Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, left, smiles as she takes a selfie during a protest at a crosswalk in front of the former Pulse nightclub in Orlando on Aug. 21, 2025. The crosswalk had been painted in rainbow-themed colors, but overnight the rainbow-colored paint was removed from the crosswalk by the Florida Department of Transportation in an ongoing effort to remove “political banners” from public roadways. This sparked outrage from the LGBTQ+ community. During Thursday’s protest, demonstrators “replaced” the rainbow colors on the crosswalk using chalk. The former Pulse gay nightclub is now a memorial site for the 49 victims who were murdered there in 2016. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Excited guests at Universal’s Epic Universe on May 22, 2025, quickly make their way to the main entrance portal shortly after the 6:30 a.m. grand opening of the park. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
A fisherman braves 9-foot waves generated by Hurricane Erin crashing into the jetty at Lighthouse Point Park, in Ponce Inlet, Fla., Aug. 20, 2025. A dangerous surf and rip current advisory was issued for most of the southeast U.S. coastline as the hurricane continues to move northwest into the Atlantic. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Animal Rights Foundation of Florida rally peacefully protesting against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s proposal to hunt the Florida black bear in Orlando, Florida, on May 17, 2025. During the black bear trophy hunt, there will be no check stations, no oversight, no enforcement, and no one keeping track of the number of bears being killed. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)
Johanna Lopez, the mother of Julio Lopez, grieves during a candlelight vigil Monday night, Nov. 10, 2025, at the crash site on Welch Road that killed three teens in Apopka on Sunday. Lopez, Enrique Rodriguez Sabas and Leyner Velasquez died. They attended Apopka High School and Kelly Park middle school. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Attendees cheer and wave flags during the Bring Hope to America Rally at Orlando City Hall on Oct. 25, 2025. The rally brought together a broad coalition of pastors, churches, political leaders, and organizations representing the unity of faith and community. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Individuals wave signs to traffic along Highway 50 in downtown Clermont during a “No Kings” protest, along the busy thoroughfare outside of the Lake County city’s downtown on June 14, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
U.S. Rep. Cory Mills looks at evidence photos during cross examination by attorney Bobi Frank during a hearing in Third Judicial Circuit court in Lake City, Fla., Sept. 26, 2025. Frank represents Mills’ ex-girlfriend Lindsey Langston, a state GOP committeewoman and the reigning Miss United States, who is seeking a restraining order against him. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Regina Hill looks up at a video screen showing election results at her election party at Obsidian Cocktail Lounge in Orlando on Nov. 4, 2025. Hill lost her bid for reelection to the Orlando City Commission. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
Luis Santiago wipes his eyes while looking at the memorial outside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, on June 5, 2025. Santiago said he lost nine friends during the massacre. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Crew-10: NASA astronaut and spacecraft commander Anne McClain, NASA astronaut and pilot Nichole Ayers, JAXA mission specialist Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos mission specialist Kirill Peskov launch on a SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, on March 14, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
Rabbi Tzvi Dubov, of Chabad of Oviedo–Winter Springs, lights the two candles on the menorah created out of canned goods that will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida during a Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Dec. 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell holds a fist up as she speaks following her swearing-in ceremony, on Jan. 7, 2025.
