Municipal utilities expand solar operations in Florida in groundbreaking deal

As part of what's being called the Florida Municipal Solar Project (FMPA), utilities from Jacksonville Beach to Key West will receive solar power from three "solar farms" that will be built at sites in Orange and Osceola counties. Approximately 900,000 solar panels will be installed at these sites. The 12 cities that will purchase power from the project include Alachua, Bartow, Beaches Energy Services (Jacksonville Beach), Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, Homestead, Keys Energy Services (Key West), Kissimmee Utility Authority, Lake Worth, Ocala, Orlando Utilities Commission, Wauchula and Winter Park. Read the full announcement from the FMPA, here. Also read more at Florida Today and WLRN.

See also:
» Regulators to consider cost recovery for Tampa Electric solar project
Related quick poll:
» Do you have solar panels - and use solar power - at your business or home?

Florida’s medical marijuana program is attracting troubled doctors: ‘It’s like the Wild Wild West’

An examination of the 1,432 doctors in the program reveals Florida’s new marijuana initiative has turned into a magnet for physicians with troubled pasts. In total, 262 of the doctors had some sort of blemish on their record. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Florida prisons cut programs to cover $28 million deficit

Florida's legislators are required to perform only one job each year — pass a balanced budget — but, based on new information released last week, they blew it. The legislature passed and Gov. Rick Scott signed an $87 billion budget that was $28 million short in prison funding. [Source: Times/Herald]

Deadly Yellow fever outbreak threatens to spread to Florida

There hasn’t been a yellow fever outbreak in the United States in more than 100 years, but state health officials are concerned that a large outbreak in Brazil and others in South and Central America could lead to infected travelers bringing the disease to South Florida, which has the right mosquitoes and climate for it to spread. More from the Lakeland Ledger, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and the Daily Mail.

Florida Trend Column
60 years of Florida Trend

From Florida Trend's publisher, Andy Corty:
The May 2018 issue marks Florida Trend's 60th anniversary. As the first and oldest regional business magazine in North America, we’ve had a great run reporting on Florida’s amazing growth. And there’s more to come! Read the full column here.

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Keys will get up to 1,300 permits for new workforce housing rentals [Miami Herald]
Gov. Rick Scott directed the state Department of Economic Opportunity to come up with “enhanced workforce housing” in the Keys as part of the recovery effort from the devastation left by Hurricane Irma last September.

› Florida retirement system alleges it was damaged by price fall of Macquarie Infrastructure Corp. stock [Legal News Line]
A retirement system for employees of a Florida city allege that a New York company omitted and/or misrepresented facts about the company, which impacted stock prices.

› Southwest Florida sees declines in international visitors [Naples Daily News]
Southwest Florida hasn't been attracting as many international visitors. The decline mirrors state and national trends that have been blamed in large part on the strengthening of the U.S. dollar, which makes a trip to America more expensive.

› Miami restaurant faces charges for farm-to-table scam [Tampa Bay Times]
A local restaurant in Miami faces charges for allegedly claiming ingredients on their menu were locally sourced, when they were not. Attorney Genera Pam Bondi filed a complaint Friday against Icebox Cafe and Icebox Cafe at MIA, LLC, for supplying non-locally sourced or sustainable products but claiming so on restaurant menus.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› In Florida, school districts take different safety paths [Ocala Star-Banner]
Unwilling to turn school staff into gun-packing “guardians,” some officials across Florida are turning to a controversial alternative to meet the demands of a state law approved after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

› Anti-gun group wants Florida assault weapons ban on 2020 ballot [Orlando Sentinel]
Frustrated by the Legislature’s refusal to pass a ban on assault weapons, a group of gun control advocates is working to put the issue before voters in 2020. Ban Assault Weapons Now consists of relatives of victims of the mass shootings at Pulse nightclub and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, as well as current and former elected officials.

› Norwegian Cruise Line cruises from Port Canaveral to Cuba start Monday [Florida Today]
The first regularly scheduled cruises from Port Canaveral to Cuba begin Monday, when the Norwegian Sun departs on a four-night cruise there. The cruises to Cuba will include stops in the Cuban capital of Havana, as well as in Key West.

› Regulators terminate Duke Energy’s Levy County nuclear licenses [Tampa Bay Times]
Regulators have finally closed the books on the Levy County nuclear project that never was. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission terminated Duke Energy Florida’s licenses last week for the proposed nuclear reactors at the utility’s request — more than a decade after the project was first proposed.