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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida to receive nearly 180,000 initial doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Florida will receive 179,400 doses of Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine in its first shipment from the federal government, Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a video recording released Thursday evening. More than half of the vaccines --- 97,500 doses --- will be sent to five Florida hospitals to be administered to high-contact and high-exposure health care personnel, DeSantis said. The remaining 81,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be sent to CVS and Walgreens and the Department of Health for use in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Another invasive spreads in Florida: A red-headed lizard with an appetite for butterflies
When scientists at the University of Florida noticed a recent increase in sightings of a flashy red-headed lizard, they knew it was time to ask the public for help in fighting yet another invader. A surge of emails to the university’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension from people all over South Florida asking for identification of the reptile was a sign that the Peter’s rock agama lizard, an invasive species from Africa, was multiplying and its range appeared to be expanding, with observation reports from as far south as Big Pine Key. [Source: Miiami Herald]
Florida CFO pushes for protections for businesses from COVID-19 related lawsuits
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis was in Jacksonville Thursday, advocating for COVID-19 specific legal protections for small businesses. The event was part of his 'Rally at the Restaurant Business Liability Tour.' Patronis recently released his guiding principles on liability protections to help lawmakers as they craft legislation for the upcoming legislative session. Patronis says hundreds of lawsuits have already been filed this year in Florida claiming some businesses are responsible for spreading COVID-19. [Source: First Coast News]
Cuba says it will open its economy to majority-owned foreign investments
Cuba has announced it will open its centralized Soviet-style economy to foreign investments with Cuban minority participation, a key change because, until now, Cuba has insisted on keeping a majority of the shares when foreign companies build hotels and other projects on the island. “We are, no doubt, facing what is probably one of the most relevant structural changes in the Cuban economy, especially because it leaves Cubans without participation in a process that the regime wants to put under its control,” said Cuban-Spanish economist Elías Amor Bravo. [Source: Miami Herald]
Crippled Apalachicola River leaves wetland forests in peril, famous oysters extinct
This year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission closed Apalachicola Bay for oyster harvesting and on Dec. 16 is expected to approve locking down the closure for five years, meant to give the shellfish a chance at a comeback – even though no one can say for sure why they’re gone. The move might have been treasonous by North Florida norms and economic hardships. But the “oyster capital of the world” was dead already and not resuscitating for reasons yet to be confirmed. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› After turbulent 2020, Tampa Bay Chamber leaders see opportunity in 2021
Maryann Ferenc didn’t get to all the plans on her agenda after she became chairwoman of the Tampa Bay Chamber last fall. It’s fair to say 2020 got in the way. That said, the coronavirus pandemic, racial protests and the daily whiplash of the economy are all issues Tampa businesses will reckon with well into 2021. Which is why Yvette Segura, who on Thursday will succeed Ferenc as chairwoman, believes the Tampa Bay Chamber is in a strong position to help its members grow.
› Southwest plans 3 new flights to Columbus, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis from Sarasota-Bradenton
Southwest Airlines, which last month announced new year-round service to four destinations from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, will add three more seasonal routes starting in March. Southwest will fly between Sarasota-Bradenton and Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh on Saturdays only from March 13 to April 10.
› Pasco shuts down Snowcat Ridge for ‘unsafe’ conditions, code violations
Pasco County officials on Thursday shut down the Snowcat Ridge alpine sledding park after officials said they found electrical, fire, building and plumbing code violations they call “a significant threat to public health and safety.” Officials said they first became aware of issues at the park on Nov. 25, five days after it opened. They said the park did not the required permits, inspections or certificates of occupancy for structures the county deemed “unsafe.”
› These innovative performing arts projects won $10K grants to probe life, COVID in Miami
Locally based artists working in music, theater and dance have won $10,000 grants from the Knight Foundation to develop 18 proposals for original works that probe the pandemic experience and life and history in Miami, while exploring novel approaches to the performing arts in a time of social isolation.
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