Service are helping with what remains an active criminal investigation, and no suspect or method has been disclosed. People are urged to watch their accounts and credit reports and consider a fraud alert or credit freeze. Questions can go to databreach@fldoe.org.

Isaias Victims in Eight Panhandle Counties Can Now Apply for FEMA Aid

President Trump approved Florida's request for FEMA individual assistance for residents of Bay, Escambia, Gulf, Holmes, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington counties. It adds to the public assistance approved earlier for 15 counties. State insurance data show 62,295 Isaias claims worth more than $652.2 million as of Tuesday. Santa Rosa has the most claims (29,463), followed by Escambia (19,274).

The aid can help with housing, home repairs and other disaster-related needs, and residents apply at DisasterAssistance.gov. FEMA can't pay for losses insurance already covers, so people should file insurance claims first. Insured residents may still qualify for help with items their policies don't cover. Isaias came ashore in Destin on Oct. 9 as a Category 2 hurricane.

More Than 824,000 Florida Homeowners Get Insurance Rate Cuts This Month

State insurance regulators say more than 824,300 Florida homeowners are seeing rate decreases on new policies and renewals this month, some as large as 12.1%. Pending requests could bring decreases to about 450,000 more policyholders in November, December and January.

Since January 2024, 48 companies have filed for rate decreases and 53 have filed for no change, according to the Office of Insurance Regulation. "We are not taking the foot off the gas," Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky said.

Florida Awards $100 Million for 45 Springs and Water Supply Projects

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in Crystal River on Wednesday more than $100 million for 45 water projects. Of that, $50 million goes to 23 springs restoration projects, including wastewater upgrades and septic-to-sewer work, which are expected to cut nitrogen pollution by more than 55,000 pounds a year.

Another $50 million goes to 22 alternative water supply projects expected to add more than 60 million gallons a day when complete. Awards include $10 million for Tampa Bay Water, $12.6 million for seven Polk County communities to tap brackish water, $19.1 million for six reclaimed-water projects including Fort Myers and Apopka, and $4 million for septic work near Volusia's DeLeon Spring.

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❖ Miami-Dade — Tower Theater Returns to Miami Dade College: Little Havana: Miami Dade College resumes running the 100-year-old Tower Theater on Calle Ocho on Nov. 1, with its Miami Film Festival handling films, live shows and rentals once the theater reopens in early 2027. The theater stays closed for upgrades in the meantime, including a sound-transparent LED screen that will make it only the second cinema in the United States with the technology.

❖ Tampa Bay — Manatee Season Opens in Apollo Beach: Apollo Beach: Tampa Electric's Manatee Viewing Center at 6990 Dickman Road reopens Sunday, Nov. 1, for the winter, when manatees gather in the warm water by the power plant. Admission is free, the center draws about 500,000 visitors a year, and it stays open through April 15.

❖ Orlando — Costco Is Coming to Sanford: Sanford: Developers say a Costco will anchor a rebuilt shopping center on the Seminole Towne Center mall site along I-4 and could open by late 2027, with about 300 apartments planned across the street. Dillard's and Dick's Sporting Goods could stay, and Ardent Companies' Jay Douglas says the project will "drive thousands of cars to this location that is currently dead."

❖ Jacksonville — Data Centers Want Jacksonville's Power: Jacksonville: A year of JEA records obtained by the News4JAX I-TEAM shows data center developers asking the city utility for enormous amounts of electricity, led by a 1,248-megawatt request from Cecil LMNO, enough to power about 700,000 homes. JEA, whose six current data centers each use under 10 megawatts, says such loads are too high to serve today and would need their own substations, which can take years to build.

❖ Broward — Potbelly Opens in Plantation: Plantation: Potbelly has opened at 1716 N. University Drive in the Plantation Pointe center near Sunrise Boulevard, the sandwich chain's second South Florida shop after Davie opened in April. Operator Rami Boaziz of Stellar Hospitality will hold a grand opening Friday, Nov. 6, from 9 to 11am, when the first 50 guests in line get a free sandwich a week for a year.

❖ Palm Beach — Midtown Beach to Close for a Year and a Half: Palm Beach: The town plans to close all of Midtown Beach from January 2027 through summer 2028 to replace a failing seawall, after the Town Council chose to do the job all at once instead of in sections that would have taken twice as long and cost twice as much. Residents pushed back at a public meeting this week, asking why the work can't be done in sections.

