Python invasion has exploded out of the Everglades

Burmese pythons are too good at what they do — they’re nearly undetectable to both humans and their prey, they barely need to move and when they do they’re deadly. On top of that, they have lots of babies. As a result, according to an ambitious new paper produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, their population has exploded in only 20 years from a few snakes at the southern tip of Everglades National Park to an invasion that envelops the southern third of Florida. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

DeSantis’ sway over Florida Legislature unprecedented ahead of 2024 bid

When Florida lawmakers met for their annual legislative session last year, they championed bills that led to months of headlines for Gov. Ron DeSantis about sexual orientation, abortion, immigration, voting and the teaching of the nation’s racial history. For this year’s legislative session, which begins Tuesday, DeSantis has a preview: “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” Emboldened by an overwhelming reelection victory margin and the most compliant Legislature in recent memory, DeSantis is pushing lawmakers to pass the legislation conservatives have been wanting for years. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Latest insurance reform proposals could restrict your ability to sue

Insurance reforms are back on the front burner heading into the spring session of the Florida Legislature. Republicans are again targeting plaintiffs attorneys with a wish list of pro-insurance industry reforms that attorneys warn will erode consumers’ ability to fight back when claims are denied or underpaid. After enacting two packages of property insurance reforms last year, legislative leaders are pushing to extend those reforms to most remaining types of insurance, including auto, liability, business interruption, health and life. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Wildfires grow in Florida amid intensifying drought

A dry start to 2023 in the Sunshine State has kept fire crews busy as conditions become more conducive for wildfires throughout the Peninsula. As of early March, the Florida Forest Service reported monitoring some 80 fires that have burned nearly 3,500 acres. Two of the larger fires were burning in Marion and Hendry counties, where the combination of winds and dry bush helped to fan the flames and force temporary road closures. [Source: Fox Weather]

Rising prices? Tough rules? Spring Breakers don’t care — they’re headed to South Florida

The price of everything may be going up, but that isn’t likely to stop the annual throng of Spring Break college students from descending on South Florida for booze, beach-time, nightlife — and maybe even some shopping. The annual vacation rite, triggered in the 1960s by the hit film “Where the Boys Are” in Fort Lauderdale, is kicking off in earnest this weekend for a six-week run through mid-April. Last year’s revelry was a landmark comeback moment for a hotel and restaurant industry that reeled for two years from the COVID-19 pandemic. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› The ‘grand vision’: DeBary secures piece of riverfront land for new park [Orlando Sentinel]
Towering live oak trees provide shade and habitat for more than 50 avian species residing in Volusia County, just a short walk from a sandy beach with a prime vantage point of the St. Johns River. This pristine parcel is what DeBary Mayor Karen Chasez called the city’s “grand vision,” a project already three years in the making that now stands to be protected in perpetuity. After staff put “thousands of hours” of work into purchasing 170-acre Alexander Island, the city closed on the riverfront property Feb. 1.

› Cuban ambassador’s dinner in Tampa sparks protest, scorn [Tampa Bay Times]
A band of Cuban dissidents protested inside an expensive Tampa restaurant Friday night, disrupting a meeting between Cuban ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera and a group of business officials and local politicians. The protest was around 7:30 p.m. at Mise en Place, the French-inspired fine dining staple near the Oxford Exchange and across from the University of Tampa.

› Elite gathering of financial titans returns to Miami for annual event [Miami Herald]
Influential hedge-fund titans, investment bankers and private equity giants have moved to or opened up shop in Miami over the past two years. Now a group born in the country’s hedge-fund capital of the world is recognizing the rapidly growing finance industry here and the city’s rising importance in global business. The six-year-old Greenwich Economic Forum is set to hold an annual conference in Miami on Monday for the second straight year.  

› Jacksonville Civic Council and chamber back city financial support for UF campus [Florida Times-Union]
The Jacksonville Civic Council cast its support behind using city taxpayer money for a potential University of Florida graduate campus in the downtown area, saying in a letter sent Friday to City Council members the city's prosperity depends on attracting and keeping high-skilled workers. JAX Chamber also is backing the drive to bring a UF campus to Jacksonville.

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› Wynwood Plaza development set to anchor part of Miami’s thriving arts neighborhood [Miami Herald]
Wynwood Plaza, an ambitious real estate development that’s going to bring life back to a Wynwood property after the Rubell Art Museum left in 2019, officially got underway Thursday. When completed in a couple of years, the $450 million project will be the largest development in the Wynwood Arts District. An office tower, apartment building, retail and restaurant space with outdoor dining will be included in the project covering 1 million square feet.

› Cannabis legalization bill including homegrow provision filed in Florida Senate [Florida Politics]
A Democratic Senator from Kissimmee has filed a bill that could legalize recreational marijuana. Sen. Victor Torres‘ SB 1576 would make adult use cannabis legal for those at least 21 years of age, establishing a so-called “Division of Cannabis Management” in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to regulate the herb, including in concentrated and other derivative forms.

› What’s that smell in the Florida Keys? It’s coming from Cuba, weather forecasters say [Miami Herald]
We’ve all smelled smoke in the South Florida air. Usually it’s from the burning Everglades or a brush fire in the neighborhood. But the hazy skies and burning smell Friday in the Florida Keys had a different source — one 90 miles away. Whipping winds sent in smoke from sugarcane fields of Cuba, according to the National Weather Service in Key West.

› Brevard may put moratorium on lagoon tourism grants so money can go to fixing beaches [Florida Today]
The Brevard County Commission will vote Tuesday on whether to place a moratorium on a special grant program designed to help the Indian River Lagoon. The $1 million-a-year "Tourism + Indian River Lagoon Grant Program" is funded by revenue from the county's 5% tourist development tax on hotel rooms and other short-term rentals. A quarter of the tax money goes into a fund that is used primarily for beach renourishment, though some is also used for such things as the lagoon grants.