Tax cuts drive profits at Florida banks

Profits surged to a 22-year high last year at Florida’s financial institutions. The state’s 117 banks and thrifts earned a combined $2.01 billion in 2018, a tax-cut boosted gain of 11.5 percent over the year, according to new data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It was the best performance since the Florida banking sector earned $2.07 billion in 1996, when there were 346 lenders based in the state. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

'A new cash crop': Florida readies for billion-dollar hemp market

Fresh from entering the medical marijuana market, Florida now envisions taking a healthy slice of the anticipated $22 billion market in hemp. The “no-high” variety of cannabis used to make “CBD,” oil and other products derived from hemp, became legal in the U.S. in December. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Can Florida import cheaper drugs from abroad? Not so fast, says Senate president

A proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis to reduce prescription drug prices by importing medications from Canada is drawing concerns from the leader of the Florida Senate, who said Friday he worries parts of the plan sketched out by the House might run afoul of Congress’ jurisdiction. [Source: Miami Herald]

Feathering retailers’ nests: Visiting snowbirds keep many area businesses singing

Awaiting a cup of clam chowder at Racing’s North Turn restaurant in Ponce Inlet, Tom Behrens wastes no words in describing the appeal of winters in the Daytona Beach area. “There’s bad weather up north,” said Behrens, 71, a retired accountant from Quincy, Ill. Behrens and his wife, Linda, are part of the annual influx of snowbirds that keep area businesses humming from November into March. [Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal]

Government preparing to be sued in 2023, when the Keys stop issuing building permits

Starting in 2023, no new building permits will be issued in the Florida Keys, a stipulation of a 1970s state mandate aimed at controlling development in the environmentally sensitive archipelago and ensuring timely evacuation of tourists and residents in the path of hurricanes. More from the Miami Herald and the AP.

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Super-fast 5G is still miles away from South Florida [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Wireless broadband replacing cable and satellite TV service. Movies downloadable in seconds. Cellular phone calls with no dropped calls or disruptions. Driverless transportation networks. Those are some of the promised benefits of 5G — or 5th Generation — wireless internet service that consumers are being promised are right around the corner. In South Florida, those benefits are still a few miles down the road.

› If the Jacksonville Landing is demolished, what comes next? [Florida Times-Union]
Call it “demolish it and they will come” — at least, that’s the expectation of city leaders. The Jacksonville Landing could become the latest downtown structure to get a date with the wrecking ball if the City Council approves a $15 million settlement agreement that would hand ownership of the mall over to the city.

› Downtown businesses, Main Street Gainesville moving forward amid friction over changes [Gainesville Times]
Downtown businesses are taking it upon themselves to bring foot traffic back to Gainesville’s square after the relocation of the Gainesville Spring Chicken Festival and Beach Bash. Forming separately from Main Street Gainesville, business owners banded together in January 2019 to establish the Gainesville Business Coalition.

› Fort Lauderdale’s famed auto company chief steps down. He’s not done speaking his mind. [Miami Herald]
For 20 years, outgoing AutoNation chairman, president and CEO Mike Jackson has been one of the most outspoken corporate leaders in America. He has famously called for a gas tax to wean America off oil (especially the foreign variety), warned that auto sales would eventually plateau and renounced his Republican party affiliation upon Donald Trump’s ascendance.

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› Florida prisons take $50M hit due to hurricane [Gainesville Sun]
As state officials deal with the costs associated with Hurricane Michael recovery, they will need to consider about $50 million in storm damage to a large concentration of prisons in Northwest Florida, state records show. The losses reported by 20 state correctional facilities across 15 counties will eventually be covered by the state and federal governments.

› Brevard pushes for Space Command [Florida Today]
Brevard County Commission Chair Kristine Isnardi on Tuesday plans to ask the commission to go on record as supporting basing the new U.S. Space Command at Patrick Air Force Base. Commissioners will vote Tuesday on sending a letter to acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, encouraging locating Space Command at Patrick.

› Hot wheels, cool looks produce second-largest turnout for Jacksonville International Auto Show [Florida Times-Union]
Judging by the crowd that turned out for last weekend’s 33rd annual Jacksonville International Auto Show, folks are seriously in the market for a new vehicle. Just ask Barbara Pudney, who put on her 21st show for the Jacksonville Automobile Dealers Association as vice president of the Paragon Group.

› Pompano Beach warned nearly 4,000 residents of data breach [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
A data breach at a company that handles the billing for municipal water service has Pompano Beach city officials working to minimize the potential damage. Hackers gained unauthorized access to credit or debit card data stored with software company CentralSquare and used for one-time online water bill payments made through the city’s website from Aug. 30 to Dec. 6.