How Florida, the nation’s biggest swing state, turned deep red

Florida has long been the country’s preeminent swing state — a diverse, purple microcosm of America where 537 votes famously separated George W. Bush from Al Gore in 2000. Its past three governors races had all been decided by about one percentage point or less. Yet while nationally Democrats staved off the red wave that had been foretold for Tuesday, Florida stood as an outlier, looking like one of the most conservative states in the nation. Gone were the razor-thin margins that made it such a battleground. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

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Business Florida

News flash: Florida is red hot! And we’re not talking temperatures here. We’re talking human migration. People from all over the world are looking to settle in the Sunshine State ... and no wonder. After two years of business uncertainty and personal disruptions fueled by lockdowns, closures and restrictive COVID-19 measures, people just want a way out. And what better place to launch a restart than easy, breezy Florida? [Source: Business Florida]

In Nicole’s wake, Florida sees eroded beaches, collapsed buildings, at least 2 dead

After nearly three days of high winds and tides, Florida’s late-season brush with Nicole — first as a hurricane and then as a tropical storm — left dozens of counties with downed trees and power lines, flooded buildings, broken piers, scoured roads and at least a handful of homes partially washed away. As a Category 1 storm at its strongest, Nicole did not exactly break records for wind ferocity or storm surge height, but it came on the heels of devastating Category 4 Hurricane Ian a mere six weeks earlier. [Source: Miami Herald]

Florida Department of Health monitors a statewide uptick in Respiratory Syncytial Virus

The Florida Department of Health is monitoring what it says is an above average number of cases on a statewide level of Respiratory Syncytial Virus, which impacts children. Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV is a lung infection with symptoms similar to a common cold – including congestion, a runny nose, a dry cough, sore throat, low-grade fever, sneezing and a headache. Symptoms for a severe case include a fever, cough and wheezing, difficulty in breathing or a bluish skin color. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Florida universities push back on proposed new rules for faculty tenure

A proposed regulation that would guide decisions on faculty tenure based on Florida’s new “Stop WOKE” law is drawing concern from officials at several state universities. The policy would create a review for all tenured faculty members in the university system every five years, starting with those who have served the longest. It would be based on several factors, including their compliance with the new law, which forbids universities from “indoctrinating” students with concepts such as white privilege and other ideas and theories surrounding race. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Pickleball industry receives $670K grant in Collier County [Gulfshore Business]
The Southwest Florida pickleball industry is receiving almost $700,000 from Collier County’s tourist development tax upon approval by the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday. Naples is often referenced as the pickleball capital of the country by lovers of the sport, as East Naples Community Park is home to the internationally renowned Minto U.S. Open Pickleball Championships, which take place in April each year.

› SeaWorld continues wave of record earnings but attendance, staffing lag [Orlando Sentinel]
Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. continued to ride a wave of historic financial success as the company reported Wednesday record revenue of $565.2 million in its most recent quarter. The company’s third quarter, which ended in late September, is the company’s sixth consecutive period of record results despite Hurricane Ian closing SeaWorld Orlando for three days and Busch Gardens Tampa for four.

› Jabil calls holiday plant closings and layoffs 'normal course of business' [Business Observer]
St. Petersburg-based Jabil Inc., one of the largest companies in the region with $33 billion in revenue, calls the temporary closure of six plants and the layoff of nearly 1,400 employees in California during the holiday season the “normal course of business this time of year.” Jabil’s spokesman Timur Aydin says that when production schedules are favorable the company enacts “temporary site closures across multiple sites” every year during the holidays.

› Pensacola parachute company gets grant to bring and opportunities to the area [Pennsacola News Journal]
A Pensacola small business is providing critical equipment for members of the military, while also providing critical jobs to people in the local workforce. Paradigm Parachute & Defense Inc., a service-disabled veteran owned small business founded in 2019, provides high-quality, precision manufactured, military-style parachute systems. The business was launched by Aaron Nazaruk and Alex Alvarado, two veterans who picked the Pensacola area for their start-up because of Pensacola's industrial sewing history.

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› $200M apartment and hotel project planned for this growing Tampa neighborhood [Tampa Bay Times]
A $200 million development slated for downtown Tampa will add apartments, hotel rooms, stores and restaurants to a burgeoning section of the city. Miami-based developer LD&D unveiled plans this week to build a 28-story, 365-unit luxury apartment building in Tampa’s Encore redevelopment district. Located at 1101 East Harrison St. the project will also include a 178-key hotel, 32,500 square feet of ground floor retail and a 586-space parking podium.

› Kennedy Space Center launch pad tower records 100 mph gust during Hurricane Nicole [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
NASA left its $4.1 billion Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission to the moon on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center to ride out Hurricane Nicole, noting that it could withstand sustained winds of 85 mph at 60 feet high when vertical at Launch Complex 39-B. Hurricane Nicole ended up testing those safety limits. The weather sensors on a tower at LC 39-B record wind data among other things at various heights every five minutes, posted to kscweather.ksc.nasa.gov.

› Orlando builders face slow home sales, cancellations amid 2022 housing market shifts [Orlando Business Journal]
Jerome Henin is close to declaring the rest of the year a vacation for his real estate company. That’s because business has slowed so much in the last six months for Winter Park-based Henin Group Inc., a residential developer where Henin is the president. Henin Group this year has witnessed slowing demand while development costs have climbed upwards of 25%, Henin said.

› Climate-tech discussion to feature PODS executive [Business Observer]
Tampa Bay Innovation Center, a St. Petersburg-based business accelerator, has scheduled the latest edition of its Tech Talk Innovation Series for 6-8 p.m. Nov. 16 at the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce office in downtown St. Pete. According to TBIC Managing Director Ken Evans, the event will focus on the emerging field of climate tech. The “fireside chat” format will feature Opal Perry, chief strategy and digital transformation office at PODS, a Clearwater-based moving and storage company that operates nationwide.