Early forecasts call for busy hurricane season

Early forecasts for hurricane season have produced an ominous consensus: The odds of a busy season have strengthened. AccuWeather, Colorado State University, The Weather Company and seven other organizations all predict above-average seasons, as warm ocean temperatures and expected global climate patterns create favorable conditions for the whirling storms. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

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» Atlantic Hurricane Season Is Less Than 6 Weeks Away, But It Has Started Early 5 Straight Years

Southern states largely go it alone in reopening decisions

Governors in 17 states have committed to regional coordination to reopen their economies during the coronavirus outbreak — but none are in the South, where leaders are going it alone, just as they did in imposing restrictions. As questions about when and how to ease virus-control measures becomes increasingly politically charged, governors in the Deep South have resisted any appearance of synchronization, instead driving home their message that each state must make its own decision. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

FPL, Gulf Power to merge, adding about 500,000 customers to Florida’s largest utility

In a move that would create a utility with customers from Miami to Pensacola, Florida Power & Light and Gulf Power plan to merge in 2022, their parent company, NextEra Energy, said Wednesday. NextEra, which has long included FPL, closed a deal in January 2019 to purchase Gulf Power from Southern Company. But FPL and Gulf, which have a combined total of about 5.5 million customers, did not merge. [Source: Miami Herald]

Commentary: A new appreciation for people who haul away our garbage

The coronavirus outbreak has triggered shortages of toilet paper, hand wipes, bottled water, meat, masks and money. But if you haven’t noticed, there’s no shortage of one thing: Garbage. All those Amazon boxes and Pei Wei containers have to go somewhere. On top of that, 2020 might go down as the Year of Spring Cleaning, since a lot of people want to do something constructive with all the free time around house. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Magic Leap announces layoffs and shift toward commercial uses

Magic Leap, the Broward-based tech firm that has raised more than $2 billion, announced an unspecified number of layoffs Wednesday and said that the company would now focus more squarely on commercial uses of its augmented reality product. In a note posted on the company’s website Wednesday, founder and CEO Rony Abovitz said the economic changes brought by coronavirus made the moves necessary. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Milkey Family Foundation donates money to help St. Pete businesses [Tampa Bay Times]
The Milkey Family Foundation has donated $100,000 to the Pinellas Community Foundation to support St. Petersburg’s Fighting Chance Support Fund. The fund is an emergency grant created to serve the city’s locally owned and independently operated small businesses that have been affected by shutdown orders resulting from the coronavirus crisis.

› Sarasota County to open beaches, with restrictions [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Sarasota County beaches will re-open on Monday, but there will be some restrictions. The 35 miles of the county’s pristine shoreline will be open for fishing, biking, running, walking, swimming and surfing. But leave your coolers, canopies and chairs at home.

› Fontainebleau’s $1B loan enters special servicing [Miami Herald]
The superstar of Miami Beach’s glittery party scene is feeling the strain of the coronavirus crisis. The Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s $975 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan has entered special serving, according to published reports.

› SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, Busch Gardens offer Zoom backgrounds [Orlando Sentinel]
SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay have released sets of photos designed to work as backgrounds for video conferencing platforms such as Zoom. The attractions, all part of Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, are spotlighting their wildlife species and thrills rides in the photography, which serves as a reminder during the era of COVID-19. The downloads are free of charge.

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› Furloughed Disney World employees hope and hold out for relief during the coronavirus pandemic [Orlando Sentinel]
Furloughed Disney workers are skipping the first step in the system that’s frustrated and angered hundreds of thousands of suddenly jobless people in Florida. Disney and the state have successfully worked together to enroll the entire furloughed Disney workforce into the state’s unemployment system, which has drawn intense scrutiny for its backlog and system crashes as a record number of Floridians apply.

› A grim report details the toll on Miami-Dade cultural groups from the virus pandemic [Miami Herald]
The lockdown prompted by the coronavirus pandemic has dealt Miami-Dade’s arts and culture organizations a nearly $23 million blow and forced the loss of 1,700 jobs to date, the county’s cultural affairs department said in a new report. The not-unexpected though still grim figures come from 201 cultural groups that responded to a survey by the county office, a principal funder of local arts activity.

› AdventHealth has treated more than 600 COVID-19 patients in Central Florida, officials say [Orlando Sentinel]
AdventHealth facilities across Central Florida have treated more than 600 COVID-19 patients, about half of whom have been hospitalized, the health system physicians said during a live virtual press conference.

› Grocer to host virtual hiring fair for new Miramar location [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
A grocery chain expanding its South Florida footprint is looking to hire over 100 people through a virtual hiring event. Sprouts Farmers Market, with locations in Wellington, Jupiter and Deerfield Beach, is hosting the virtual hiring fair with video interviews on May 13 and 14 for its nearly constructed Miramar location scheduled to open June 24.