Florida News That Impacts You – October 1st, 2026
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you throughout the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast.
- Twelve new laws take effect in Florida today, in addition to Florida's minimum wage amendment having fully taken effect yesterday. Florida's minimum wage is now $15 per hour for regular hourly employees with tipped employees having a minimum of $11.98 per hour rate. Minimum wage will adjust annually for inflation going forward. Among the new laws...
- Victim Safety in Pretrial Release Act - Creates a standalone crime for violating a no‑contact order while on pretrial release. Career Offender Registry - Requires habitual violent felony offenders and violent career criminals to register annually with detailed personal information. Lewd Behavior - Observing a child under 16 for sexual gratification while exposing sexual organs becomes a third‑degree felony. Animal Cruelty Penalties - Increased penalties, including new third‑degree felony for involving minors in animal fighting. Criminal Gang Member Criteria - Expands criteria to include online admissions, identification by family, repeated association with gang members, and gang‑related communications. Crash Reporting Threshold Increase - Raises mandatory crash‑reporting property‑damage threshold from 500 to 2,000 dollars. Clarifies decorative license plate frames are legal if they don’t obscure numbers or decals. Electronic License Suspension Notices - Allows drivers to receive suspension notices via email instead of postal mail. New Specialty License Plates - Adds plates for UFC, Miami Northwestern Alumni Association, Outsider, St. Petersburg College, First Responders Resiliency, and more. Fraudulent Entry of Residential Dwelling - Makes it a third‑degree felony to obtain rental possession using forged documents, false identity information, or impersonation. Creates a non‑curable eviction ground with a 7‑day notice.
- The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is warning residents about a new phone impersonation scam. Scammers are pretending to be captains within the Sheriff's Office, using the names Captain Todd Baer and Captain Randy Foley. The scammers tell potential victims that they need to provide payment or will need to appear in court.
- The Florida Department of Health has issued a rabies alert for Martin County after officials confirmed a raccoon found near South Kanner Highway tested positive for the virus. Residents and their pets are urged to avoid contact with raccoons, bats, foxes, skunks, otters, bobcats, coyotes and other wildlife.
- It'll be rainy throughout the day today with highs in the mid - 80’s – typical for this date. Similar weather remains in the forecast heading into the weekend. The National Hurricane Center's Tropical Weather Outlook is clear with tropical cyclone activity not expected for at least the next seven days. Saharan dust from the coast of Africa extends over much of the southern Atlantic with dust moving towards the Caribbean, Cuba, and the Gulf of America.
- The price of gas fell another five cents per gallon on Wednesday. The average price for regular unleaded fuel statewide is currently $4.20 per gallon. In Palm Beach County the average price is $4.37 per gallon, in Martin the average is $4.16, it’s $4.22 in St. Lucie, and in Indian River County the average is $4.23 per gallon.