Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Wednesday's Daily Pulse

Florida may set up gasoline reserve for hurricanes

Still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Florida lawmakers may consider setting up gas reserves and whether to make food and water available along major highways. Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-Land O’Lakes) said he’s creating a select legislative committee to look at “meaningful” ways to improve the state’s preparation and response efforts. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Orlando) said the federal government should consider setting up a gasoline reserve in the Sunshine State. More from the Orlando Sentinel and the AP.

See also:
» Tolls will be back on Florida roads starting Thursday
» Governor: Floridians should prepare, restock hurricane kits

Florida Trend Exclusive
Tavistock's role in developing rural Florida

TS Harvey

"There's a chance to have a greater impact on central Florida -- in a positive way -- than we even had with Lake Nona." - Jim Zboril, president of Tavistock Development
Read the story here.

Nobody has done more to spur interest in east-central Florida than Tavistock, the private investment firm founded by billionaire Joe Lewis. The company’s 17-square-mile Lake Nona development is one of the fastest-growing master-planned communities in the United States. Full story from Florida Trend, here.

Also in this series on rural Florida:
» Duda's agribusiness development reach

Florida joins other states seeking marketing information from opioid makers

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that Florida has joined a number of other states seeking marketing information from opioid makers. The other states are Connecticut, Iowa, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. [Source: Tampa Bay Time]

Early estimates peg Hurricane Irma damage at as much as $65 billion

The damage totals from Hurricane Irma are still being tallied, but early numbers are in: As of Tuesday, the storm is estimated to have caused between $42.5 billion and $65 billion of damage. That's according to a Tuesday release by Irvine, Calif.-based analytics company CoreLogic. See the report here. Also read more at the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida will burn Irma's trash, use it to power homes

Florida has one-fifth of the nation's waste-to-energy (WTE) capacity. It has 11 WTE facilities, more than any other state, including the newest WTE in the country, opened in Palm Beach in 2015. [Source: Popular Mechanics]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› If a storm knocks down a rival casino, are customers in play?
Natural disaster recovery brings out the best in people, we like to think. Neighbors work together to clear fallen trees. Rival companies team up to help the unfortunate. Then there’s the casino business.

› Jaguars owner Shad Khan listed among the best business minds by Forbes
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan runs in some pretty big-time circles. Now he’s in another one: The World’s 100 Greatest Living Business Minds as ranked by Forbes magazine.

› Water district stops pumping water into Lake Okeechobee
The Army Corps of Engineers began releasing water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee Estuary Tuesday to lower the rapidly rising lake level caused by Hurricane Irma.

› Latvala vows he'll accept no money from electric utilities in gubernatorial run
Gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Jack Latvala is making a bold (especially in Florida) promise after Hurricane Irma: He will not take any more money from electric utilities. At least for now.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Tampa Heights project gets $21.5 million in funding
The Tampa-based Heights Community Development District got a financial boost from a $21.5 million tax-exempt bond issue to fund the waterfront community being built along the Hillsborough River just north of downtown Tampa.

› Natural History Museum staff finishes 100-year celebration centerpiece
The final piece to a 1,200-pound puzzle was fastened into place Monday at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Museum exhibit fabricators Mike Adams and Eric Lange used a pulley system to raise the head of a 26-foot-long juvenile humpback whale skeleton about 20 feet in the air.

› Opinion: Gov. Scott’s resolution on the Maduro regime is a step toward protecting Florida businesses
Many Florida businesses have been actively engaged in the transportation of basic necessities like food, hygiene products and vital drugs to Venezuela and will be able to continue to do so.

› Legoland Florida adding virtual reality to coaster
Virtual reality is coming to Legoland Florida. The Winter Haven theme park is revamping its existing Project X roller coaster into a new experience called The Great Lego Race VR Coaster. Story - with photo gallery - here.