❖ Gulf Coast — Habitat's $100 Million Housing Push: Naples: Habitat for Humanity of Collier County publicly launched its $100 million Together, We Build campaign Thursday to build 500 homes and buy land and pay for roads and utilities for 500 more. CEO Lisa Lefkow says $74 million is already committed, leaving $26 million to raise.

❖ North Florida — Champions Ranch Opens Its First Field: Tallahassee: Heisman winner Charlie Ward and his wife, Tonja, cut the ribbon Thursday on the first multisport field at Champions Ranch, their youth athletics complex in south Tallahassee, after nearly a year of construction. A $500,000 matching gift challenge is now underway to pay for the next phase.

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❖ Trump Rallies for Donalds in Daytona Beach as Jolly Claims Momentum — President Trump brings his midterm campaign push to Daytona Beach on Friday to stump for Republican governor nominee Byron Donalds and other GOP candidates, including U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, who faces Democrat Angie Nixon in the special Senate election. Democrat David Jolly worked Volusia and Orange counties Thursday ahead of the rally, calling the race a toss-up; Donalds holds a cash advantage of about $33 million, but Jolly said his campaign has momentum, and he believes momentum beats money. Donalds is favored, but the race is considered competitive, unlike four years ago, when DeSantis won reelection by nearly 20 points.

❖ Judge Fast-Tracks Fight Over DeSantis School Vaccine Rules — A state administrative judge agreed Thursday to speed up the hearing on two challenges to the Health Department's proposed rules cutting the number of vaccines children need for school and daycare, setting arguments for the week of Dec. 14. A health-care attorney said the tight timeline could let the rules take effect before DeSantis leaves office on Jan. 5 if the department wins; challengers, including the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and families of medically fragile children, argue the state skipped proper rulemaking and overstepped its authority.

❖ Rodríguez Challenges Uthmeier in Attorney General Race — Democrat José Javier Rodríguez, a former state senator and former U.S. assistant labor secretary, is running on crime, costs and corruption and says he would take on insurers and utilities over rising rates. On public safety, he also points to synthetic drugs and online threats to children from big tech companies. Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier, appointed by DeSantis after serving as his chief of staff, points to record-low crime and a doubled prosecution caseload; recent polls show Uthmeier ahead, though by differing margins. Uthmeier, who declined an interview with Local 10, also says the state's conviction rate is up 50%.

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❖ Investors Commit $200 Million to Moffitt's Pasco Cancer Drug Hub — Pasco County: Moffitt Cancer Center's plan to build a cancer-drug manufacturing hub at its 775-acre Speros campus has drawn $200 million in private commitments, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday, along with a proposed $47.3 million federal award. The coalition, called FORGE and working with USF, Pasco-Hernando State College and Embarc Collective, focuses on radiopharmaceuticals, which deliver radiation directly to tumors. It projects 4,000 high-wage jobs over 10 years. If the federal award is finalized, combined funding would top $247 million, with the federal share coming from a disaster recovery program tied to hurricanes Helene and Milton.

❖ Epic Universe Lifts Central Florida Theme Park Attendance — Orlando: Universal's Epic Universe helped push combined attendance at Central Florida's major theme parks up 4.3% in 2025, according to a new Themed Entertainment Association report. Epic drew an estimated 4 million visits in its partial first year, bringing Universal Orlando to about 22.5 million, while Disney World held roughly flat. That suggests Epic brought in new visitors rather than pulling them from other parks, and Universal passed Legoland's owner, Merlin, to become the world's third-largest park operator. Universal's older parks did slip, with Universal Studios Florida down about 2% and Islands of Adventure about 3%, while Magic Kingdom remained the world's most visited theme park at 17.8 million visits.

❖ Southwest Florida Airport's $1 Billion Terminal E on Track for 2027 — Fort Myers: RSW's $1 billion Terminal E will add 14 gates (expandable to 19), a TSA checkpoint of up to nine lanes and a new United lounge. It is paid for with airport revenue bonds and federal and state grants, and is on schedule to finish by the end of next year. Lee County Port Authority CEO Steven Hennigan says the terminal will be nearly twice the size of the airport's other terminals, and once it opens, all concourses will be connected behind security. Passenger growth is a main driver: the airport saw roughly 3 million more passengers between 2016 and 2025, the Lee County Tourist Development Council reported.

