Stephanie Colombini

When it comes to health care, Democratic candidate for Governor Andrew Gillum and his Republican opponent Ron DeSantis couldn't be further apart.

Walking or bicycling the streets of Tampa Bay can be a very dangerous way to get around. Why is that and what can be done about it?

This week on Florida Matters, we talk about pedestrian and cyclist safety in our region and how to balance that with the needs of drivers.

The Sarasota County School Board is holding an emergency meeting Thursday on school security.  It comes after months of debate over whether the Sheriff's Office would help pay for school resource officers.

The news that 17 people, including young teenagers, had been gunned down in Parkland while going about their school day on Valentine’s Day this year sent shocks of outrage, anguish and calls to do something to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

One result is a new law that says schools must have someone carrying a gun, sometimes called a school resource officer, who could respond in the event of a shooter on campus.

Seniors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland recently celebrated graduation, but they had to do so while still dealing with the trauma from the February mass shooting. This week on Florida Matters, we meet one of the graduates and hear about her life since the massacre.

More and more Floridians every week are signing up for access to medical marijuana, and with over 100,000 patients already on the registry, there is clearly money to be made.

Community leaders talked about putting an end to school violence at a town hall in Tampa's Seminole Heights neighborhood Thursday night. The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists hosted the event in response to the Parkland shooting last month that left 17 people dead.

Throughout the second week after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left  17 people dead, experts sent by the Israeli government hosted a series of trauma training sessions in Broward County for teachers, counselors and other members of the community who were coping with the violence.

Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School returned Thursday for their second day of classes since the shooting on Feb. 14 that killed 17.

This time around they were not greeted with the same fanfare as Wednesday, when crowds of supporters, police officers and even therapy dogs lined the perimeter of the school to welcome them back for the first time in two weeks.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in Tampa Wednesday talking about efforts to combat the nation's opioid crisis.

While across the nation the cultural and political tug-of-war over health care rages on, locally, healers keep on healing. But providing care for people can get complicated when they don’t have health insurance.

Florida Matters recently hosted a town hall event in St. Petersburg about providing health care to the uninsured. We'll hear highlights from the panel discussion and questions from the audience on this week's episode.

What’s The Solution? Delivering Health Care To Uninsured Floridians

For the past six months Health News Florida has told the stories of people without insurance who use free clinics throughout the Tampa Bay area. Now we’re inviting the community to take part in that conversation during a special taping of Florida Matters. Join us for a panel discussion on providing care to the uninsured.

All of Sarasota's emergency shelters have been closed down after Hurricane Irma except one.

The county's Chief of Emergency Management Ed McCrane says as of Monday afternoon, there were about 30 residents with special needs still staying in one shelter.

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson and Tampa Congresswoman Kathy Castor are asking the federal government to step in after thousands of kids were kicked off a state Medicaid program. The two Democrats sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price earlier this week.

Florida's senators were split in their votes on the plan to debate repealing and replacing Obamacare.

There's been a spike in the number of kids being removed from their homes in the Tampa Bay Area over the past few years. And foster care agencies are struggling to keep up with the influx.

Many scientists say sea level rise in Florida is accelerating. How is that affecting coastal communities now, and what can residents and elected officials do to brace themselves for future change?

Manatee and Sarasota Counties have seen overdose deaths from drugs like heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil spike in the past few years. At the same time, the number of children being removed from their homes and placed into the area’s foster care system has skyrocketed. There’s a connection between the increases.

Parts of the stalled Senate health care bill could hurt those addicted to opioids, according to U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor. The Tampa Democrat says if the bill passes, it will limit access to substance abuse treatment.

This week the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded emergency mental health care to vets with other-than-honorable discharges. It's part of an effort to curb the recent increase in veteran suicide.

The U.S. has seen an increased rate of suicide among its veterans, and those deaths can change the lives of family and friends forever. This week on Florida Matters, our special two-part program on veteran suicide and the impact it can have on comrades and loved ones continues.

Our country asks a lot of its military members, most recently during the many years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. The multiple deployments during Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn have taken their toll, in part, through an increased risk in suicide, especially among young male veterans.

Summer is upon us and that means more of the bugs that made international headlines last year – mosquitos. What progress has been made in the fight against the Zika virus? Can we cure Zika, or prevent it? And what can residents do to help?

It's June, it's hot, it's rainy -- and that means mosquitos are once again coming out in full force.

This week on Florida Matters we're talking about how the state and its residents are preparing for the potential threat of mosquito-borne illnesses like the Zika virus.