Interim City Commissioner Shaniqua Rose was officially sworn into the vacant District 5 seat on Monday morning.

The polls have closed and votes are being counted in an Orlando election to decide who takes over a city council district while its commissioner faces charges of elderly exploitation.

A fiery conversation unfolded Monday at a community meeting after Orlando City Council District 5 candidate Shaniqua Rose showed up unannounced.

McCurdy, who trailed behind Rose in the initial election, has a political background. He served as a Florida House representative from 2020 to 2022.

Two of the seven people running in the Orlando City Council special election will advance to a runoff race in June, according to unofficial results posted by the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office after polls closed Tuesday.

Seven candidates are vying for the seat that was vacated when Commissioner Regina Hill was arrested and suspended from office. We asked each candidate the same questions.

The results are in for the 2024 runoff elections in Winter Park and Winter Garden, each for a respective city commissioner’s seat.

Seven people will be on the ballot in the special election to take over the Orlando Commission District 5 seat next month, the city clerk’s office confirmed Tuesday.

Candidates can now begin filing to run in the special election to serve as interim Orlando city commissioner for District 5.

As residents across Central Florida continue to clean up from Hurricane Ian, an area church is working with community and private partners to host a drive-up supply distribution event Wednesday morning.

The Florida Legislative Black Caucus is holding a news conference on the congressional map approved by the Florida legislature and now awaiting the governor’s signature.

From the House floor, Florida Rep. Travaris McCurdy of Orlando joined other Democrats Thursday to protest Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redistricting map, which was approved in the Florida House later that day.

A congressional map pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was passed by the Florida House amid a protest by Black lawmakers who say the map will diminish the state’s Black representation in the U.S. House.

ORLANDO, Fla. – As part of an effort to get people in underserved communities access to the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. State Reps. Travaris McCurdy and Anna Eskamani worked with the state to get 600 people vaccinated on Saturday. “We’ve done dozens and dozens and dozens of vaccine sites at churches, predominantly African American churches, since the beginning of January,” DeSantis said during a news conference Friday in Ocala. “We’re going to the people instead of putting the burden on people to go to these other sites,” McCurdy said. The state is hosting a vaccination event on Sunday at Shiloh Baptist Church Youth Life Center in Orlando.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Hundreds of seniors received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination drive at an Orlando church. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church for the vaccination drive. “In order to achieve community-level immunity during this pandemic we have to make sure every zip code, every community has access to the vaccine,” Thompson said. The lawmakers said 500 people ages 65 and older signed up to get the shots. Data shows black Americans across the United States lag behind white Americans in getting the shots.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Sheriff John Mina met behind closed doors with state leaders and a local activist on Tuesday to discuss the deputy-involved shooting death of a man at the Florida Mall. Salaythis Melvin, 22, was shot in the back on Aug. 7 as he ran from Agent James Montiel in the parking lot of Dick’s Sporting Goods. People want know what’s happening with the case, and we’re open to letting people know,” Mina told News 6 after the meeting. The meeting with Mina was held in Bracy’s Metrowest office with Rep. Travaris McCurdy, D-Orlando. Mulrain has helped organize many of the demonstrations that have happened around Orange County since Melvin’s shooting.