It’s the $4 billion ‘crown jewel’ of Everglades restoration. But will it be enough?

Massive and massively expensive, it’s been touted as the “crown jewel” of Everglades restoration, the key to unlocking every other project that will come after it. The $4 billion Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir — about half the size of the city of Hollywood and twice as deep as Lake Okeechobee — finally got underway last week with the ceremonial flinging of shovelfuls of dirt and celebration from federal agencies, state water managers and many environmental groups.[Source: Miami Herald]

NASA, SpaceX scrub launch attempt of next quartet to space station

The first four humans to fly into space in 2023 will have to wait a couple more days as teams scrubbed an early Monday morning launch attempt with less than three minutes before the planned liftoff. The quartet making up the SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program strapped into the Crew Dragon Endeavour atop a Falcon 9 rocket late Sunday at KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A. Had it lifted off, it would have been making its record-setting fourth flight to the ISS. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

This Florida city was just named best place to live in the U.S.

The study analyzed 151 American cities and rated nine main indicators of happiness and satisfaction: crime and safety; affordability; economy; quality of life; health care; education; employment; leisure and entertainment; and infrastructure. Naples ranked at the top for health care, with the highest number of hospitals, and the highest number of public schools. It ranked in the top two cities in terms of bridge safety, but also had the single highest median home value of the cities the study examined. It’s a nice enough place to live — if you have the money. [Source: Miami Herald]

Battle to help Florida felons vote heats up again

More than four years after Amendment 4 was approved by Florida voters, confusion reigns for felons who have no simple way to find out if they’re eligible to vote. At the same time, well-publicized financial support to solve the problem from LeBron James’ organization and other national groups has started to dry up. Yet, Desmond Meade, the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Commission that spearheaded the amendment to restore to non-violent felons the right to vote, says he’s firmly staying in the fight. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Publix to give $4 million in grants for food bank capital projects

Publix Super Markets will hand out an additional $4 million in grants to address food availability. The Lakeland grocery giant announced the grant money at a Hunger Summit held at its corporate offices Thursday. The money, which is coming from its foundation, Publix Charities, will be in addition to grants it already hands out to food alleviation programs. It gave out 328 grants last year totaling $5.65 million. [Source: Business Observer]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Port Canaveral surpasses Miami as world's busiest cruise port [Florida Today]
Port Canaveral has surpassed Miami as the world's busiest cruise port, according to the Florida Ports Council. A just-released report from organization put Port Canaveral's passenger totals at 4.21 million for the 2022 fiscal year. That compares with 4.02 million for Port of Miami. Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale retained its No. 3 spot, with 1.71 million passengers.

› A Florida Keys national park that was shut down for migrant crisis sees more arrivals [Orlando Sentinel]
A group of 22 people from Cuba arrived in the Lower Florida Keys on Thursday. While the latest surge in migration from Cuba and Haiti has slowed since the state and federal governments stepped up patrols early in the year, boats are still getting through. The group of 19 men and three women arrived at Dry Tortugas National Park, a remote group of islands west of Key West, Walter Slosar, chief Border Patrol agent for the Miami sector, said in a statement released on Twitter.

› Disney’s Reedy Creek district approves $176M project [Orlando Business Journal]
The Walt Disney Co's (NYSE: DIS) Reedy Creek Improvement District approved a major change to one of its roadway projects — making it one of the largest projects it has done in its 50-year history. The district, which oversees things such as transportation and infrastructure in and around the theme park resort, on Feb. 22 approved a $74.5 million increase to its preliminary budget for the third phase of the World Drive North extension project, which includes a widening from two to four lanes of the major roadway that leads through Walt Disney World Resort toward the Magic Kingdom theme park.

› Sarasota considers a new approach to workforce housing [Business Observer]
The city of Sarasota is considering a variety of options to solve a major challenge: an acute lack of affordable and attainable housing. High land prices, regulations and record-setting rents create an environment where incentives for developers to build affordable and attainable housing are next to nil. City staff is working on a plan that would have the city build and hold its own workforce housing.

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› High-tech insurance firm enters Florida with aggressive growth plans [Business Observer]
FloodFlash believes technology can be the key to getting claims paid faster, allowing businesses to cut their losses and get back to work faster after a storm. A lack of flood insurance is a multibillion-dollar problem in Florida and elsewhere. The main issue is people don’t know how much they need it until, well, they need it. FloodFlash launched in Florida and is working to identify agents here and in four other states: Virginia, Texas, Louisiana and California.

› Orlando, Melbourne airports set record for firearm interceptions [Florida Today]
Orlando International Airport had more firearms confiscated in 2022 at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints than any other airport in Florida. According to data released by the TSA, 854 guns, a 28 percent increase over the previous year, were intercepted across the state with 162 of them coming from the Orlando airport.

› A commuter train along U.S. 1 in Miami? County unveils plan without El Portal station [Miami Herald]
Final plans are taking shape for a commuter train between downtown Miami and Aventura, with hopes for a station off 79th Street derailed — for now. The administration of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava this week presented its working plan for the $682 million rail system to run on the track corridor already used by Brightline trains. Like Tri-Rail on the western side of Interstate 95, the new county-funded train system in the northeastern part of Miami-Dade would offer passengers a north-south route along U.S. 1, with trains leaving every 30 to 60 minutes.

› Sharon Rowlands transforms Web.com into Newfold Digital [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Sharon Rowlands didn’t know much about Jacksonville when she was named CEO of Web.com Group Inc. in January 2019, soon after its acquisition by a private equity firm. “I think I’d been here once before I moved here,” Rowlands said in a Feb. 16 interview at the offices of Newfold Digital, the Jacksonville-based company formed two years ago when Web.com merged with a competitor. “Jacksonville has been a delight.”