Wednesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 1/20/2016

Oil crash sends U.S. stocks to 15-month low

Oil keeps diving -- and it's taking Wall Street with it. It's the latest blow in what's already been the worst start to a year on record for the stock market. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 322 points, or 2 percent, to 15,696 as of 2:56 p.m. Eastern time. It was down as much as 565 points earlier. More from Money, CNBC, and Reuters.

Struggling Orlando ballet hires turnaround expert

Dogged by financial struggles and a string of short-term executive directors, Orlando Ballet has hired a top name in arts leadership to shore up the organization. Michael M. Kaiser, who spent 15 years as president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., began consulting with the ballet this month. More from the Orlando Sentinel and the AP.

New player Masten eyes Space Coast for launches, research

A scrappy but successful startup in the space industry, Masten Space Systems, is making new moves toward opening an office at Cape Canaveral. Masten recently hired former NASA engineer Jason Hopkins as a business-development scout at Kennedy Space Center. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Girls Who Code programs returning to Miami

Girls Who Code, a tech education program for high school girls, is returning to Miami to provide another three years of Summer Immersion Programs, with $500,000 in new support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. More from the Miami Herald.

17 pythons caught in Florida hunt

Seventeen Burmese pythons were caught in the first three days of the 2016 Python Challenge, the month-long contest intended to cut down on the number of the giant constrictors in the Everglades. More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Profile
Jacksonville in a Box

It started as a favor to a friend. Jonny Videl, 28, had a friend in the military who was deployed overseas. Videl put together a box of items sold by Jacksonville based companies and shipped them to his friend. Word of mouth spread and soon Videl was getting regular requests for his Jacksonville in a Box.

» More from the Florida Times-Union.

Around the State
Leaving on Top

Memorial Healthcare System system will be without Frank Sacco as president and CEO for the first time in 28 year. Sacco retires Feb. 29 after 41 years with the system, the third-largest taxpayer-supported health care system in the nation.