Good afternoon and happy Thursday, readers! The U.S. Open officially kicked off this week and will last until Sept. 7. If you

Other ICE detention centers like Alligator Alcatraz have been under consideration for other locations, including in North Florida, Indiana and Nebraska.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it after. The detention center has an estimated annual cost of $450 million, according to a public database.

Orlando Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost delivered sharp criticism of the site, describing it as "inhumane" and calling for it to be shut down.

A routine wildlife call turned into a multi-agency arrest operation on Aug. 16, when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said one of its officers responded to a request from the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office regarding an illegally captured alligator in the Viking area.

An alligator made a meal out of an invasive Burmese python at Shark Valley in the Florida Everglades, near Alligator Alcatraz, an ICE detention center

Firefighters in West Broward work to contain a brush fire in the Everglades that has covered parts of South Florida<a class="excerpt-read-more" href=" More

The University of Florida unveiled a new alligator statue in front of Library West for the 100th anniversary of the George A. Smathers Libraries.