Firefighters have announced progress on containing two of the largest wildfires burning in the North Carolina mountains, but are warning that fire danger remains from dry and windy conditions.

Firefighters in North and South Carolina are battling multiple wind-driven wildfires.

Emergency crews in at least three states are battling small wildfires.

Florida’s citrus growers are struggling to survive the one-two punch of hurricanes and disease.

State and local officials gathered in Winter Haven to announce a rail infrastructure project aimed at expanding freight efficiency and fueling economic growth in Polk County.

News4JAX’s partner station in Orlando, News 6 WKMG, is reporting that a 4-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself with a handgun that he found in the family vehicle on Friday has died, according to Davenport police.

Governor Ron DeSantis will hold a news conference with Attorney General Ashley Moody and other officials Wednesday morning in Winter Haven.

Governor Ron DeSantis will hold a news conference with Attorney General Ashley Moody and other officials Wednesday morning in Winter Haven.

Not long ago, Polk County’s biggest draw was citrus.

A Florida teen is accused of threatening to shoot up a school just a day after a shooting at a Georgia high school.

A Jacksonville woman was killed and her two children were among three others hurt in a single-vehicle crash Friday evening near Davenport, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Floodwaters in the Houston area and parts of Southeast Texas are starting to recede, allowing residents to begin returning to their homes and assess damages after days of heavy rainfall.

A 21-year-old college student is charged with first-degree murder after Florida authorities say he drove to his mother’s home and stabbed her multiple times because she got on his nerves.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday morning signed three bills aimed at addressing illegal immigration in Florida.

Three New York City boroughs have lost almost 80,000 residents from people moving away last year.

A St. Johns County man said he’s been inundated with calls and messages by people asking if he’d been arrested and accused of pointing a gun at a Highway Patrol Trooper in Polk County.

Police in Florida say two people were killed in separate incidents involving law enforcement officers.

There's a low-tech remedy for the nitrate pollution affecting waterways in Iowa and elsewhere in the United States.

Two Iowa teenagers charged in a fatal shooting at a Des Moines school will be tried separately so one of the teens can testify in defense of the other.

Authorities are searching for two boaters missing and believed drowned in a central Florida lake near the Legoland theme park.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday morning his administration is moving forward with a proposal to expedite 20 major interstate and roadway projects across the state of Florida in the next four years.

She was still attached to a placenta.

Sheriff's officials say a 76-year-old passenger was killed when a vehicle being test driven by an 86-year-old man turned into the path of another car just outside the Florida car dealership.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office released video showing what happened when a man fired at a deputy.

A six-day undercover human trafficking operation in Polk County led to more than one hundred arrests.

The all-new Peppa Pig Theme Park will open as a certified autism center, leaders announced Tuesday at the IAAPA Expo at the Orange County Convention Center.

Residents of a central Florida 55-plus neighborhood have been awarded nearly $35 million in a civil case following a judge’s ruling that they were charged improper homeowners’ association fees.

Officials say a Florida sheriff’s sergeant fatally shot a woman who lunged toward him with a shovel.

Authorities in Florida say a state trooper struck a motorcycle rider on I-4 sending the man onto the pavement, where a tractor-trailer ran over him.

A Florida man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend after he confessed to his mother and she called police.

A former Marine sharpshooter accused of invading the home of apparent strangers in Florida and fatally shooting a woman, her 3-month-old baby and two others was ordered held without bail.

A Florida sheriff says a man wearing full body armor fatally shot four people, including a mother and the 3-month-old baby she was cradling, and engaged in a massive gunfight with police and deputies before getting wounded and surrendering.

A Florida sheriff says a man wearing full body armor fatally shot four people, including a mother and the 3-month-old baby she was cradling, and engaged in a massive gunfight with police and deputies before getting wounded and surrendering.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says a teenager was “ambushed” and fatally shot in a central Florida park where he had apparently gone to “sell some marijuana” to someone.

Gov. Ron DeSantis late Monday signed into law a plan to require out-of-state online retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases made by Floridians, with the estimated $1 billion a year in revenue going to curb a pair of taxes on Florida businesses.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With steady increases in recent months, more than 6,000 people were hospitalized Monday in Florida with “primary” diagnoses of COVID-19, according to information posted on the state Agency for Health Care Administration website. As of a midday count, 6,081 people were hospitalized, including 1,018 in Miami-Dade County. By comparison, 2,081 people were hospitalized with primary diagnoses of COVID-19 on Oct. 1; 2,371 were hospitalized on Nov. 1; 4,282 were hospitalized on Dec. 1; and 5,514 were hospitalized on Dec. 21, according to information The News Service of Florida has compiled from the agency’s website. The increases in hospitalizations have come as Florida has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases. As of Sunday, the state reported 1,271,979 cases since the pandemic started, according to the Florida Department of Health website.

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Friends and loved ones gathered Wednesday evening to remember two brothers who were killed last week in their Melrose home. The vigil in honor of Robert Baker, 12, and Tayten Baker, 14, was held in Mulberry in Polk County, where the family lived before recently moving to Putnam County. The vigil was organized by the family’s former neighbors, including Chelsea Coyner. Dozens of former teammates, classmates and neighbors attended the vigil. Mark Wilson Jr., 30, who was identified as the boyfriend of the boys’ aunt, is charged with first-degree murder in the boys’ deaths.

FROSTPROOF, Fla. Authorities in central Florida have offered a $30,000 reward for information that helps solve the killings of three best friends who had gathered last Friday for a night of fishing. In a Facebook post, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the reward was made possible by contributions from Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Sheriffs Association. Tillman arrived at the lake first to meet his friends for night fishing for catfish. The father arrived about 10 minutes later but forget his cellphone in a rush to help his son. By the time help arrived, his son had died.

Three friends were slain just moments after gathering together for some night fishing at a lake in central Florida, authorities said Saturday. This is a horrific scene, Judd said at a news conference Saturday near Lake Streety where the bodies were found. Judd said this is what investigators believe happened: Tillman arrived at the lake first to meet his friends for night fishing for catfish. He drove to a nearby convenience store, and the clerk helped him reach authorities, but by the time they arrived, Rollins had died. This is a dirt road, a clay dirt road, way out in the middle of what we call Gods country, on the way to a nice little fishing lake.

LAKELAND, Fla. – A Florida motorcycle officer was killed in a crash while driving his police-issued Harley-Davidson to work Thursday morning, authorities said. Officer Paul Dunn, 50, died shortly before 6 a.m., according to a post on the with the Lakeland Police Department’s Facebook page. Passing motorists saw the motorcycle and stopped to help Dunn, Judd said. “We have suffered a tragic loss out here this morning,” Garcia said during the news conference. “It’s a tragic loss for the agency and the community as well.

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Florida authorities have arrested 124 people in an undercover sting. Investigators were targeting those involved in prostitution, human trafficking and child predators in Polk County. Most were caught arriving for the sex they thought they were promised in an online ad. Including Rodney Davis, a Disney security guard. A pastor and a Universal Studios waiter.