What are the top issues in the 2026 Florida elections?
No matter what they’re running for, essentially every candidate agrees that Florida has gotten too expensive. A major driver of Florida’s affordability crisis is its property insurance market. A series of hurricanes and the 2021 condominium collapse in Surfside left homeowners around the state with massive extra monthly charges on top of their mortgages. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Business Beat - Week of August 8th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Florida first-time jobless claims dip slightly to start August
New unemployment claims dropped slightly in Florida for the week ending Aug. 2. The latest change continues a trend of up and down fluctuations in jobs reports this Summer in Florida. Early June started with more than 8,000 claims for one week, which was the largest total so far this year. Since then, numbers have fallen to more customary figures, though they have increased some weeks and decreased others. [Source: Florida Politics]
Odds drop for tropical system to develop near Florida coast; odds rise for another
One weather system headed toward the central Atlantic has growing potential to become a tropical depression, while another offshore of the Florida-Georgia border is forecast to pivot north to northeast, forecasters said. Meanwhile, a disturbance located in the eastern Atlantic is tracking west toward the central Atlantic, though it is eventually forecast to turn north. It has been given a 60% chance of development over the next seven days, and a 10% chance of developing in the next two days. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Florida has most flood-damaged vehicles in U.S., study says. How to tell before you buy
It shouldn't be a surprise that in Florida − which is regularly flooded by storm surges, daily rainfall, saturated ground and hurricanes dumping water everywhere − a study finds there are more water-damaged cars than anywhere else in the United States. Out of an estimated 482,000 flooded vehicles in the country at the start of 2025, online car dealer Carfax said in an Aug. 6 release that about 82,100 were in Florida. That's nearly 20,000 more water-damaged vehicles than the next state (Texas). [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Jacksonville City Council panel backs reduction in property tax rate
The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee launched hearings on Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed 2025-26 operating budget Aug. 7 by backing a reduction in the property tax rate. In the first of six scheduled hearings, the committee approved a motion by committee Chair Raul Arias to reduce the city’s ad valorem tax revenue by $13.4 million, which would equate to a one-eighth reduction in the city’s millage rate.
› Bay County's main industries lost more jobs than they gained over the past year
Over the past year, the main industries in Bay County lost more jobs than they gained. According to information from CareerSource Gulf Coast, one of 24 regional workforce boards across Florida that help people find jobs, about 1,000 new jobs were added to the area's top industries between June 2024 and June 2025. About 1,900 jobs were lost during the same time.
› It’s the end for film at CineDome as Orlando Science Center updates
Film is almost finished at the Dr. Phillips CineDome at Orlando Science Center. The museum is moving into the digital age, and the final reel-to-reel viewings are scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. The renovated eight-story space will be outfitted with a new domed screen, audio system, seats and an 8k full-dome digital projection system with up to 10 projectors. Since the Loch Haven Park museum opened in 1997, visitors have been able to watch giant reels of film loaded into the Iwerks projector in a glass-enclosed, climate-controlled room on the ground floor.
› Sarasota business leaders worry high housing costs hurt recruitment of younger workers
The Sarasota area, once the exemplification of a Jeffersonian aspiration for land and self-sufficiency, now illustrates the anxieties of a generation of of younger Americans who are setting up to be the first generation to be less wealthy than their parents. And those anxieties begin with what is most people’s biggest cost: Housing.
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› Florida restaurant stripped of Michelin star following chef-owner’s arrest, venue’s closure
The Michelin Guide has officially stripped West Palm Beach restaurant Konro of its lone Michelin star months after police arrested its chef-owner, Jacob Bickelhaupt, on domestic-violence charges that have since been upgraded to attempted second-degree murder. The French tire company has scrubbed the restaurant from its website along with its guide entry, a decision that marks the first time Palm Beach County has earned — and then lost — a Michelin star.
› FSLA installs new leadership, celebrates market strength
The Florida Surplus Lines Association installed its 2025–2026 Board of Directors during the group’s 65th Annual Convention in Palm Beach. Albert Geraci, ARM, ASLI, of Risk Placement Services, will serve as FSLA President through 2026. During his remarks, Geraci emphasized the importance of protecting the freedom of rate and form — a foundational principle of the surplus lines market’s ability to serve as a flexible safety valve within Florida’s broader insurance ecosystem.
› Hundreds leave Palm Beach County School District teaching positions each year
More than 4,500 teachers − an average of about 900 a year − have left the Palm Beach County School District over the past five years, district data shows. In a district of more than 12,000 teachers, that annual departure rate of 7.3 percent is about what administrators say they expect and is "significantly better" than typical departure rates across the state.
› Margaritaville-branded, six-story hotel about to begin construction in Cape Canaveral
Construction of a Margaritaville-branded hotel is about to begin in Cape Canaveral, aiming to attract customers from Port Canaveral's steadily growing cruise market. The 150-room, six-story Compass by Margaritaville Hotel will be located at 8955 Columbia Road, which is one of the closest parcels to Port Canaveral. Corey Runte, a vice president at Certified General Contractors, which will be coordinating the $32 million project, said construction could begin as early as October.