SHARE:
Wednesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Jury duty postponement backed in emergencies in Florida
Proposals are moving through the Legislature that would allow Floridians to postpone jury duty for a year during public-health emergencies and states of emergency. The House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday unanimously approved a broader courts bill (HB 1197), sponsored by Rep. Vance Aloupis, R-Miami, that includes the jury-duty change.
› JAX Chamber: With mask mandate expired, businesses ‘know what their employees and customers are comfortable with’
As Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry allows Duval County’s requirement to wear face masks in public places to expire, JAX Chamber says local businesses “know what their employees and customers are comfortable with and should continue to make decisions accordingly.” Curry released a statement last week on lifting the mask mandate after it was in effect for nine months. “Since the start of the pandemic, the decisions I’ve made have been based on data,” Curry said.
› 2 Florida businessmen may try to buy Orlando Sentinel to head off hedge fund
In an attempt to prevent the Orlando Sentinel from being sold to hedge fund Alden Global Capital, two Florida businessmen have said they’re interested in buying the 145-year-old Orlando newspaper to keep it in local hands. One of them, Mason Slaine, a former CEO of Thomson Financial, has expressed interest in buying both of Tribune Publishing’s Florida papers, the Orlando Sentinel and the Sun-Sentinel in South Florida, where he lives.
› COVID-19 relief funds are coming. Here’s what the city of Sarasota is getting
The city of Sarasota soon will get a hefty infusion of money from the federal government through the most recent COVID-19 aid bill, the American Rescue Plan. City officials are not yet sure exactly how much Sarasota will get, but estimates as of last week were at $10.9 million. Sarasota is still determining how the city can spend the money under the law and what should done with it.
In case you missed it:
