FORT WORTH, Texas— Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza is now starting to shift his mindset toward the NFL, which really was his goal when he transferred to Indiana. Mendoza and the Hoosiers just happened to have a perfect season together that ended with an improbable national championship. "It's been a whirlwind. I think now it's finally settled in and the dust has started to settle," Mendoza said Monday night before receiving the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top college quarterback.

CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader's assassination, died Tuesday. He was 84. As a young organizer in Chicago, Jackson was called to meet with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis shortly before King was killed and he publicly positioned himself thereafter as King's successor.

In the textbook used by many Florida higher education students for the Introduction to Sociology course last semester, the opening lines on the chapter titled 'Race and Ethnicity' hit close to home. The start of the chapter outlined the contours of the case of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Black high school student from Miami Gardens who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer.

On Friday , I testified in front of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s “Illinois Accountability Commission,” the state government body he set up after the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” attack on Chicago last summer and the precursor of the even larger federal occupation of Minneapolis that we’re experiencing now. The body’s goal is to both document what happened to Chicago, with an eye on future prosecutions, understand the role of various Trump officials in this federal occupation, and offer recommendations about how to fix immigration enforcement going forward.

Investors gobbled up roughly one in six homes in the Miami metro area, leading the nation in the percentage of investor-purchased residential properties, according to the latest federal mortgage data. The study, carried out by Reliable Cash House Buyers, analyzed Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau covering 2023 and 2024 loans from the 71 largest U.S.

The Dolphins are releasing star receiver Tyreek Hill, ending the All-Pro's four-year tenure in Miami, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Monday. Hill, who turns 32 on March 1, is recovering from a season-ending injury suffered in a game against the New York Jets on Sept. 29 that required surgery to repair significant damage to his left knee, including a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

One of Jeffrey Epstein’s best-known sexual abuse victims was a runaway who first encountered a wealthy man in Key Biscayne. The term “Key Biscayne” shows up more than two dozen times in the U.S. Justice Department’s Epstein files, according to a review by theIndependent. In her memoir “Nobody’s Girl,” Virginia Giuffre describes a “huge apartment in Key Biscayne” with a view of the Rickenbacker Causeway, a place where a sex ring was being run.

Another shutdown for parts of the federal government has begun as a fight over proposed restrictions on President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agenda drags on. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security expired on Saturday. Democrats say they will not help approve more money until the new limits are placed on federal immigration operations after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis last month.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The International Space Station returned to full strength with Saturday’s arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who bailed early because of health concerns. SpaceX delivered the U.S., French and Russian astronauts a day after launching them from Cape Canaveral. Last month’s medical evacuation was NASA’s first in 65 years of human spaceflight. One of four astronauts launched by SpaceX last summer suffered what officials described as a serious health issue, prompting their hasty return.

WASHINGTON — A shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security appeared certain Thursday as lawmakers in the House and Senate were set to leave Washington for a 10-day break and negotiations with the White House over Democrats' demands for new restrictions had stalled. Democrats and the White House have traded offers in recent days as the Democrats have said they want curbs on President Donald Trump’s broad campaign of immigration enforcement.

WASHINGTON — Two Navy ships deployed as part of the Trump administration's massive military buildup in the Caribbean Sea have collided, leaving two troops with minor injuries, U.S. Southern Command said Thursday. The destroyer USS Truxtun and the supply ship USNS Supply collided on Wednesday as the warship was getting a new load of supplies. The maneuver typically has the vessels sailing parallel, usually within hundreds of feet, while fuel and supplies are transferred across the gap via hoses and cables.

Miami-Dade County is asking all residents to conserve water as the ongoing drought continues to worsen with little rain in the forecast. The message followed a Water Shortage Warning issued by the South Florida Water Management District on Saturday triggered by ongoing drought conditions and increased water usage. Similar warnings have also been issued for Collier, Glades, Highlands, Lee and Monroe counties.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Trump administration is ending the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to thousands of arrests, violent protests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens over the past two months, border czar Tom Homan said Thursday. The operation called the Department of Homeland Security's “ largest immigration enforcement operation ever ” has been a flashpoint in the debate over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, flaring up after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal officers in Minneapolis.

