Jeb Bush drops bid for Miami Marlins

A person close to the negotiations says former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is no longer interested in buying the Miami Marlins and has ended his participation in sales talks. More from the AP, ESPN and the Miami Herald.

The demand for nursing isn’t going away. Will more men join their ranks?

In Florida, 89 percent of registered nurses are women, on a par with levels nationally, according to the Florida Center for Nursing. And while the percentage of men in registered nursing has risen over the decades — a mere 3 percent were nurses in 1970, for instance — the numbers are still surprisingly low for a field that has seen immense growth. [Source: PBS]

Florida Realtors’s president says property rights a priority

As 2017 president of Florida Realtors, real estate broker Maria Wells travels frequently to Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. In Tallahassee, Wells pushed for state money for affordable housing, an issue that has re-emerged as home prices rise, Wall Street landlords snap up single-family homes and housing starts remain sluggish. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

Drug case in Florida to have legal repercussions for face recognition

A small case involving drugs in Florida is set to have implications for how authorities deal with face recognition technology. In the case, a suspect was arrested for selling crack cocaine to undercover officers who took his photo with a smartphone. More from Planet Biometrics, the AP, and the Florida Times-Union.

Nearly extinct Florida panther returns to the wild north

Disappearing wildlife is a story that's told over and over worldwide. More rarely are there good news to tell, but recent developments in Florida may be cause for celebration. The Florida panther, a species that has come dangerously close to extinction, is back. [Source: Nature World News]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› FPL braces for oncoming hurricane season [South Florida Business Journal]
Utilities giant Florida Power & Light has officially begun preparations for the upcoming hurricane season, expected to pick up after a number of consecutively under-active years.

› Port Tampa Bay would get $9 million under federal spending plan [WUSF]
Port Tampa Bay and two other Florida sea ports moved closer to advancing projects to make harbors deeper, following the release of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spending plan last week.

› Orlando’s first licensed medical marijuana dispensary opens Friday [Orlando Sentinel]
The first licensed dispensary for medical marijuana in Orlando plans to open to the public on Friday. The Knox Medical dispensary is more like a limited pharmacy available only to people with doctor’s prescriptions for low-THC cannabis.

› Retail-tainment: Don't call biggest US mall in Miami a mall [AP]
Call it retail-tainment. Just don't call American Dream Miami a mall. Developers are proposing a massive 6 million-square-foot (557,000 square-meter) project on the edge of the Everglades in bustling South Florida that would dwarf any other shopping mecca in North America.

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› Lessons learned from hurricanes Hermine and Matthew [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
After breaking Florida’s 10-year streak with no hurricane making landfall, emergency managers discuss what they’ve learned.

› Column: Israel-Miami real estate connection stronger than ever [Miami Herald]
For over half a century, Israelis have found Miami to be a natural haven for tourism, relocation and investment.

› Panama City Beach businesses ban scooters from their property [WTYV]
Several businesses in Panama City Beach, Florida are banning scooters and some tourists aren't too happy about it.

› Treasure Coast sees first Zika case of the year [TCPalm]
The Treasure Coast has its first Zika case of the year, a travel-related infection, according to the Florida Department of Health. It was confirmed in Indian River County last week and is the only one on the Treasure Coast so far during 2017.