Governor DeSantis signs bill banning sports facilities in state parks
FLORIDA (WMBB) – After plans to add golf courses, pickleball courts and even hotels at state parks across Florida got major backlash. A bill signed into law will officially prevent this.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that specifically bans the construction of golf courses, ball fields and sports facilities in state parks.
This comes in direct response to DeSantis' administration push to build such additions at nine state parks, including three in our area.
Camp Helen State Park, Grayton Beach State Park, and Topsail Preserve were included in the proposal.
The new legislation will also require government officials to give Floridians at least 30 days' ahead of public hearings to discuss proposed changes to the conservation areas. It goes into effect on July 1.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
George Clooney: ‘Everybody worries' about being targeted by Trump
George Clooney, a vocal critic of President Trump, says fears of being targeted by the administration are widespread. 'Everybody worries about it,' Clooney told Anderson Cooper in a Wednesday interview on CNN. 'But if you spend your life worrying about things, then you won't do things,' the 'Good Night, and Good Luck' actor said. 'Like everybody, we have a family and we have a life and we try to live and do the things as the best example for our kids,' the Academy Award winner, who's married to human rights attorney Amal Clooney, told the 'Anderson Cooper 360' host. 'I want to be able to look at my kids in the eye and say where we stood and what we did at certain times in history. And I have no problem with that,' said Clooney, one of Hollywood's most prominent Democratic supporters. Last year, Clooney famously penned a New York Times op-ed calling for then-President Biden to abandon his 2024 reelection campaign, citing the commander in chief's age. Biden withdrew from the race weeks later and Clooney backed then-Vice President Kamala Harris's White House bid. In the interview with Cooper, Clooney expressed skepticism when asked if 'Trumpism lasts beyond this term.' 'I don't think so. I think it'd be very hard to do it,' Clooney, 64, replied. 'Remember this: Donald Trump is a celebrity. That's what he is. I mean, he has a star on Hollywood Boulevard,' he said of the former 'Celebrity Apprentice' host, who's responded to Clooney's criticism in the past by calling him a 'second rate movie star.' 'I don't have a star. I'm not lobbying for one, I'm just saying,' Clooney added with a grin. 'He's a celebrity, and he's the president [of the] United States, and so he has been elected. Duly elected — fair deal. I'm not complaining about that. That's how it works. That's how this democracy works,' Clooney continued. 'But he's also a celebrity, and he is charming. And to the people who like him, they think he's funny — to a great many others, they don't,' he said of Trump. 'So when [Trump] is finished — and he will be finished — they're going to have to go looking for someone who can deliver the message that he delivered with the same kind of charisma, and they don't have that.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Russia strikes Ukraine, killing 5, after Putin, Trump call
Russia launched drone strikes on Ukraine early Thursday, killing five people — just one day after President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone. While Trump called the conversation between the two leaders a 'good' one, he acknowledged that the 75-minute discussion would not lead to 'immediate peace.' The continued strikes, he said, were in response to Ukraine's weekend attack on Russian air bases. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces struck the city of Pryluky, in the north-central region of Chernihiv, leading to the fatalities. At least nine others were injured in the blast, The Associated Press reported. Several of the victims, according to the news wire and the nation's leader, were related to a local rescue team member. 'Unfortunately, his wife, daughter and one-year-old grandson were killed. And this is the 632nd child during the full-scale war,' Zelensky wrote in a Thursday post on Telegram, with images of the damage. He described the event as a terrorist attack that warranted more sanctions on Russia, saying the end of the war will only come through 'strength.' 'Russia is constantly trying to buy time for itself to continue the killings. When it does not feel strong enough condemnation and pressure from the world, it kills again,' Zelensky said. However, Kremlin officials said the drone strike was justified. 'The president described the Kyiv regime as a terrorist regime, because it was the regime's leadership that consciously gave the order, the command, the order to blow up a passenger train,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, referring to Sunday's attack. Leaders from across the globe have urged Putin to ease conflict on the battlefield to no avail despite direct talks between Russia and Ukraine under the guise of a potential ceasefire. Trump has warned that his Russian counterpart was 'playing with fire' in recent weeks. 'What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD,' Trump posted late last month on Truth Social. 'He's playing with fire!' He also suggested the consistent attacks on Ukraine are a sign that Putin has gone 'absolutely crazy,' ramping up his criticism of the bloodshed in Eastern Europe. The Kremlin earlier this week dismissed the likelihood of a meeting anytime soon between Trump, Putin and Zelensky, despite Trump's invitation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Kemp joins Florida, South Carolina request to directly manage fish populations instead of feds
Gov. Brian Kemp joined a request from Florida and South Carolina governors Ron DeSantis and Henry McMaster to move management of fish populations to the state. Specifically, the three governors sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick requesting that the states handle management of red snapper and other reef fish populations found in the Atlantic Ocean. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] "As we work with the administration to cut red tape and empower states to do what is best for our people, Governor Ron DeSantis, Governor Henry McMaster, and I are requesting state management of red snapper and other reef fishes in the Atlantic," Kemp said in a statement. 'Our fishing industry has suffered under heavy handed federal regulations imposed by bureaucrats thousands of miles away. It's time this industry is managed much closer to home!' TRENDING STORIES: Lyft driver taken hostage at Dawson County Sheriff's Office Atlanta rent prices down 1% compared to 2024, but rose month-to-month Acworth police save life of man choking on water bottle cap using LifeVac device In terms of what the states want to do, the governors said the current management of fish populations are 'driven by flawed data and regulations that threaten the economies of our coastal communities.' While the states are 'committed to helping our recreational fishing communities,' the governors said they are also working to conserve fisheries as resources for future generations. 'The first step to correcting course on federal mismanagement is to stop the harmful impacts of Amendment 59 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region,' the three officials said in their letter. The letter lays the blame on 'decades of inaction by career bureaucrats within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,' as well as actions taken at the end of the Biden Administration, which 'cut-off public access to the fishery' and have made it harder for communities to 'exercise their God-given right to fish and support their local economies and way of life.' Kemp and his fellow governors said the red snapper population is no longer being over-fished and as a result, they would like a large increase to the quota allowance for fishing the species, due to their current level of 'unprecedented abundance.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