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Tampa Council Approves $21 Million Community Package for New Rays Ballpark

The Tampa City Council voted 4-3 Thursday to approve a $21 million community benefits agreement tied to the Rays' planned ballpark on the Hillsborough College Dale Mabry campus, money to be spent over five years on affordable housing, workforce training, anti-displacement help and contracts for women- and minority-owned businesses. The deal also covers improvements at Al Lopez Park and the West Tampa Little League and requires the Rays to file yearly impact reports. Council members moved before Luis Viera leaves to run for the state House, which would leave the board split 3-3, and Hillsborough County commissioners still have votes ahead; the mayor hopes for a groundbreaking by the end of next month.

Florida-Georgia Leaves Jacksonville for Atlanta for the First Time

No. 17 Florida (5-2, 3-2 SEC) meets No. 3 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the first time the rivalry has been played there, after renovations at EverBank Stadium moved it out of Jacksonville. It is the first meeting between ranked teams in the series since 2020, and Georgia is about a 10½-point favorite. Coach Jon Sumrall still has not named a starter between Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr.; edge rusher Jaden Robinson is doubtful. Both quarterbacks are listed as questionable, Philo with a shoulder injury and Jones with minor knocks from his first college start. Kickoff is 3:30pm ET on ABC.

Jaguars Come Home Sunday to a Stadium Mid-Makeover and Fixes for Crowded Concourses

The Jaguars play at home Sunday against the Colts for the first time in four weeks, and crews have changed EverBank Stadium since the last home game: a 1-million-pound steel truss now sits over the north end zone after a 72-hour lift, concrete is poured for the South End Zone Club, and most of the expanded main concourse is poured but not yet open. The team says it has made changes to ease the concourse crowding fans complained about at the first home game, while entrances stay the same. After Sunday the Jaguars won't play at home again for three weeks; kickoff is 1pm ET.

Scoreboard

NHL: Lightning 6, Jets 4 (final) — ESPN

Schedule (all times ET)

Fri Oct 30 — NHL: Jets at Panthers, 7pm ET, Scripps Sports

Fri Oct 30 — NCAAF: Baylor at UCF, 7:30pm ET, ESPN

Fri Oct 30 — NBA: Magic at Raptors, 7:30pm ET, MagicTV 27

Fri Oct 30 — NBA: Pacers at Heat, 8pm ET, WPLG Local 10

Sat Oct 31 — NCAAF: UAB at USF, noon ET, ESPNU

Sat Oct 31 — MLS: Orlando City at Charlotte FC, 1pm ET, Apple TV

Sat Oct 31 — NHL: Lightning at Predators, 2pm ET, The Spot

Sat Oct 31 — NCAAF: Florida vs. Georgia, Atlanta, 3:30pm ET, ABC

Sat Oct 31 — NCAAF: FIU at Liberty, 3:30pm ET, CBS Sports Network

Sat Oct 31 — NCAAF: Clemson at FSU, 7pm ET, ACC Network

Sat Oct 31 — NCAAF: Miami at North Carolina, 7:30pm ET, ABC

Sun Nov 1 — NFL: Falcons at Bucs, 1pm ET, Fox

Sun Nov 1 — NFL: Colts at Jaguars, 1pm ET, CBS

Sun Nov 1 — NBA: Celtics at Magic, 3:30pm ET, MagicTV 27

Sun Nov 1 — NFL: Patriots at Dolphins, 4:25pm ET, CBS

Sun Nov 1 — NWSL: Pride at Seattle Reign, 5pm ET, ESPN+

Sun Nov 1 — MLS: Inter Miami at New England, 7pm ET, Apple TV

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

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Florida regular averaged $3.96 a gallon Thursday (AAA, as of 10/29/26), down about 5 cents from Wednesday ($4.01) and down about 9 cents from a week ago ($4.06). That is about 26 cents under the national average of $4.23. West Palm Beach–Boca Raton is the most expensive metro at about $4.13, and Pensacola is the cheapest at about $3.69.

