Hurricane Ian, a category 4 Atlantic hurricane that struck Florida and South Carolina earlier this year, was the costliest catastrophe and the second-largest insured loss on record after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Business Beat - Week of December 2nd

Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video news brief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.

While many parts of the country have HIV under control, Florida leads the nation in new infections. Nearly 5,000 people a year in Florida are diagnosed with HIV, a number that hasn’t budged much in the last 10 years.

State wildlife officials want more money to eradicate invasive Burmese pythons and increased penalties for people who illegally import and release venomous reptiles.

Real estate and law enforcement experts say land scams are becoming very common in hot real estate markets like Florida.