Campaign 2016 intensifies across Florida as early voting begins in most areas

The pace of the election campaign in Florida will intensify Monday as early voting gets underway across most of the state. Early voters will be greeted by poll watchers, partisan get-out-the-vote workers and TV crews as democracy emerges from the privacy of the kitchen table, where mail ballots are cast, to the bustle of the public realm. More from the Tampa Bay Times, Florida Keys News, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and the Miami Herald.

See also:
» Early voting starts Monday, but be ready to wait in line
» Your turn: How will you vote - by mail, at an early voting site, or in-person on election day?

Florida Amendment 1: Friend or Foe?

Sunshine State voters will once again see an amendment regarding solar energy on the ballot this November. Some solar enthusiasts are concerned though that Florida Amendment 1 is harboring a hidden agenda that just might stifle a relatively young renewable energy movement. [Source: WTSP]

» Related: A Guide to Florida's Amendment 1, from the Florida League of Woment Voters
» Also see voter guides to all the amendments from Florida League of Women Voters, and also from Florida TaxWatch.

Florida Trend Exclusive
Puerto Rican factor: Greener pastures in Florida

With Puerto Rico’s economic troubles mounting, residents from the island are flooding into Florida looking for opportunity. The article examines the history of Florida's Puerto Rican population, and looks at current trends. Access full story.

Surviving retail cancer

Everyone is aware the impact online shopping is having on brick and mortar stores and shopping malls, right? Apparently not. It seems some of the companies and industry sectors most impacted have put their heads in the sand hoping the trends will change. [Sponsored Report] Read the full report here.

Minorities, poor hit hardest by stricter Bright Futures requirements

Tens of thousands of Florida’s poorest students are finding it harder to afford college because of tougher qualifications for the state’s Bright Futures scholarship. The academic scholarship was created in 1997 to keep the state’s top students in Florida schools. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Donald Trump not visiting Kennedy Space Center [Florida Today]
Donald Trump's campaign has scrubbed plans for the Republican presidential nominee to tour Kennedy Space Center and talk about the space program in Brevard County this week.

› Martin County legal action targets All Aboard Florida's financing [TCPalm]
Martin County has asked a federal court to take back the $1.75 billion of tax-exempt bonds issued to All Aboard Florida, according to court documents filed late Friday. Martin County’s filing followed a similar request submitted by Indian River County earlier that day.

› Recent trip to Nantes, France, has Jacksonville business leaders excited about possible leads [Florida Times-Union]
Fresh off of a trip to Jacksonville’s sister city Nantes, France, two local business leaders say they may have scored some promising leads that could have long-range impact on Duval County.

› Alachua County schools 'bursting at the seams' [Gainesville Sun]
Alachua County Schools added enough new elementary students this fall to fill an entire new school, but as some schools in the system are bursting at the seams there is no clear way to pay for construction.

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› Scripps Florida’s sister campus merging with California institute to advance drug development [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Scripps Florida's sister campus in California is combining with the California Institute of Biomedical Research with the goal of more rapidly developing drugs from scientific discoveries.

› Orlando's Trax Air says it will stay open as pilots walk out [Orlando Sentinel]
Flight students gathered outside the offices of Trax Air last week and said instructors told them they would no longer work until they got paid.

› Tampa Bay economic development groups surge, but Enterprise Florida is a concern [Tampa Bay Times]
Why does it feel like everybody in regional Tampa Bay economic development is swigging Red Bull these days? Key groups dedicated to recruiting more businesses and better jobs are busy unveiling energizing initiatives and new leadership.

› International food-testing company announces expansion in Gainesville [Gainesville Sun]
Merieux NutriSciences plans to move into a 22,700-square-foot building that will be built in the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency's Cornerstone project.