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❖ A Ramp for Ms. Rudene: Builders Care Hits Its 100th Accessibility Ramp of the Year: Volunteers with the Jacksonville nonprofit Builders Care built a free wheelchair ramp Thursday for 89-year-old Rudene Thomas, who has lived in her Eartha Drive home since 1957, and it was the group's 100th ramp this year. Her daughter said the family had been carrying her mother down the steps, and the ramp keeps a promise to her late father that his wife could stay in the home she knows. The board had challenged the group to reach 100 after building 80 last year; it is already at 103 and expects to finish near 115.

❖ Tallahassee Names a Street for a Pastor Couple's 40 Years of Service: The stretch of W. Virginia Street between Copeland and Adams is now Drs. RB & Gloria P. Holmes Street, honoring the couple who have led Bethel Missionary Baptist Church for 40 years. Their work has reached well beyond the pulpit, from championing foster care to helping the Frenchtown neighborhood. Dr. Gloria Holmes said she was surprised and grateful that her name was included, and both say their work isn't finished.

❖ Bradenton Volunteers Send "Plant the Rainbow" Seed Packets to Jamaica: A year after Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica, the Bradenton nonprofit Hope Seeds International is packing tiny seed packets so families there can replant their gardens. Each packet holds 12 to 14 varieties, which the group says is enough to keep a family of six in vegetables for a year, and boxes of about 200 packets are shipping now. The group was told some 13,000 families in Saint Elizabeth parish need help, and that many asked for seeds before anything else.

❖ St. Pete Dad Builds a Map of Every Spooky Yard in Town: St. Petersburg dad Spencer Caton got the idea on evening walks with his three young boys through Old Northeast, so he built Fright This Way, a free website that maps decorated Halloween houses with scare levels, tags like "clowns" and "ghosts," and photos. Neighbors can add their own homes, and as of Thursday the site listed nearly 300 "haunts" in 52 neighborhoods, led by Old Northeast with 85. Caton's pick for the best block in Pinellas is 17th Avenue Northeast.

❖ Jacksonville's Johnnetta Betsch Cole Turns 90 and Turns the Party Into a Gift: Jacksonville native Johnnetta Betsch Cole, the acclaimed anthropologist and former college president, turned 90 on Oct. 19, and her birthday dinner Friday night is a fundraiser for a local fund named for her great-grandfather, A.L. Lewis. Lewis, a businessman and philanthropist, bought 200 acres of Nassau County beachfront in 1935 and created American Beach as a place where Black families could gather and relax. Cole's home there was filled with dozens of birthday bouquets this week, and her memoir "Sankofa" is due out Feb. 15.

❖ One TV Story, 250 New Young Readers: Palm Beach Imagination Library Gets a Boost: After WPTV first reported on Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Palm Beach County, about 250 more children signed up for a free book every month and donors gave more than $25,000. The county program now has 1,600 children enrolled out of about 75,000 who are eligible, and it has given out more than 40,000 books so far. One mom said the monthly book lets her pass her own love of reading on to her daughter.

Today’s Quote

"In Florida, the scariest thing on Halloween is a jack-o'-lantern trying to last a whole week in this humidity."

— original / Front Porch

Florida Almanac

Moon: Waning gibbous on Friday, 74% lit; last quarter is Sunday, Nov. 1.

Sunrise / Sunset: Orlando: sunrise 7:36 a.m., sunset 6:42 p.m. ET, 11h 6m of daylight. Times vary across the state, and Pensacola is on Central time. Clocks fall back an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, so Sunday's sunrise and sunset come about an hour earlier on the clock.

Gardening Notes: Garlic can go in from late fall through early winter in Florida, UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says. It doesn't make seed, so plant individual cloves split from a bulb, and pick soft-necked types like Artichoke or Creole that suit Florida. Harvest when about half the leaves have dried and bent over, then cure the bulbs a few days in bright, indirect light.

Coastal / Red Tide: FWC’s latest update (Oct. 23) found bloom-level red tide in St. Joseph Bay in Gulf County; elsewhere it was at background levels or not observed. FWC's next update is due Friday afternoon.

Florida by the Numbers

4.4 percent: Florida's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September 2026, down from 4.5 percent in August, according to preliminary U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. That is still above the national rate of 4.2 percent and up from 4.2 percent in Florida a year earlier.