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Wednesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida Trend Exclusive
Floridian of the Year: Lift Orlando
Lift Orlando was inspired in part by the approach that developer Tom Cousins used to transform Atlanta’s East Lake community in the 1990s. Now a national model promoted by the non-profit Purpose Built Communities, it focuses on investments in “cradle-to-career” education, mixed-income housing and wellness, with an overarching non-profit acting as a sort of quarterback for the effort. Lift tweaked the blueprint to add a fourth pillar of long-term economic viability — jobs, opportunities and better wages.[Source: Florida Trend]
Omicron is believed to have landed in Florida, DeSantis says
Public health officials believe they have identified COVID omicron variant cases in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. “They believe they have identified — I’m not sure where it is,” the governor said in response to a reporter’s question during a news conference in Oldsmar. The Florida Department of Health later confirmed its identification of “a presumptive case of the omicron variant in Florida” through genomic sequencing and said contact tracing was underway “to identify possible exposures and advise on necessary isolation and quarantine protocols.” [Source: Florida Phoneix]
Major citrus company says production down, prices up
The major Florida citrus company and landowner Alico, Inc. saw harvested boxes of fruit decrease during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 but got a boost from higher prices linked to consumer demand for orange juice, the company said in federal Securities and Exchange Commission filings released Tuesday. Alico said it harvested 6.4 million boxes of fruit during the year, down 16.1 percent from the previous fiscal year. [Source: News Service of Florida]
A case involving Florida's ban on greyhound racing is under appeal
The owner of a Pinellas County greyhound kennel has gone to an appeals court after a circuit judge dismissed a lawsuit stemming from a 2018 constitutional amendment that banned dog racing at Florida pari-mutuels. Attorneys for Christopher D’Arcy and D’Arcy Kennel, LLC have contended that the voter-approved ballot measure resulted in an unconstitutional “taking” of property. But Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey last month rejected the arguments, writing, in part, that the ballot measure only prohibited greyhound owners from using the dogs to race at Florida pari-mutuels. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Low vaccination rate among children in Florida concerns some pediatricians
Less than 10 percent of children between ages five to 11 in Florida are vaccinated, according to the state’s latest COVID-19 data. An estimated of 1.6 million children in that age group live in the Sunshine State. Data released by the Department of Health on Dec. 3 shows 9 percent, or 158,017 of 5- to 11-year-old children, are vaccinated. “Certainly it’s not as good as I had hoped it would be,” said Dr. Candice Jones, a pediatrician in Orlando. [Source: WFLA]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Palm Beach International welcomes new budget airline with routes to the Big Easy and Lowcountry
Need to catch a low-cost flight to the Big Easy? Or perhaps you’re heading to the Lowcountry on a budget? A new airline will offer cheap flights from Palm Beach International Airport to six destinations next year. Starting Feb. 19, Breeze Airways will offer Saturday-only roundtrip flights between West Palm Beach and cities in Louisiana, South Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.
› Planned National POW-MIA Memorial and Museum taking flight in Jacksonville after COVID-19 delay
Nearly two years after ground was broken, construction is underway on the planned national memorial and museum in Jacksonville to honor and remember all American prisoners of war and those missing in action during the country's wars. When completed, it will be the first of its kind in the United States, according to the nonprofit Cecil Field POW/MIA Memorial Inc., which is spearheading the project.
› Raymond James Financial’s president, Canadian CEO stepping down
One of Tampa Bay’s largest companies is about to see a shakeup at the top. Raymond James Financial announced Monday afternoon that President John Carson will retire at the end of the year. So will Paul Allison, the chairperson and CEO of the St. Petersburg wealth management firm’s Canadian subsidiary, Raymond James Ltd.
› Chicago billionaire donates $5 million toward Miami’s Underline park project
The Chicago hedge-fund billionaire who last month bought the last privately owned first-edition copy of the U.S. Constitution is splurging on something else: The Underline, the 10-mile linear park and urban trail now under construction beneath Miami’s elevated Metrorail line. CItadel CEO Kenneth Griffin, an art patron and philanthropist who supports a broad range of causes, has made a $5 million gift to the ambitious project, overseen by a nonprofit group and Miami-Dade County.
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