Two new issues related to the shuttered-but-still-causing-problems Everglades detention center in the past week: First, on the human rights front, a report from the Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog that detainees were held in “cramped conditions” including, on some occasions, 18-square-foot metal enclosures the size of a phone booth. The DHS Office of Inspector General based its 33-page report on an unannounced inspection earlier this year, and found numerous other instances where conditions failed to live up to ICE standards. How about some answers? Seven members of Congress lashed out in a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying they had been deceived about the facility and demanding more information. Of note: They asked whether Florida Attorney General James [...]

The late Saturday Night Live comedian Chris Farley once dressed up as “El Niño,” copping a professional wrestler vibe and daring tropical weather systems to take him on in a no-holds-barred cage match. “El Niño is coming for you, and it ain’t gonna be pretty,” Farley shouted. Forecasters are saying the same thing — albeit less colorfully — about our current El Niño, which reached “Super” El Niño status last week and could ultimately make Farley’s version look puny. What’s the deal with El Niño anyway? El Niño occurs when ocean water temperatures rise in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, disrupting tropical thunderstorms and atmospheric circulation and influencing the location and strength of the jet stream thousands of [...]

You likely haven’t heard much about blue-green algae on Lake Okeechobee this summer for one reason: It remained on Lake Okeechobee. The lake level dropped below 11 feet this summer (though it’s starting to rise now), meaning there was no danger of discharges to the northern estuaries (the Caloosahatchee, St. Lucie and Lake Worth Lagoon). But that doesn’t mean the lake’s annual algal bloom isn’t there. It’s ‘moderately’ bad In fact, during the Sept. 10 meeting of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board, district officials talked about a “moderate” bloom on the lake. Blooms have been persistent along the northwestern shore of the lake, with “hot spots” along the southern shore. Recent testing shows a mix of [...]