(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
JJ Holmes and his mom, Alison Holmes, share a laugh at their Longwood home on April 18, 2025. Both JJ and Alison Holmes were named the Orlando Sentinel Central Floridian of the Year for their efforts in passionately advocating for other disabled Floridians.(Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Fireworks launch over Universal’s Epic Universe on May 21, 2025, on the eve of the theme park’s grand opening to the public. Epic is the first major new theme park in the US in more than 20 years. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Robin Severance-Lopez, left sits next to her lawyer Michelle Yard, right in court during her bond hearing, where she was ordered to prove the legality of the funds used to pay her $400,000 bond at the Lake County Courthouse in Tavares, Fla., July 3, 2025. Lopez’s husband Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez was arrested last month. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)
Guest ride the Stardust Racer Rollercoaster at the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic themed land at Epic Universe in Orlando on May 21, 2025. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)
Large numbers of frustrated protestors take to the streets for the “No Kings” protest at Orlando City Hall in Orlando, June 14, 2025. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)
Tommy Zeigler, who has been on Florida’s Death Row since July 1976, before an evidentiary hearing presided by Circuit Court Judge Leticia Marques at the Orange County Courthouse, Dec. 1, 2025, in Orlando. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Protestors use chalk to re-color the pedestrian crosswalk. FDOT placed signs at the former rainbow crosswalk in front of the Pulse memorial, warning protestors not to block traffic or deface the crosswalk on Aug. 29, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
City of Orlando District 3 Commissioner-elect Roger Chapin celebrates his win with a selfie with supporters at Dubsdread Golf Course, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. Chapin defeated challenger Mira Tanna. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Contractors cover art on the crosswalk at the intersection of South Rosalind Avenue and East Jackson Street in downtown Orlando, on Aug. 27, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
A picture of Pope Francis is displayed at St. James Cathedral in Orlando during a Mass on April 21, 2025, to honor Pope Francis and acknowledge the announcement of his death. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
The Disney animal care team guides West Indian manatee Lil Joe onto the transport hammock that will be used to relocate him from the manatee rehabilitation enclosure at Epcot’s SeaBase Aquarium to The Gulfarium at Fort Walton Beach during the early morning hours on Jan. 14, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
A Clermont residence that an excavator appears to have run into multiple times on Pine Island Road is under investigation by Lake County deputies on July 25, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Ruthi Critton holds her two-and-a-half year old son Esaias Mitchell, left, and her nephew Jonah Critton, 3, as they play at Elizabeth Park in Eatonville, on Feb. 5, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
Fast food restaurants at Universal Studios CityWalk, on Oct. 23, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Cadets from the Air Force JROTC program at Dr. Phillips High School held their 11th Annual 9/11 Memorial Tribute, honoring the lives lost and the heroic efforts of first responders during the September 11 attacks in Orlando on Sept. 11, 2025. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)
Richie Amabile and Tara Turner from United Global Outreach meet with Gary, a homeless individual who lives in an encampment in a wooded area in Bithlo, on Nov. 24, 2025. Amabile and Turner are part of a team of peer-support outreach members who go into the woods to check on and try to bring homeless individuals to the mental health treatment programs offered by the organization. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
City of Orlando commissioners Shan Rose, front left, and Patty Sheehan, second from right, with Orlando parks and recreation department’s Tara Russakov, far right, and Lisa Early, wave from the new gold-colored swan boat at Lake Eola Park on Nov. 25, 2025. Mayor Buddy Dyer, commissioners and park officials unveiled the commemorative swan to mark the boats’ 100th year at Lake Eola. The iconic swan boats first launched on the lake in December 1925 and cost 15 cents to ride. The boats are available Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 7pm. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Lake Harney resident Bob Boulanger checks out his totaled motorboat while talking about the flood damage done to his home during hurricanes in 2022 and 2024, on Dec. 18, 2025. Rainfall from hurricanes Ian and Milton flooded his neighborhood on Whitcomb Drive in Geneva. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
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Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, left, smiles as she takes a selfie during a protest at a crosswalk in front of the former Pulse nightclub in Orlando on Aug. 21, 2025. The crosswalk had been painted in rainbow-themed colors, but overnight the rainbow-colored paint was removed from the crosswalk by the Florida Department of Transportation in an ongoing effort to remove “political banners” from public roadways. This sparked outrage from the LGBTQ+ community. During Thursday’s protest, demonstrators “replaced” the rainbow colors on the crosswalk using chalk. The former Pulse gay nightclub is now a memorial site for the 49 victims who were murdered there in 2016. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)