Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1866, the Freedmen's Bureau opened its Florida land office, helping freed slaves claim homesteads across the state. By 1868, they had entered more than 3,000 homesteads, more than any other Southern state.

We're launching The Michigan Flyover and The Pennsylvania Flyover on Sept. 1! If you call one of these great states home (or just want to stay informed on them), click your link above and sign up. We'll see you in a week!

Flying over the Atlantic Sunday night, passengers on a red-eye to Rome felt the plane suddenly drop. Then the captain came over the intercom and said one of the engines had "blown out." Inside the cabin, some passengers prayed while others screamed, fearing this flight might be their last. What happened next, and during the long night that followed, is a story no other outlet is covering. In a first-of-its-kind exclusive for The Flyover Podcast, Ayla spoke directly with a passenger who lived through it all, including one moment nobody saw coming. Tune in here!

Later today, our partner Fisher Investments is sharing seven habits high net worth investors use once their portfolios reach $1 million, including a few that may be surprisingly easy to overlook.

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Donalds Says He's Working with Haiti

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds said Sunday he has met with Haiti's transitional government and its ambassador to help stabilize the country after Temporary Protected Status (TPS) ended for more than 300,000 Haitians.

Haitian authorities are building security forces and have taken back "about a quarter to half of the country" from gangs, the congressman and Republican nominee for governor said. He argued TPS was never meant to run "into perpetuity with no end."

In June, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to revoke the TPS designation, which had first been granted after the 2010 earthquake. Roughly 158,000 Haitian TPS holders lived in Florida as of January.

Deportation flights resumed Thursday, when 161 people landed in Cap-Haitien rather than Port-au-Prince, where gangs control an estimated 70% of the capital. Haiti's Group Supporting Refugees and Returnees said the country isn't ready, while the State Department still warns Americans not to travel there.

Lightning Kills Margate Mother, Daughter

A lightning bolt killed a 31-year-old mother and one of her 2-year-old twin daughters on a Margate sidewalk Sunday afternoon.

The two had just stepped out of their car when the bolt hit, a neighbor across the street said. Margate police and fire rescue arrived at the scene near Northwest 1st Street around 2:30 p.m. and began CPR.

Kenya Glasgow was rushed to a hospital in Deerfield Beach, and her daughter Kennedi to another in Fort Lauderdale with a police escort. Both died shortly after arriving.

The girl's father watched it happen. "A bolt of lightning came down, I got hit with the residuals from the ground, and I looked over, and that's when I saw them," Kam Glasgow said.

Pilot Ditches Plane off Boca Raton

A 23-year-old pilot ditched her plane in the Atlantic off Boca Raton on Saturday and swam away unhurt.

Faith Tenkley left Page Field in Fort Myers before 8:50 a.m., bound for the Bahamas to pick up her parents, when her right engine failed, and the landing gear broke. Worried her fuel load could spark a fire at Boca Raton Airport, she made for the coast.

"I am incredibly fortunate and relieved to share that I was able to swim away from this incident," Tenkley said. She steered for open water, clear of buildings, paddleboarders, and swimmers.

A beachgoer's video shows the plane gliding low into the shallows. Lifeguards helped Tenkley ashore, and paramedics took her to a hospital as a precaution. Crews hauled the plane out on Sunday.

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➤ Tallahassee: Tom Derzypolski will face PJ Perez in November for Tallahassee City Commission Seat 3 after a machine recount and then a manual recount, which confirmed Derzypolski edged Talethia Edwards by 15 votes. Perez led the primary with 11,634 votes. Leon County officials say no further recounts will occur. (More)

➤ Ocala: A large tree crashed through a home's roof in the 3100 block of Southeast Eighth Street as strong winds swept the city Saturday. Two girls inside escaped unhurt. Crews cleared another downed tree near East Fort King Street. (More)

➤ Statewide: The National Hurricane Center gives two Atlantic systems a 50% chance of developing over the next week: a low southwest of Bermuda drifting northeast, and a tropical wave rolling off Africa that could become a depression by midweek. (See Report)

➤ Jacksonville: A truck driver and her fiancé kept four children confined in a tractor-trailer cab since December 2019, denying them school and medical care, investigators said. Keisha Epps, 51, and Tamra Stewart, 37, face four child neglect charges each. (See Details)

➤ Cross City: A traffic stop on NE 106th Street turned into a chase that ended when police and Dixie County deputies boxed in the car at U.S. 19 and Prison Road. Officers found 2.6 pounds of meth in a Christmas-print bag. (See Details)

➤ Tampa: Attorney General James Uthmeier sued the operators of Stake.us, Chumba Casino, and Global Poker in Hillsborough County court, calling the "sweepstakes" sites unlicensed casinos. The suits seek to bar them from Florida and recover players' losses. (See Details)

➤ Seminole County: Public schools nudged classroom thermostats from 71 to 74 degrees, which the district says saves $1.5 million a year and protects jobs and programs. Parent Tiffany Uribe said the change should have been delayed until the cooler months. (More)

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➤ South Florida named LSU transfer Michael Van Buren its starting quarterback for the 2026 season. Van Buren threw for over 1,000 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions for the Tigers last year. (More)

➤ Meanwhile, South Florida athletics CEO Rob Higgins made Derrick Brooks, the Hall of Fame Buccaneers linebacker, his first hire, naming him as chief operating officer. Brooks spent roughly eight years as an executive with the Lightning's parent company before joining the Bulls. (More)

➤ Florida women's soccer upset No. 3 and defending NCAA champion Florida State 3-1 in Gainesville on Sunday, the Gators' first win over a top-10 opponent since 2017. Transfer forward Kyra Taylor scored both of Florida's first two goals. (More)

Yesterday’s Results: MLB | U.S. Open | WNBA | Little League World Series

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➤ Coffee vs Hot Cacao vs Green Tea: Which of these hot drinks was proven in a study boost stem cells by 220% in 30 days? Billionaires drop 6 figures on stem cell therapy, but this hot drink costs 50 cents a day and boosts anti-aging stem cells improving heart health, blood pressure, and longevity.

➤ Jiko, the African-inspired restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, celebrated 25 years with a course-by-course anniversary dinner showcasing its kitchen and its South African wine program. (Read Story)

➤ Four Florida metros ranked among the country's 10 fastest-rising coding hubs in a new study, with Cape Coral fifth and North Port ninth. Jacksonville and Tampa also made the list, which tracked developer job growth and hackathons. (More)

➤ Sanford commissioners weighed on Monday whether festival organizers should pay the full cost of police and city services, or keep sharing it with residents. The city spent about $684,000 supporting 523 events over four years. (See Details)

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➤ A blood moon rises over Florida the night of Aug. 27, when 94% of the moon slides into Earth's shadow. The partial eclipse starts at 10:33 p.m. and ends at 1:51 a.m. No glasses needed. (See Details)

➤ Three Heisman winners signed autographs and played catch with fans in Gainesville over the weekend, where Steve Spurrier, Tim Tebow, and Danny Wuerffel headlined a card show benefiting Isaiah 117 House. (More)

➤ Artifacts dating to 600 A.D. turned up on the University of West Florida campus, where students surveyed the site of a retention pond for the school's new football stadium. Researchers traced the site to a Native American occupation. (Read Story)

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