Florida medical marijuana companies doing big business in home deliveries

As many Florida communities ban or delay the opening of marijuana dispensaries, the state's cannabis producers and retailers have used deliveries to meet booming demand. Some of the largest such companies say that between a third and half of their customers now get the drug this way. [Source: Fort Myers News-Press]

See also:
» The Status and Future of Medical Marijuana in Florida
» Legislature backs bill removing black farmer medical marijuana requirement
» Bonita Springs medical marijuana dispensary ban reinstated — for now
» Bonita Springs to permit medical marijuana dispensaries
» Making good on a threat, lawmakers withhold budget funds from DOH over medical marijuana

Florida job cuts decline in February

Florida employers trimmed 1,820 jobs in February compared with 1,834 a year ago, according to a report Thursday by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Year-to-date, the state’s private employers announced 3,067 job cuts as of February, which was down from the 3,406 in the first two months of the year. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Will Gov. Rick Scott sign legislature's compromise on guns?

All eyes are now on Republican Gov. Rick Scott to see if he'll sign the Florida legislature's narrowly approved response to last month's high school massacre of 17 people, a measure that isn't what he called for, falls short of what survivors demanded and challenges National Rifle Association orthodoxy. [Source: AP]

Mindful agriculture movement continues to grow in Southwest Florida

The locavore movement is still propagating in Southwest Florida, where the number of new organic and artisan farms has grown from a sprout in the 1990s to a full crop in recent years. From citrus and tomatoes to veggies, chickens, hogs and bees, farms throughout Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties stock the kitchens of discriminating chefs and often sell directly to the public. [Source: Florida Weekly]

Florida may expand health-care ministries

Health-care sharing ministries have been exempt from Florida’s insurance code since 2008 and limit participation to people who share the same religious beliefs. A new bill would broaden current law to include people with the same set of ethical beliefs. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Cape Coral company hopes to tackle state's most polluted waters [Fort Myers News-Press]
A Cape Coral biological company that has used its original technology to clean contaminated water around the world is still working through the bureaucracy to get its products approved for use in some of Florida's most polluted waters.

› Starsky Robotics tests its truly driverless truck in Florida [Transport Topics]
Along a rural stretch of sunny farmland in south-central Florida, a heavy-duty truck drove itself for seven miles on a public road with nobody on board the vehicle.

› Florida Walmart employees get share of $42 million in cash bonuses [Tampa Bay Times]
Walmart said it is giving a total of $42.7 million bonuses out to its Florida employees in their March 8 paychecks. The payouts announced Thursday are part of company-wide cash bonuses based on performance and tenure.

› Report suggests offshore drilling is a 'bad deal' for Florida [Florida Today]
Oil drilling along Florida's coast could put at risk almost 610,000 jobs and $37.4 billion in economic activity, according to a new report by an ocean advocacy group.

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› Gainesville retail development giants focus on ‘experience’ [Gainesville Sun]
Sprawling retail developments linked by a new bridge over Interstate 75 promise to reshape the shopping experience in Gainesville. Some of the anchor tenants are in place, but some of the most anticipated entrants into the market are yet to open their doors.

› Balloon festival ready for liftoff in Lakewood Ranch [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The inaugural Sarasota Balloon Festival is scheduled for liftoff throughout weekend at the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch. The festival will feature as many as 25 hot air balloons that will compete for prize money, participate in a “Night Glow″ display and be available for patrons to ride in.

› At Wynwood machine gun range, it’s business as usual after Parkland school shooting [Miami Herald]
It’s a fixture of Miami Beach’s air space: a banner with a woman holding a piece of heavy artillery beckoning, “Shoot Machine Guns.” The banner belongs to Lock and Load Miami, a gun range in the heart of Wynwood that’s been open since 2013. And now, some are taking to social media to voice their complaints about it.

› Gracias, Tampa! Puerto Rican mayor visits Tampa to thank community for hurricane aid [Tampa Bay Times]
The mayor of Isabela, Puerto Rico came to Tampa with two important messages. One, to relay his constituents’ thanks to Tampa volunteers who threw his town a lifeline after a Category 5 hurricane smashed into his city. And two, Isabela’s beaches, coral reefs, underwater caves and forest trails are open for tourists.