Your Florida Daily: State lawmakers return to Tallahassee, commercial moon lander suffers ‘anomaly’

ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s time to put away the Christmas decorations, Florida.

Strong to severe storms are coming today thanks to a front slicing through the state.

It’s coming south from the Panhandle and working its way across Florida throughout the afternoon and evening.

“So the two main weather impacts that we’re going to focus on are the severe wind risks. It’s showing about a 30% shot at seeing damaging, strong straight-line wind gusts. That means we’re clocking winds an upwards of 60-70 mph,” News 6 meteorologist Candace Campos said.

On the other side of the front is cooler drier weather! Wednesday’s high temperature is going to be in the 60s.

Florida lawmakers return to Tallahassee for legislative session

It’s a big day in Tallahassee.

State lawmakers are back at the Capitol to begin the annual legislative session. Over 1,600 bills have been filed for this year’s session.

That includes a proposal that would lower the minimum age to buy rifles and other long guns from 21 down to 18.

It would reverse part of a law passed after the deadly school shooting in Parkland in 2018.

Other measures up for debate this year would impact your daily drive including a proposed ban on red light cameras and a proposed fee for electric car owners to offset losses to the gas tax.

Limiting abortions is also back up for discussion. A bill filed Monday would ban almost all abortions in the state except to save the life of the mother.

One thing you may not hear much about is property insurance.

As of right now, Florida leadership is leaving the issue alone. They say they want to give more time for reforms that have already been passed to work.

Tap here to tell us what issues do you think Florida lawmakers should focus on during the legislative session.

Moon landing attempt by US company appears doomed after ‘critical’ fuel leak

Just hours after liftoff on the Space Coast, the moon lander onboard the new Vulcan Centaur rocket ran into big trouble.

The spacecraft was supposed to land on the lunar surface next month but the company behind it, Astrobotic, said it had a propulsion problem.

Teams are working to get as much data as they can from the lander but it’s still not known if it will be able to make it all the way to the moon, officials say.

In other space news, multiple sources are reporting that NASA will announce a big delay in its next mission to the moon.

The Artemis II mission, which aims to send four astronauts on a flyby journey of the moon, was set to lift off in November.

However, NASA is expected to announce the flight won’t take place until 2025.

Random Florida Fact

For those interested in the fascinating history of ocean exploration, check out the Man in the Sea Museum.

It’s located in Panama City Beach and displays a quirky, yet accurate, portrayal of mankind’s attempts at deep sea exploration over the centuries.

You can see early diving bells and diving suit rigs dating back to 1837, as well as prototypes for modern day mini-subs and remote craft.

The parking lot is filled with the collection’s biggest features, including the world’s first working undersea habitat SEALAB-1.