CARACAS, Venezuela — United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived Wednesday in Venezuela for a firsthand assessment of the country's oil industry, a visit that further asserts the U.S. government's self-appointed role in turning around Venezuela’s dilapidated energy sector. Wright met Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez at the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital, Caracas. He is expected to meet with government officials, oil executives and others during a three-day visit to the South American country.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A manatee that got stuck in a Florida storm drain while seeking warmer waters is on the mend at SeaWorld Orlando after a coordinated rescue effort. Multiple fire rescue units and officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the University of Florida and even Jack's Wrecker Service were brought in Tuesday to get the 410-pound (186-kilogram) sea cow out of the storm drain in Melbourne Beach.

WASHINGTON — The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday stemmed from the Pentagon’s plans to test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details. That caused friction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which wanted to ensure commercial air safety and the two agencies sought to coordinate, according to two of the people.

NEW YORK — James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in “Dawson’s Creek” and in later years mocking his own hunky persona, has died. He was 48. “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace.

Less than a week after Joe Rasco gave his last State of Village address, the Key Biscayne mayor just might have secured his legacy on Tuesday night. The Village Council after years of discussion – really decades – greenlighted the burying of utility lines for all of the island, If the decision to underground power lines moves forward, it could be the death knell for the expensive Big Dig stormwater project meant to combat sea level rise. 

Investigators said one immigration enforcement official got away with physically assaulting his girlfriend for years. Another admitted he repeatedly sexually abused a woman in his custody. A third is charged with taking bribes to remove detention orders on people targeted for deportation. At least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020, and their documented wrongdoing includes patterns of physical and sexual abuse, corruption and other abuses of authority, a review by The Associated Press found.

RIO RICO, Ariz. — A person was detained for questioning Tuesday in the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, hours after the FBI released surveillance videos of a masked person wearing a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door the night she vanished from her Arizona home. Deputies detained the person during a traffic stop south of Tucson, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

WASHINGTON — Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, declined to answer questions from House lawmakers in a deposition Monday, but indicated that if President Donald Trump ended her prison sentence, she was willing to testify that neither he nor former President Bill Clinton had done anything wrong in their connections with Epstein. The House Oversight Committee had wanted Maxwell to answer questions during a video call to the federal prison camp in Texas where she’s serving a…

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The “Dark Side” defense carried Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks to a Lombardi Trophy. Devon Witherspoon, Derick Hall, Byron Murphy and the rest of Mike Macdonald’s ferocious unit pummeled Drake Maye, and the Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13 on Sunday to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl. “We never waver, man. We believe in each other.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Stars were front-and-center at Super Bowl 60, with Chris Pratt and Jon Bon Jovi introducing the teams, a series of soaring pre-game performances and Bad Bunny's much-anticipated halftime show featuring a tour of Puerto Rican culture and a real-life marriage. Before the game at Levi's Stadium, Blue Ivy Carter and her sister Rumi leaped in an end zone and Green Day delivered a tribute to the Super Bowl's 60th anniversary.

President Donald Trump's administration can continue to detain immigrants without bond, marking a major legal victory for the federal immigration agenda and countering a slew of recent lower court decisions across the country that argued the practice is illegal. A panel of judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday evening that the Department of Homeland Security's decision to deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested across the country is consistent with the constitution and federal immigration law.

Winged babies shooting heart-shaped arrows might get most of the credit on Valentine’s Day, but the real magic behind millions of romantic bouquets happens in a cargo warehouse at a South Florida airport. Agricultural specialists at Miami International Airport will process about 990 million stems of cut flowers in the weeks before Feb. 14, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.