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Thursday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
State launches recovery programs for Florida farmers
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson and legislative leaders announced the launch of two agricultural disaster recovery programs with over $112 million in funding to help Florida farmers, ranchers, and growers rebuild and recover from Hurricane Idalia. Impacted agricultural producers can now apply for the Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Natural Disaster Recovery Loan Program and the Silviculture Recovery Program. More from WTXL and the Tallahassee Democrat.
Fidelity National Financial says data breach affected 1.3 million consumers
Fidelity National Financial Inc. reported in a Jan. 9 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that a cyberattack first reported in November affected about 1.3 million consumers. The Jacksonville-based title insurance company said it is providing services for affected customers including credit monitoring and identity theft restoration, and that it is facing several lawsuits related to the breach. More from the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Miamians to vote on independent investigator
As corruption allegations continue to swirl around city hall, Miami will ask voters during the August primary election whether they want to establish an independent body to investigate malfeasance within the government. Despite a heated Miami City Commission meeting Jan. 11, elected officials set aside their differences and voted unanimously in favor of forming an Independent Inspector General’s Office to look into alleged corruption. More from Miami Today.
A look at why Hertz plans to cut a third of its EV fleet
The jolt of providing customers electric vehicles at Hertz to rent is losing some of its power, as the company recently announced it will sell off 20,000 vehicles. The move comes a bit more than two years after Hertz, then not far removed from its historic bankruptcy filing, announced a major investment in Tesla and signed one of the world’s most famous athletes to promote its initiative. More from the Business Observer.
Kissimmee rejects private firm’s $24 million bid to buy civic center and build hotel
The Kissimmee city council unanimously rejected a developer’s $24 million proposal to buy the city’s civic center and build downtown’s only hotel, saying it wants to keep control of the facilities. Officials expressed concern that the proposal from Orlando-based IHRMC Hotels & Resorts to run a renovated civic center, suitable for conferences, and build a “limited service,” 101-room Hampton Inn did not have the quality their residents deserve. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Natural Resources
Deep-sea coral reef extends hundreds of miles from Florida to South Carolina, study says
The world’s largest deep-sea coral reef has been discovered off the East Coast: a massive 6.4 million acre seascape that stretches from Florida to South Carolina, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Exploration. That makes it larger than Vermont, NOAA says. The discovery, published Jan. 12 in the journal Geomatics, disproves some long held theories about the region, NOAA scientists say.
» More from the Miami Herald.
Out of the Box
Man sets speed record in 1,110-mile run from Everglades to Pensacola Beach
Hunter Leininger was born and raised in Florida, but he didn’t get a chance to experience all the wild beauty the Sunshine State has to offer until he walked the Florida National Scenic Trail. The 22-year-old set out just after Christmas and hiked the length of the Florida Trail in just 21 and a half days, breaking the previous fastest finishing time of 22 days.
» Read more from the Pensacola News Journal.
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