Florida jobless rate drops to 3.3 percent

Florida’s employment picture continues to brighten, while the state jobs agency envisions conditions slowing to a more “stable” pace over the next two years. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity issued a report Friday that said the state’s unemployment rate in February was 3.3 percent, down from 3.5 percent in January. Also, the number of people qualified as out of work dropped by 15,000 in February, while the size of the labor force increased by 22,000. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Want to cut the electric cord? In Florida, it's not so easy

In Florida, answers are elusive as to whether you can really disconnect from the grid. Misinformation is rampant and few of the government officials responsible for authorizing a disconnect have a clear understanding of what’s allowed and what’s not. Rooftop solar systems enable growing numbers of consumers to generate all of their own electricity and even earn money back at the end of the year for unused power sold back to the grid at their utility’s full retail rates. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Spring break crackdown puts focus on future of Florida

Miami Beach officials have spent recent years trying to control the raucous crowds, public drinking and growing violence associated with the city’s world-famous South Beach neighborhood during spring break. Business owners claim they’re being unfairly targeted by regulations, and civil rights advocates say the city is trying to scare away Black tourists who make up many of the visitors. [Source: AP]

How pandemic ‘revenge travel’ is bringing a big boost to South Florida tourism

You aren’t imagining it: There really are way more people visiting and vacationing in South Florida than ever before, including before the pandemic. Spring Break and postcard-worthy weather helped lure tourists here this busy spring season, but it hasn’t only been college kids on break sprawling on the beach and filling downtown beachside hotels, restaurants and bars. South Florida also is seeing more families, including parents bringing their children for Spring Break or those who haven’t been able to get out on a family vacation in the past few years. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentiel]

Churning out champions on Florida’s golf courses

Scotland may be the birthplace of golf, but Florida is its hub. The Sunshine State boasts 1,281 golf courses, according to a 2020 count by the National Golf Foundation, spreading from Key West to Jacksonville and across to Pensacola. Even if you took out the 54 golf courses in The Villages, No. 2 California still trails by more than 150. Whether a high-priced round at TPC Sawgrass, home of the PGA Tour’s richest event, or a historic property like The Breakers, or a quick nine in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown, a typical year finds more than 48 million rounds teed up in Florida. [Source: The Villages Daily Sun]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› New dog event planning business in Pensacola claims to be first in Florida [Pensacola News Journal]
Kim and Jessica Wolford are your typical, everyday dog people. With their five dogs, Marie Laveau, Oreo Pie, Mama Mia, Hugh Twos and Victor, you can imagine that there's rarely a dull moment in the Wolford house. "We own a lot of dogs, obviously," Jessica Wolford said. "Dogs like to be out in public with their owners, and people want to take their dogs with them. There's a lot of dog-friendly businesses in Pensacola, but there isn't much for them to do. They often end up sitting by the owner." So they decided to do something about it.

› Basquiat draws crowds to Orlando Museum of Art, but questions haven’t gone away [Orlando Senntinel]
A month after a New York Times article illuminated doubts about the authenticity of the works in Orlando Museum of Art’s Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition, the chairwoman of the institution’s board of trustees says she unequivocally stands behind the exhibit and museum director Aaron De Groft, who brought the works to Central Florida.

› Southwest Florida airport surges in monthly traffic report  [Business Observer]
Passenger traffic tallies at Southwest Florida International Airport continue to surge. The latest data: Traffic increased 58% in February over February 2021. A total of 1,149,618 passengers passed through the airport, under the call letters RSW, during the month. Year-to-date, passenger traffic is up 55% compared to last year, according to a statement.

› Onlookers cheer as USS Orleck arrives in Downtown Jacksonville [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The USS Orleck arrived in Jacksonville March 26 at its temporary home along the Jacksonville Riverwalk near the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront hotel. A line of onlookers along the riverbank cheered as the Orleck was pushed into place by a tug boat just before 1 p.m. and the U.S. flag was raised on its bow.

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› To cut algae in St. Johns, Jacksonville weighs pilot project to filter city's drainage [Florida Times-Union]
Eyeing a looming deadline to cut algae-feeding pollution in the St. Johns River, Jacksonville officials want to test new equipment to filter debris from rainwater in the city’s drainage systems. The city’s Environmental Protection Board endorsed a $274,000 pilot project this week to measure how well a device with the unsexy name of a nutrient-separating baffle box will lower the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus flowing toward the Trout River (a St. Johns tributary) through a drainage line on Carbondale Drive East.

› Sarasota-Manatee unemployment dips under 3% [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Unemployment in Sarasota-Manatee fell below 3% in February for the first time since 2019, as the number of people actively seeking work decreased slightly compared to the month before. The combined unemployment rate for Sarasota and Manatee counties was 2.8% in February, 1.8 percentage points lower than February 2021, and a slight dip from January's rate of 3.1%.

› ‘A wing and a prayer:’ 2 women behind Playalinda Brewing credit Titusville community for success [Click Orlando]
“A wing and a prayer.” That’s what started one of Titusville’s first breweries just over seven years ago. Playalinda Brewing Company opened its first location in Titusville’s historic district in November 2014, making it the first microbrewery in the area, according to its website. Donna Scott, one of the owners of the brewery, said the business took flight with “a wing and a prayer” and the community momentum has made it what it is today, now with two locations.

› Judge rejects Hillsborough sales tax refund plan [Tampa Bay Times]
A circuit court judge Friday rejected Hillsborough County’s pitch to refund $562 million collected from a transportation sales tax voided by the Florida Supreme Court. Circuit Judge Rex M. Barbas denied the county’s motion to set up a panel of three retired judges to oversee public applications for refunds, saying “there is no clear legal basis from which to fashion a remedy for the collection of the invalidated sales tax.”