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Monday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Despite battle over politics, Florida tourism rolls on
Florida is a tourism juggernaut. In 2022, it had 137.6 million visitors, the most in its history, according to Visit Florida, the state tourism organization, and in May the governor’s office proudly shared that Florida welcomed 37.9 million people in the first three months of this year. While many Floridians said that travel warnings from civil rights organizations have symbolic meaning, few said they were concerned that people would stop visiting the state altogether. More from the New York Times.
See also:
» A look at summer tourism in Florida beyond the big theme parks
Jamaica looks to tap diaspora investment as Florida leads community’s growth in US
The number of people in the United States identifying as Jamaican because they were either born in the English-speaking Caribbean nation or are of Jamaican heritage has held steady over the last decade, according to U.S. Census figures. And now Florida, where the Jamaican community began growing in the late 1970s and ‘80s, has edged out New York as having the largest population of Jamaicans in the U.S. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida leads the nation in recreational boats
Florida leads the nation in the number of recreational boats with over 1 million registered in 2022, according to a report released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The state also leads the nation in boating-related deaths, according to the U.S. Coast Guard's annual report. There were 32 fatal boating accidents in 2022, and 165 that caused injury, the FWC report said. More from NBC Miami.
Supreme Court First Amendment ruling on LGBTQ rights: What's it mean for Florida?
A Friday ruling from the United States Supreme Court could usher forth a wave of changes over when businesses may refuse services to customers, squeezing the First Amendment between a much-debated topic as the expansion of LGBTQ rights collides with conservative resistance. And that wave will certainly rock the shores of Florida, where laws directly and indirectly targeting the LGBTQ community have swelled under Gov. Ron DeSantis. More from the Gainesville Sun.
Florida hospitals will now ask about your immigration status. What to know, how to answer
Hospitals ask patients a lot of personal questions. Medical history? Medications? Preexisting conditions? Smoke, drink or do drugs? As of Saturday, you’ll have one more question to answer: What’s your immigration status? Florida hospitals that accept Medicaid will be required to query patients about that, although a person can decline to answer. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Profile
After 36 years, this Pinellas-Pasco public defender is leaving the courtroom
For much of his 36-year career, Greg Williams represented people accused of crimes so horrid they sometimes faced the death penalty. He sat in jails and courtrooms with accused killers. He represented John Jonchuck — the Pinellas man found guilty of first-degree murder for throwing his 5-year-old daughter Phoebe off a bridge and into the waters of Tampa Bay in 2015 — among other high-profile clients. On April 28, he retired from the public defender’s office.
» More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Sports Business
Who wants to play ball? Alternative baseball team forming in Jacksonville
Growing up, Taylor Duncan and Brandon Bishop always wanted to play baseball. Their respective autism diagnoses limited their options. Even when Duncan got on teams, coaches gave him little playing time. So in 2013 the frustrated teen established his own team with help from his mother. "I was a 17-year-old, almost 18, kid who recruited adults off Craigslist because I just wanted to play," he said. Three years later he founded the nonprofit Alternative Baseball Organization.
» Read more from the Florida Times-Union.
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