March 28, 2024

Statewide Roundup

College grads working for City Year help K-12 students in Florida

The city Year program leaves a big impact, both on students at struggling schools and on the volunteers who help them.

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CEO Sounding Board

How should commercial drones be regulated?

Mike Fortin
CEO, Cine Drones, Orlando

“We’re a manufacturer of drones. We also do filming. The FAA is so far behind, they’re never going to be able to catch up to the technology. Other countries have been able to quickly adapt and adopt regulations. They’ve allowed the technology to flourish and grow. There should be some sort of size and weight restriction. As a business owner, I want to be protected with some sort of licensing. I want to protect my investment so someone doesn’t go (online) and buy a $400 toy from China and say, ‘I’m an aerial photographer.’ ”

Paul Morris
Director, Miami Aerial, Miami

“Our business traditionally has been aerial photography. When this new technology became available, it gave us a new tool to work with. We’re waiting patiently until we can go full on to deploy our UAVs to do what we developed them to. I would feel very comfortable with having some licensing and qualifications for the pilots, possibly fixed-wing and traditional pilot’s experience either required or accepted, some kind of a flight qualification. There needs to be a balance that protects the public but still allows the commercial use of these devices.”

John Perry
CEO, Altavian, Gainesville

“The use of drones should be effectively regulated and operators properly licensed. It is critical for operators to be able to interpret aeronautical charts and understand the importance of air space safety while also knowing how to pref light, launch and land a system proficiently. We anticipate that when the FAA issues its ‘Notice for Proposed Rule Making’ that it will likely require drone pilots to maintain at least a private pilot’s license. However, we hope that down the road that actual manned flight hours will be able to be replaced with logged flight hours on a drone.”

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Bitter-to-swallow cocoa costs force chocolate shops to raise prices
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Central Floirda chocolate shops are left with a bitter taste as cocoa prices hit an all-time high earlier this week.

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