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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Latest COVID variant is rising overseas. How will Florida fare?
U.S. health experts are sounding the alarm that COVID-19 infections may rebound in coming weeks, spurred on by the BA.2 version of the omicron variant. But Florida may be shielded from the worst of the next wave. Health experts said the state’s winter omicron wave — unfettered by protective measures such as mask and social distancing mandates — could make it difficult for BA.2 to gain footing here because so many Floridians have already contracted the virus. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the Orlando Sentinel.
Business Beat - Week of March 25th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
USDA approves Florida's disaster designation request for counties impacted by January freeze
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) has approved Florida’s disaster designation request for 17 counties and 10 contiguous counties impacted by freezing temperatures that affected the state’s agricultural community in the last week of January. “With the approval of our request for a disaster declaration, farmers in Florida have resources available to them as they continue their recovery efforts from recent freezing temperatures,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. [Source: The Center Square]
NASA sticks with SpaceX while also opening future moon landings to competition
Several members of Congress cried foul when NASA chose just SpaceX as its lone contractor for the lunar lander planned to be used on the Artemis III mission to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. Ahead of that April 2021 decision, NASA had requested funds to support two, but ended up going with just SpaceX based on what was in the available budget. When President Joe Biden puts out his fiscal year 2023 budget request next week, it will include funding requests to open up a new competition for a second U.S. company to build a lunar lander for missions beyond Artemis III, according to a NASA announcement Wednesday. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Cruise industry shows steady post-pandemic rebound
People are anxious to head to the high seas again. AAA Travel is reporting the cruise industry is steadily rebounding after being slammed hard by the pandemic. Bookings over the past four weeks were “twice as strong as this time last year,” the agency said in a release. “Destinations are loosening travel restrictions and cruise lines hope to reach full capacity in the second half of the year,” said Debbie Haas, Vice President of Travel for AAA. [Source: Florida Politics]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Sarasota County becomes 'high-impact' tourism area. See what that means and what's next
Sarasota County was such a hot spot for travel in 2021 that, starting this fall, the tax rate for vacation stays could become as high as it is in Orlando or Miami. In 2021, Sarasota County surpassed a state-sanctioned threshold for tourist tax collections, and is now a "high-impact" tourism area, as designated by the Florida Department of Revenue. As a result the county now has the option to increase its tourism development tax levy from 5% of the cost of a short-term stay to 6%, the maximum percentage allowed under state law.
› Omicron leads to 13,000+ Darden employees out sick in January
Orlando-based Darden Restaurants was hit hard by the omicron variant of the coronavirus pandemic in January, with more than 13,000 employees missing work that month, company leaders revealed Thursday. The owner of Olive Garden and other chain restaurants in January saw employees unable to work at a level three times higher than the monthly peak it experienced during the earlier delta variant, said chief operating officer Rick Cardenas. Darden has about 175,000 employees.
› Lakewood Ranch builder acquires truss company in response to supply delays
As homebuilders continue to grapple with supply chain delays, Neal Communities is doing something about it. The private Lakewood Ranch-based homebuilder recently acquired truss company HITEK, which is based in Brooksville, a city north of Tampa. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. “Given the current supply constraints in the building industry, this acquisition is a step toward alleviating the difficulties in the supply chain that we are experiencing,” says Pat Neal, founder and chairman of Neal Communities in a news release.
› Orlando Brewing, city’s oldest craft beer maker, must move
A summer deadline is looming for Orlando Brewing, the city’s oldest independent craft brewery, to raise enough money to move or face being sold off. The industrial building where Orlando Brewing has made and served beer for 16 years is being sold to Orlando Health on July 5 to support the nearby hospital’s campus south of downtown. John Cheek, the brewery’s president and founder, said the business, which started in 2002 and opened in its current space in 2006, is deciding between three new locations.
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