Morning Brief: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026

• Local (Monroe) Major Saltwater Flooding Warning Extended for the Upper and Middle Keys Into Early Sunday; Lower Keys Downgraded to an Advisory
  The National Weather Service says numerous roads may close in the Upper and Middle Keys. The Lower Keys are now under a coastal flood advisory until 4 a.m. Sunday.
• Local (Palm Beach/Broward) Palm Beach and Broward Coasts Face Moderate High-Tide Flooding and 5- to 8-Foot Breakers Through the Weekend
  A coastal flood advisory runs until 7 p.m. Sunday, and a high surf advisory starts at 2 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service in Miami says. Miami-Dade's coast is under the flood advisory too.
• State · Election Saturday Is the Last Required Day of Early Voting in Florida; Mail Ballots Are Due by 7 p.m. Tuesday
  More than 4.27 million Floridians had voted as of the state's last full count. Some counties add Sunday hours, so check with your supervisor of elections.
• State DeSantis Orders Flags at Half-Staff in Apopka and at the Capitol Monday to Honor Country Star John Anderson
  The Apopka native died Oct. 21 at 71. Flags fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Monday, Nov. 2.
• Nation Gun Dealers Can Now Run Free FBI Background Checks on Employees Who Handle Firearms, Under a New Justice Department Rule
  Participation is optional and requires the employee's written consent. Dealers get only "Pass," "Pending" or "Did Not Pass," not the underlying records.
• Nation USDA Adds $27 Million in Farm to School Grants and $50 Million for School Cafeteria Equipment
  The department says 2026's farm to school awards now total more than $47 million across 149 projects, the program's largest year.
• World UN Security Council Unanimously Renews the EU Peacekeeping Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina for Another Year
  Resolution 2834 keeps EUFOR-Althea in place to back the 1995 Dayton peace deal. Speakers condemned the glorification of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.
• World About 4,500 People Are Still in Shelters Three Weeks After Panama's Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake
  Damage to homes is the main impact, with hundreds of families reporting a total loss, according to a UN situation report cited by the Pan American Health Organization.
• Money Pay and Benefit Costs Rose 3.4% Over the Past Year, but Wages Lost Ground to Inflation, Labor Department Says
  Private-sector wages and salaries were up 3.1% from a year earlier. After inflation, they fell 0.6%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
• Money 10-Year Treasury Yield Ends the Week Near 5%, Federal Reserve Data Show
  The 10-year yield was 4.98% and the 30-year 5.32% in the Fed's latest daily rates table, down from 5.05% and 5.37% a day earlier. Those yields help set mortgage and loan rates.
• Crime Tampa Pharmacist Gets 90 Months in Prison for Dispensing More Than 335,000 Oxycodone Pills From Two South Florida Pharmacies
  Prosecutors say Olushola Yusuf charged customers about 10 times the usual price, in cash, and kept her pharmacy doors locked to all but selected customers.
• Crime (Polk) Polk Sheriff Announces 281 Arrests in a Weeklong Child Predator and Human Trafficking Sting; 17 Suspects Said They Work at Theme Parks
  Detectives identified 11 human trafficking victims, the sheriff's office says. Charges are accusations, and everyone arrested is presumed innocent.
• Science & Technology Space Station Crew Studies Space Crops After the Spacewalk; the Final Roll-Out Solar Array Goes Up Nov. 5
  The eighth array will raise the station's power capacity from 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts, NASA says.
• Science & Technology Brain Tumor 'Mini Tumors' Grown on the Space Station Look More Like Real Glioblastoma Than Ones Grown on Earth, Study Finds
  The Notre Dame study, published in PNAS, could give researchers more realistic models for testing glioblastoma treatments, the ISS National Lab says.

• State Coastal Flooding Continues From Jacksonville to the Keys; State Warns Drivers About Saltwater
  Warnings now run into Sunday: major saltwater flooding in the Upper and Middle Keys, significant flooding in eastern Putnam County, and high surf on the Atlantic beaches. Updated Oct. 31, 8:15 AM ET.
• Local (Volusia) · Election Trump Holds a Midterm Rally in Daytona Beach; Donalds and Moody Join Him
  Trump spoke for about 80 minutes Friday night at the Ocean Center, urging votes for Donalds and Moody four days before the election, per the transcript. Updated Oct. 31, 8:15 AM ET.

That's your Saturday morning. Vote if you haven't, stay out of floodwater and rough surf, and have a safe Halloween.

All news briefs · All Launchpad stories · Spotted an error? Request a correction.