The Trump administration says it won't use a roughly $5 billion contingency fund to keep food aid flowing in November amid the government shutdown.

Stacker compiled a list of food bank volunteer opportunities near Jacksonville using data from VolunteerMatch

"DINKs" are dual-income couples with no kids. Thousands of couples are going viral, sharing their choice to opt out of parenthood.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and emergency management officials met in Savannah Thursday to provide an update on Tropical Storm Ian preparations and the state’s planned response.

Grocery shopping keeps getting more and more expensive. Even buying just your average household staples will cost you a few extra bucks.

Inspectors were back at the Orlando FreeFall thrill ride at Icon Park on Monday, testing it yet again and sending the ride carriage into the air, even while leaving the seats on the ground and raising only the top half of the carriage.

Flanked by officers from multiple agencies, the body of a law enforcement officer who died in the line of duty was escorted Thursday to a cemetery in the Orange Park area.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, a Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, are in a food fight over school lunch funding.

When scientists destroyed the first nest of so-called murder hornets found in the U.S. recently, they discovered about 500 live specimens inside in various stages of development. The first murder hornets nest — found in a tree and destroyed in late October in Whatcom County along the Canadian border — was about the size of a basketball. It was located after state scientists trapped several hornets and attached radio trackers to some of them using dental floss. —76 queens, nearly all of them new virgin queens. Murder hornets also have been found in British Columbia, Canada.

Floridas agriculture secretary is raising concerns about packages of seeds bearing Chinese characters and the name China Post that people are receiving unsolicited in the mail. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is asking Floridians to report the suspicious seed packages, which might also be labeled as jewelry. Plant seeds from unknown sources may introduce dangerous pathogens, diseases, or invasive species into Florida, putting agriculture and our states plant, animal and human health at risk, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a prepared statement. The content of the seed packages is unknown at this time, a news release from the state department said. Similar packages have been reported in Virginia, Kansas, Washington, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Utah.

The Department of Agriculture closed all nine of its Division of Licensing branches and suspended online concealed carry applications in mid-March. Now it is time for the next step, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Thursday. Fried announced the Tallahassee Regional Office will be the first to open its doors, and online applications will resume starting next week. Hinkle said the statistics are proof Floridians have had a more difficult time applying for concealed carry permits given record-setting gun sales this year. At the Tallahassee Regional Office, city employees will wear face masks, shields and gloves while collecting fingerprints.

Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody defend a state law dealing with local gun regulations, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is backing cities and counties that argue the law is unconstitutional. The law, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011, threatens tough penalties -- including fines and potential removal from office -- if local elected officials approve gun regulations. Fried’s brief said the law violates constitutional immunities provided to elected officials as they make policy decisions. Dozens of cities, counties and local elected officials challenged the 2011 law last year after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. He also pointed to the constitutional separation of powers, as judges could be asked to rule on penalizing local officials.

Michael Cary/CNNMore than 6,000 pounds of ready-to-eat pork sausage patty and turkey sausage patty products sold at Walmart have been recalled because they may be contaminated with salmonella, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Friday. The producer, George's Prepared Foods of Tennessee, is recalling approximately 6,444 that were produced on April 19, April 27, May 7 and May 9. packages containing "Great Value Fully Cooked Original Pork Sausage Patties" with use by date of 10/16/19 and lot code 1091971894. packages containing "Great Value Fully Cooked Original Breakfast Turkey Patties" with use by date of 10/24/19 and lot code 1171971897. packages containing "Family Size Great Value Fully Cooked Original Pork Sausage Patties" with use by date of 11/03/19 and lot code 1271972894 or use by date 11/05/19 and lot code 1291972894.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida farmers might not be held back from planting hemp next year even if the federal government has not signed off on long-awaited rule changes. State lawmakers this year approved a measure (SB 1020) that created a program to regulate cultivation of hemp, addressing issues such as the licensing of growers. Many farmers view hemp as a potentially lucrative new crop after Congress in 2018 legalized industrial hemp as an agricultural product. Hemp, which hasn't been grown in Florida legally since the 1940s, has already attracted interest from more than 1,000 farmers. State rules will not cap the number of growers or the allowed acreage for hemp, which could replace or be rotated with existing crops, Bell said.

freeimages.comYORK, Pa. - A Ferris wheel at a Pennsylvania fair will remain closed following an accident that injured two people, one of whom fell from it, officials said. The other person didn't fall, Blair said, but he couldn't confirm Saturday whether the person was on the ride or on the ground. "All of us at the fair are concerned about the fair guests that were injured last night," he said. Until the accident, the fair had been "very successful," with high attendance and very few problems, he said. The fair and ride owner Deggeller Attractions are cooperating, and nothing similar had occurred during the fair's nine-year association with the Stuart, Florida-based company, he said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - In an effort to help families as they prepare for Hurricane Dorian, the federal government has approved the release of September food assistance benefits to all 67 counties included in the Florida governor's state of emergency. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) customers who were scheduled to receive their benefits between Sep. 1 and Sep. 14 are now able to access their funds starting Aug. 31 at noon. The Department of Agriculture noted this is an early release of regular benefits, not a distribution of additional funds. Dorian is expected to become a potentially catastrophic Category 4 storm before blowing ashore in Florida on Tuesday. Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.