Florida Trend Exclusive
Golden Spoon Awards: Florida's best places to dine

Florida caught some breaks with more outdoor dining, less stringent lockdowns and, surprisingly, a boomlet in beach tourism by quarantine-exasperated Americans. Facing the virus and public fears, Florida restaurateurs masked up and fought back with massive sterilization programs, more take-out and delivery, cooking classes, family meal packages, parking lot seating, temporary popups and pizza, pizza, pizza. Even the most successful say their restaurants would not have survived without millions in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, however. [Source: Florida Trend]

Florida banks ready for a second round of PPP loans

As Covid pummeled the economy in 2020, Florida’s banks were among those leading the nation in Payment Protection Program lending, according to Florida Bankers Association CEO Alex Sanchez. The new year, he said, will likely bring with it a strong economic recovery driven by a reliable vaccine and pent-up demand for activity. Banks, he continued, will be ready to lend the money that drives a significant portion of economic activity – including a possible second round of PPP loans. [Source: Miami Today]

Staying at an Airbnb for the holidays in Florida? There are COVID changes to know

Planning to take a trip to Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale or the Florida Keys this holiday season? Maybe your Christmas or New Year’s Day plans include a road trip to Orlando, where you can visit Mickey Mouse or enjoy a Butterbeer with your friends at Universal Studios. No matter where you go, vacations and staycations can get complicated, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides health concerns, there’s also a lot of new rules and restrictions meant to help reduce the disease spread. [Source: Miami Herald]

First COVID-19 vaccines given to Florida nursing home residents

Residents in nursing homes, devastated by the coronavirus pandemic in Florida and nationwide, began getting vaccinated against COVID-19 on Wednesday in Florida. An 88-year-old former schoolteacher in Pompano Beach was among the first to get a shot, kicking off one of the earliest nursing home vaccination programs in the country. The shots are coming from the 21,450 doses the state directly received from Pfizer in its initial shipments this week, which are being shared among 112 long-term care facilities in Broward and Pinellas counties. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Fish and Wildlife shuts down Apalachicola Bay, known nationally for its oysters

Because of a dwindling oyster population, a Florida agency voted unanimously Wednesday to shut down oyster harvesting in Apalachicola Bay through the end of 2025, dealing a blow to an area that historically produced 90% of the state’s oysters and 10% of the nation’s. People in the area are divided between coming up with a long-term plan to save the industry, and allowing it to continue on a limited basis. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation commission did express the hope of reopening the bay before the ban on commercial and recreational harvesting ends if oysters recover sooner. [Source: AP]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Sarasota's Van Wezel schedules first main stage show since March [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Sarasota's Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall has scheduled its return to live entertainment on its main stage for the first time since it closed in March due to the pandemic. Magician Reza will bring his “Edge of Illusion” show to the venue on Jan. 25. Tickets are on sale now.

› Hillsborough County okays tougher face mask rule [Tampa Bay Times]
Hillsborough County now prohibits people from standing at bars to eat and drink or from gathering on the dance floor. The county commission, on a 5-2 vote Wednesday, agreed to expand its face mask mandate to try to help contain the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

› JAX Chamber establishes Lewis and White Business League [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The JAX Chamber Foundation introduced Dec. 16 the Lewis and White Business League, a forum and program intended to improve economic opportunity for African Americans in Jacksonville. The league will include connections to business and educational advancement, quarterly meetings with guest speakers, and networking and mentoring opportunities, said a news release from the chamber.

› Miami-Dade County historic population boom hits a wall [Miami Today]
Miami-Dade’s long-term trend of booming population growth has slowed to a crawl, barely expanding year to year, data released last week by the US Census Bureau shows. In the year ending in July 2019, the county added just 2,092 residents to total 2,716,940, a gain of less than eight-hundredths of 1%, the American Community Survey shows.

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› 11th Amazon.com center identified for Northeast Florida [Jacksonville Daily Record]
An 11th Northeast Florida Amazon.com Inc. facility is planned, this one a delivery station in Northwest Jacksonville. The city is reviewing plans for a $16 million, 155,819-square-foot delivery station, code-named DJX5, in the Perimeter West Industrial Park. The new speculative building is at 4345 Perimeter Industrial Parkway N.

› Sarasota Law Firm Welcomes New Attorney [Sarasota Magazine]
The law firm Fergeson Skipper, P.Aa., recently added Daniel Tullidge as an associate attorney. Tullidge will focus on estate planning, trust administration and tax and business succession planning. Tullidge earned his master of law in taxation from the University of Florida, where he served on the staff of the Florida Law Review and the Florida Tax Review.

› New Port Richey places moratorium on new apartment permits [Tampa Bay Times]
The New Port Richey City Council approved a six-month moratorium on permitting new multi-family residential projects of more than four units. During that time, city officials plan to create design elements and construction standards to protect the property value of existing neighborhoods and ensure that new construction is complementary to those neighborhoods, according to city manager Debbie Manns.

› Landowner bars development on 716 acres in Putnam County, helping wildlife corridor [Florida Times-Union]
A Putnam County landowner has given up development rights on more than a square mile of untouched property that helps replenish the Floridan aquifer inside a vast wildlife corridor. The North Florida Land Trust said Thursday a representative of Welaka Woods LLC donated a conservation easement on 716 acres east of Welaka State Forest and Little Lke George.