TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration diverted more than $35 million in taxpayer funds — an amount far greater than previously known — as part of a brazen agenda last year to defeat two ballot amendments he staunchly opposed, a Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald investigation has found.

Much of the state money was intended to assist needy Floridians, including children. Instead, it paid for political consultants, lawyers and thousands of advertisements that helped DeSantis and his supporters win at the ballot box.

The ads purchased with the diverted money blanketed TV, social media and radio stations in the weeks before the election. They defended Florida’s six-week abortion ban and made exaggerated claims about the dangers of marijuana without mentioning that both were the subject of ballot amendments last fall.

Along the way, the governor’s administration bent state spending laws and obscured millions in government spending, records and interviews show.

With less than two months to Trump’s self-imposed deadline, household electricity bills are up 11 percent on average since his inauguration. Gas bills have spiked even higher. More than 70 percent of Americans—regardless of party—say they’re concerned about rising utility payments. Trump, undeterred by reality, is claiming that “our energy prices are down.”

Voters have taken notice. In last Tuesday’s elections, Democrats notched major wins, including in conservative areas, at least in part because energy was on the ballot.

Democratic and Republican positions on energy policy have been night and day, explains Daniel Jasper, a senior policy advisor with the climate nonprofit Project Drawdown.

Democrats, on the other hand, have a clear message, he says: “Renewable energy will be one big part of the solution for rising costs.” More than that, they are able to emphasize that the cheap, local energy “increases energy security and reduces our reliance on things like foreign oil,” he adds.

Around Tampa Bay and beyond, residents were stunned by their electricity bills this year, particularly during the hottest months. Across housing types, income levels and neighborhoods, many Floridians questioned why their bills had risen to new heights despite no change to their daily routines.

The answer lies in a combination of recently imposed hurricane recovery charges, record heat and hikes to base rates that coalesced into big increases, experts told the Tampa Bay Times. As bills soared along with temperatures this summer, the cost of electricity became a frequent topic of conversation among neighbors and a source of commiseration on social apps like NextDoor.

On Nov. 1, about a dozen local politicians, environmentalists and activists gathered on a residential street in Tampa for a symbolic burning of their electric bills, days before state regulators met in Tallahassee to decide adjustments to next year’s rates. Three days later, utility regulators met in Tallahassee and green lit the start of the next phase of Tampa Electric’s previously approved rate hike. It will raise a typical household’s bills by another $5.50 per month.

“Everything is for the benefit of the big porks and their money,” she said.

The big story: Florida teachers were among the targets of the DeSantis administration in an effort to sanction or remove officials who made disparaging remarks about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Teachers in Lee, Clay, Martin and Pinellas counties came under investigation for comments they made on personal social media accounts. The leader of a Miami-Dade County private school quit after his posts became public, Fresh Take Florida reports.

The push is not just aimed at K-12 educators. South Florida universities took steps against faculty members over their online comments, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

The president of the Florida Education Association blasted efforts to dox teachers and silence them, Orlando Weekly reports. To some, the attention evoked Kirk’s Turning Point USA Professor Watchlist, which aimed to expose teachers who “discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda,” NBC reports.

“If the state decides they’re no longer going to require mandatory vaccinations, are they no longer going to require the mandatory reporting of diagnoses?” Browning said. “Are we going back to the 1820s?”

Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, said local union offices were flooded with calls immediately after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ news conference Wednesday morning, with members asking how they might be affected by changes to school health rules.

Spar said the governor appears to be more interested in scoring political points than in doing what’s necessary to keep all children safe in school.

“This is clearly not about the kids,” Spar said, noting how broad cross sections of medical professionals have pointed to vaccinations as key to eradicating many debilitating diseases.

“I think this is the best policy,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “It’s just too much to have this, and then what’ll happen is it creates safety hazards. One, (by) people just seeing it, but then you have some people who may disagree with the message and then they’re incentivized to try to, like, peel out or something.”

The Florida Department of Transportation’s June 30 memo about street markings indicated they could “lead to distractions or misunderstandings, (and) jeopardize both driver and pedestrian safety.”

Is pavement art really a safety concern? Research shows just the opposite.

