Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution today secured the conviction of three Immokalee men, also known as the ninja robbers, in connection to a home invasion robbery and an attempt at a second home invasion. After a two-week trial involving charges including home invasion robbery, kidnapping, carjacking with a firearm and armed burglary of a conveyance, an Orange County jury found Henry Contreras, 51, his son Johnathan Contreras, 30, and Andres Perez, 47, guilty of all charges.

Ten industry leaders, including an American Dream Miami consultant, will discuss the state of South Florida commercial real estate at the fifth annual MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) Realtors Commercial Alliance (RCA) Midyear Update. More than 100 MIAMI members will attend the event Friday at the Coral Gables Country Club.

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Chairman of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement after the passage of H.R. 244, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017.

Congressman Tom Rooney (FL-17) introduced the Responsible Environmental Preservation and American Infrastructure Restoration Act (The REPAIR Act, H. Res. 313), which would make a limited change to the House rules to allow Congress to direct necessary funding to vetted water resources development projects of the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Miami’s single-family homes market registered its best March in history while home sales for all properties, median prices and total dollar volume increased, according to a new report by the MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) and the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system.

Miami real estate investor and acclaimed author Kenneth D. Rosen will impart his unique commercial real estate investing advice to Realtors and entrepreneurs at MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) and RCA MIAMI seminars on April 11 in Dania Beach and April 20 in Coral Gables.

Florida’s housing market reported more closed sales, higher median prices and increased pending sales in March, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 25,921 last month, up 9.3 percent compared to March 2016

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14), elected officials, activists and experts stood together on the shore of Tampa Bay on the seven-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon blowout, to speak out in strong opposition to President Trump’s elimination of the Tampa Bay Estuary program, clean water, clean air and NOAA coastal resource initiatives under his proposed budget

As the opioid epidemic continues to race across the country at devastating rates, Congressman Tom Rooney (R-FL) is pushing to get illicit drugs off the streets and bring funding home for Florida to help combat the issue. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) endorsed Rooney’s legislation H.R. 1781, The Comprehensive Fentanyl Control Act of 2017, while the Department of Health and Human Services granted Florida millions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic.

Buyer activity during the month of March pushed the supply of homes available for purchase in Orlando to just 2.48 months’ worth, the lowest since May of 2013 and swinging the market pendulum further towards favoring sellers. Housing economists consider six months of supply to indicate a market that is balanced between buyers and sellers.

The Lake County Public Safety Department has issued a countywide burn ban due to extremely dry weather conditions increasing the probability of wildfires. In accordance with County Code 10.5-75, the ban prohibits all outdoor burning that has not been specifically permitted by the Florida Division of Forestry. This includes burning yard waste or building recreational fires.

Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24) joined Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson for a tour of the Liberty Square housing complex on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. Secretary Carson’s two-day visit to Miami was part of a national listening tour he is conducting to learn first-hand about the public’s experiences with and concerns about affordable housing.

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, today welcomed Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to South Florida as the Secretary continues his listening tour across the country. Together, they visited and met with housing officials at Villa Aurora and Hoffman Gardens, permanent supportive housing and a public housing site in Little Havana and Hialeah, respectively

U.S. Rep. Dennis A. Ross (R-FL-15), Senior Deputy Majority Whip, this week introduced the Fair and Open Competition Act, which will reduce costs for taxpayers by encouraging all qualified construction companies to compete for federal and federally-funded construction projects. The bill further prevents federal agencies and recipients of federal funding from requiring contractors to sign controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) as a condition of winning federal or federally-assisted construction contracts

Lake County firefighters this morning rescued a three-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl from an apartment fire in the 2600 block of Shirleys Way in Leesburg. Upon arrival, Lt. Glenn Bidwell, Firefighter Brad Hermesman and Firefighter Eric Steiner of Station 52 saw smoke billowing out of the front door of the three-story apartment. Told that there were children inside, they quickly searched the home and found two children in a back bedroom.

The Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), an insurer-supported organization, recently upgraded Lake County’s Building Code Effectiveness Classification into its top tier.