Published March 20, 2026 at 4:56 PM EDT

Florida’s AIDS drug assistance program in jeopardy 

The State’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) is the nation's largest, more than 30,000 Floridians receive either drugs directly through the program or payment assistance for healthcare plans that cover their medications.

But in January the State’s Department of Health said the program, which is federally funded through the Ryan White Act, was facing a $120 million deficit, so they announced a series of sweeping changes.

The result of these changes would remove about 16,000 Floridians from ADAP coverage, and force them to scramble to afford increasingly expensive out-of-pocket costs.

Guests:

• Sen. Jason Brodeur, President Pro Tempore of the Florida Senate (R-Dist. 10) 
• Lindsey Dawson, associate director of KFF's HIV Policy program and director of KFF's LGBTQ Health Policy Program  

James Patterson on early literacy

Best-selling author James Patterson has donated tens of millions of dollars to help children learn to read, including millions to the University of Florida Literacy Institute.

The institute aims to help instruct teachers on how best to teach kids to read.

Patterson explores this work in a new public television documentary, “The Reading Reboot.”

Guest:

• James Patterson, best-selling American author.

Weekly news briefing  

Across the state, there’s growing concern from local law enforcement officials over the federal government’s mass deportation efforts.

This week, a group of Florida sheriffs on a state immigration panel criticized the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The council has agreed to draft a letter to President Trump and congressional leaders urging ICE agents to focus on those who break the law instead of hardworking immigrants in the country illegally.

Demolition began this week on the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, the site where 49 people were shot and killed on June 12, 2016.

In its place, the city will build a memorial. Construction is expected to begin later this year.

The students who enrolled in an intro to sociology class this semester in Florida state universities have a new textbook.

That's thanks to the state's board of governors removing whole chapters on topics that range from race and ethnicity, social stratification in the United States as well as global inequality, and gender, sex, and sexuality.

Sociology professors are raising the alarm over the omissions.

A pair of burrowing owls that traveled from Miami all the way to Spain are safely back in Florida following a complex year-long handoff between wildlife officials.