Floridas

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images), Brandon Bell (Getty Images)Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ response to Disney’s lawsuit against the governor and his Reedy Creek Oversight Board—the area in Florida that contains Disney World—is to claim immunity from litigation. As reported by Deadline, DeSantis filed a motion against Disney’s claim in his effort to strip to the company of control over the special district that covers its theme parks and resorts in the state.Twitter Is Shifting Right | Future TechAccording to attorneys for…

Image via Disney Happy Pride Month, everyone! Today’s Disney News roundup covers Disney World’s annual LGBTQ celebration, Gay Days, which is set to have a record turnout despite (or perhaps, in spite of) Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ battle with Disney over daring to actually take a stand with the queer community. Earlier this week, a school board meeting in the state became an act of protest against DeSantis’ infamous “Don’t Say Gay” laws, as hundreds came to show support for a teacher facing repercussions for…

Concept art of the Star Wars: Galactic StarcruiserImage: DisneyDisney has made the decision to close its large-scale immersive experience Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, after only a year and a half in operation. Doors will close in September. Don’t Mess With Luthen and His Fricking Lasership | Andor Review“Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is one of our most creative projects ever and has been praised by our guests and recognized for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment,” the company said in a…

Hi folks, it’s Fidel. I’m off this week so I’ve asked Carlos De Loera to fill in for me! Carlos is a Reporting Fellow at the L.A. Times who has covered sports, entertainment and breaking news. I’ll be back next week! Carlos, take it away!Title 42 ended last Thursday. The decades-old measure invoked by former President Trump in 2020 allowed border officials to immediately expel asylum seekers and other migrants to Mexico under the guise of COVID-19 prevention.Republican politicians loudly speculated that the policy’s end…

Multiple conservation groups joined forces and announced their intent to sue a federal agency over what they say is a failure to protect West Indian manatees, large marine mammals that live near Florida and across the Caribbean. The manatees’ population has declined in recent years as they run out of food and lose habitat.Rare Polar Bear Attack in Canada | Extreme EarthThe Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Center for Biological Diversity, Miami Waterkeeper, and engineer Frank S. González García filed a notice…

Someone in Tallahassee, Florida, has some explaining to do. Countless phones woke their owners today before the sun had risen as part of a test of the state’s Emergency Alert System (EAS). The scheduled time of the test was 4:50 a.m. And at that time — a couple minutes early, actually — those countless phones awakened with that horrible sound that either means imminent doom or some sort of silver/purple/pink alert that leads folks to turn off such alerts in the first place. Silent mode offered no solace. If you had…

There was a time when Burnaby Mountain, and the areas around it along B.C.'s south coast, was a warmer, less mountainous region where palm trees grew, according to new research that identified plant fossils unearthed at the site more than 50 years ago. When Simon Fraser University was being built in the late 1960s, paleobotanist Rolf Mathewes was an undergraduate, and he helped gather dozens of plant fossils at a deposit exposed by the construction site. The fossils date back to around 40 million years ago.SFU then locked…

Toward the beginning of his video for “Back Flippin,” Luh Tyler turns a boating trip into a brief acrobatic exhibition. His cherubic face soaks up the sun as the shirtless teen launches himself backward, his gangly arms and legs folding into a reverse somersault before he splashes into the water below. He’s 17, but he might as well be a kid at summer camp. Stereotypically speaking, teens his age are expected to be in the throes of (or exiting) their awkward phase, but his bars give the impression that he’s never had one.…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain With less than 2 inches of rain this year, Orlando is enduring its second driest stretch from Jan. 1 to April 5 since the late 1800s and also its hottest on record for that period. The city, Central Florida and much of the state's peninsula are experiencing a widening severe drought, according to…

By University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science January 8, 2023The Florida Reef Tract is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States and the third largest coral barrier reef system in the world. Credit: NASAThe largest spatial assessment to date highlights the need for improved management practices and coral restoration efforts in Florida.According to recent research, 70% of Florida’s reefs are eroding and suffering a net loss of reef habitat. The study, carried…