Florida sees record tourism in 2025 second quarter
Florida hit a record with the number of visitors — 34.4 million — traveling to the Sunshine State in the second quarter of 2025. From April to June, about 31.5 million tourists were Americans traveling domestically while about 2.3 million came from abroad and another 640,000 from Canada, the state announced in a press release. The previous second-quarter record dated back to 2024 when 34.2 million visited Florida. More from Florida Politics and WMBB.
Florida's unsung hero against storm surge: mangroves
Mangroves are nature's silent but unsung heroes when it comes to protecting Florida's coastline. Barrier islands that protect Florida's coastline from tropical storms and hurricanes are often surrounded by mangroves. Mangroves are a system of salt-tolerant trees that are typically distinguishable by tentacle-like exposed roots that are visible above water. These mangroves combat coastal erosion, house dynamic ecosystems, and most notably fight storm surge. [Source: Gulfcoast News Now]
Florida files suit against textbook publishers, alleging unfair pricing
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Tuesday that the state is suing two textbook publishers, alleging they’ve overcharged schools and Florida’s taxpayers. The lawsuit, filed in the state Circuit Court in Tallahassee, accuses McGraw Hill and Savvas Learning Co. of “systematically overcharging Florida school districts for instructional materials.” Florida law requires textbook publishers to charge the lowest price offered to any state or district to every other district in the state. [Source: Florda Phoenix]
Another new home insurance company gets Florida permit. This makes 15 since reforms were enacted.
Suddenly insurance companies seem to be falling out of the sky in Florida. Another new company — it would be the 15th since lawmakers enacted reforms in 2022 and 2023 to quell litigation costs — has been permitted by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and will begin to sell homeowner insurance in the state if the company’s application for a Certificate of Authority is approved. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
The Sunshine State ranks in top 5 'most fun states' 3 years in a row
Florida ranks in the top 5 on WalletHub's 2025 list of "most fun" states, trading places with California from the previous year's list. Florida boasts the highest number of restaurants, amusement parks, arcades, and music festivals per capita. While ranking high in entertainment options, Florida's weather and state spending on parks and recreation ranked lower. [Source: Florida Today]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Miami-Dade’s jobless rate ticks up sharply
Miami-Dade’s unemployment was 2.8% in July, up sharply from 2.4% in June, the Florida Department of Commerce reported. The state’s lowest unemployment in July among metropolitan statistical areas remained in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area at 3.4%, up from 3.2% in June. Florida’s unemployment held at 3.7%, with a state economist saying demand remains high for workers.
› Port Canaveral predicts record revenue, profits next year
Port Canaveral officials say they expect to break revenue, profit and cruise passenger records during the port's 2025-26 budget year. The port's just-released spending plan for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 estimates that operating revenue will be $237.44 million and profits will be $72.10 million. That's up from the projected revenue of $210.92 million and profit of $70.15 million for the current 2024-25 budget year that ends Sept. 30.
› 'Outside chance' UF will open new grad campus in January for first classes
The University of Florida is not opening its new graduate campus in Jacksonville this semester and whether that will happen in January for the spring semester is still up in the air. If the campus doesn't open in January, the roll-out of classes would wait until August 2026 during the fall semester of the next academic year. UF's timeline for opening the campus has been a moving target, including a goal at one point of this August for the fall semester that starts this week.
› Edgewater votes to keep building moratorium, defying Florida law
City leaders in Edgewater on Monday voted to defy a new state law and not repeal the city’s current moratorium on new construction. The building ban was put in place to give the council more time to come up with solutions to years of flooding issues. A law passed by the state legislature this year officially bans the local restrictions, but many homeowners pushed back saying the city needed to take a stand.
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› Federal court upholds constitutionality of Tampa Bay-area Senate seat
A three-judge panel of federal judges has upheld the constitutionality of a Florida Senate map created in 2022 that a group of voters had claimed was racially gerrymandered. The case revolved around the design of Senate District 16 during the 2022 redistricting process, encompassing parts of Pinellas County and jumping across Tampa Bay into Hillsborough County.
› Rangers at some Florida State Parks get an important new tool
The Florida State Parks Foundation’s Greener Initiative — a multitiered campaign designed to increase environmental sustainability — is once again giving Velotric Nomad 2 Fat Tire e-bikes to state park rangers, including at Rainbow Springs State Park. Rangers will have the ability to travel quickly and easily across park landscapes, including rugged and remote areas that may be inaccessible to larger vehicles.
› Experts split on tourist tax uses as Visit Orlando review nears
Orange County leaders will receive Visit Orlando's annual update Aug. 26 — something the local tourism business community will watch closely. The presentation is expected to include discussion of the agency’s recent audit, which raised questions about how its share of tourist development tax (TDT) funds are used. The audit, released July 29, examined Visit Orlando’s spending practices and fund categorization.
› X-37B mission: What to know about secret Space Force space plane launch this week
A secret space plane from the U.S. Space Force is set to fly on its eighth mission − one aimed at demonstrating critical space technology for deep space exploration. Just under six months post-landing, the Boeing-built X-37B Space Force space plane is slated to fly again no earlier than 11:40 p.m. Thursday, August 21, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A.