UF Bans Gators -- President Promises to Drain the Swamp

On Saturday, April 1, University of Florida President W. Kent Fuchs announced that his office had issued an executive order to "drain the swamp and remove all association with alligators."

» See video of the full announcement:

See also:
» Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier reacts to announcement, calls it the "dumbest idea of any university president I have ever heard of."
Your turn:
» What should the new mascot for the University of Florida be? (quick poll)

Florida Trend Exclusive
Civic Hardware: Infrastructure projects drive growth across Florida

Across Florida, infrastructure projects — from major work on I-4 in central Florida to pumps to protect Miami Beach from rising seas to bridge building in northwest Florida — are driving growth, as cities and counties invest to create more livable environments. Access full story.

Florida peaches may have their moment in the sun

With the Georgia and South Carolina peach crops hurt by a recent freeze, Florida’s smaller, sweeter peaches may have their moment in the sun — six decades after researchers first began exploring bringing the crop to Florida. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Florida’s marijuana growers capitalize amid uncertain market

As the money comes in, state lawmakers are crafting the parameters for Florida’s growing market, including the framework for future competition in cultivation, processing and distribution. There are no guarantees as to exactly what slice of the market investors are buying into. [Source: Miami Herald]

House speaker’s ‘corporate welfare’ crackdown runs into Senate roadblock

Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, is spearheading an effort to put the state's controversial business recruitment agency out of business permanently. But the Florida Senate's budget proposal includes more than $80 million for Enterprise Florida programs and $76 million for Visit Florida. [Source: Florida Politics]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Mote coral research facility gears up for opening [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
When scientists start working out of Mote Marine's new $7 million International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration this month, it will be the largest facility of its type in the world.

See also:
» Mote scientist to study how susceptible coral immune systems are to disease

› Venezuelans in Tampa Bay hope Floridians show interest in homeland’s plight [Lakeland Ledger]
Floridians have an interest in Venezuela’s success, the nation’s supporters say, because it is the state most people from the Andean country choose when they immigrate to the United States.

› Space tourism aims for rebound on Space Coast [Florida Today]
Titusville's Space View Park has been an iconic spot to view launches, dating back decades. Its vantage point along the Indian River offers spectators a chance to see spacecraft launch across the water from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

› Florida homebuilding legend Rutenberg dies at 89 [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Arthur Rutenberg, a legend in the Florida home-building industry who started putting up $10,000 houses in 1953, died Thursday. He was 89. Rutenberg — one-time president of the giant U.S. Home — and his companies built tens of thousands of homes here and around the country.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Florida's newest Supreme Court Justice has deep roots in Tallahassee [Tallahassee Democrat]
When former appellate Judge C. Alan Lawson is sworn in Wednesday as the Florida Supreme Court’s 86th justice, the ceremony not only marks a milestone in his legal career, it will be a testament to the Tallahassee role models he encountered along the way.

› Free-roof insurance scam plagues Florida homeowners [Florida Record]
A trend has emerged in the storm-battered Sunshine State in which a relatively small number of roofers and attorneys are utilizing assignment-of-benefits (AOB) clauses in homeowners' insurance policies to sue insurance companies for more than the actual cost of repair.

› Biomass basics: Your guide to Gainesville’s deal to buy GREC [Gainesville Sun]
Gainesville may take a big step this week toward paying $750 million for a power plant that cost $450 million to build. Why would it consider such a thing?

› E. coli outbreak involving peanut butter substitute reaches Florida [Miami Herald]
The Centers for Disease Control says the states touched by the SoyNut Butter peanut substitute E. Coli outbreak now number 12 and includes Florida.