Numerous studies of bright crosswalk murals, both nationwide and around Florida, show a significant reduction in crashes and increase in driver compliance after they’ve been installed. Even locally, cities have documented — and been lauded for — crosswalk programs that reduce incidents.

The DeSantis administration’s Hope Florida scandal took a serious turn for the worse this week, and the only question is whether lawmakers, regulators and law enforcement will hold those involved accountable.

Weeks later, the charity gave $10 million to two nonprofits, who in turn sent nearly all of it to a political committee overseen by DeSantis’ then-chief of staff. That committee was created to oppose last year’s statewide referendum to legalize recreational marijuana, which DeSantis opposed.

Those revelations ignited a firestorm during this year’s legislative session, after reports that the nonprofit’s foundation had failed to file tax returns or perform audits required under state law, met in secret and maintained no budget or bylaws. A top Republican lawmaker accused the administration of illegally laundering federal Medicaid funds, and former federal prosecutors said the transactions may have been illegal. Prosecutors in Tallahassee have launched a criminal investigation.

ORLANDO — Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for $218 million the state spent to convert a remote training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.

The center may soon be completely empty as a judge upheld her decision late Wednesday ordering operations to wind down indefinitely.

Shutting down the facility for the time being would cost the state $15 million to $20 million immediately, and it would cost another $15 million to $20 million to reinstall structures if Florida is allowed to reopen it, according to court filings by the state.

Crews from the Florida Department of Transportation arrived around 8 p.m. to paint over the mural outside the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, according to a spokesman for the St. Petersburg Police Department. That's when Oliver and Atherton walked past police, then sat and knelt down to pray in the road and refused to move "in an attempt to block the FDOT machinery."

They were both charged with misdemeanor obstruction and "Pedestrian obstructing or hindering traffic," according to SPPD's public information officer.

The Subject Charge Report from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says Oliver, 45, has been released on cash bond and charged with resisting an officer w/o violence a misdemeanor. Atherton-Zeman, 45, has also been released on cash bond and faces the same charges.

After their release Oliver and Atherton-Zeman returned to the site of the mural and went to social media to cite a letter penned in 1915 by Woodson himself to the then-president of Washington D.C.'s NAACP chapter.

The city wrote a letter Wednesday to the Florida Department of Transportation asking for an exemption from the state’s directive that cities keep their streets “free and clear of political ideologies.” The city’s transportation and parking management director, Evan Mory, made the case that the five installations create a strong sense of community and make roads safer.

“The city remains committed to working with our community to find lawful ways to celebrate and express our values in the public realm,” Welch wrote. “While these specific art murals will be removed, the spirit of what makes St. Pete a special place can’t be suppressed by legislative fiat, and we will find meaningful ways to express our shared values.”

The affected murals include a colorful prism intersection on Central Avenue and Fifth Street, a rainbow Pride intersection at Central Avenue and 25th Street, a University of South Florida-themed crosswalk at USF St. Petersburg’s campus at Sixth Avenue South and Second Street, a Black History Matters mural at Ninth Avenue South and 22nd Lane, and a painted intersection at 11th Avenue South and 46th Street.

The state has been ordering street murals removed throughout Florida. On Thursday, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said the state overnight and without warning painted over a rainbow crosswalk that was intended as a memorial for victims of the 2017 Pulse nightclub shooting that left 49 dead and 53 wounded.

Florida police arrested more than two dozen people under a controversial new immigration law that makes it a crime to enter the state while undocumented — after a judge blocked the measure saying it was likely unconstitutional, a Tampa Bay Times analysis has found.

Most were pulled over for minor traffic infractions: following too closely, going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, stopping on the side of the highway. One man was arrested after he was an apparent victim in a hit-and-run crash. Another was a U.S. citizen.

olice made arrests in counties all over the state, along roadways in Tampa Bay, the outskirts of Disney World and unincorporated stretches of rural Florida. The highest number occurred near the state’s capital.

It gave Florida officials unprecedented power. The law essentially transformed thousands of police officers in Florida into immigration agents — allowing enforcement on a scale far beyond what Gov. Ron DeSantis said “random ICE agents that are sprinkled around the country” could accomplish.