New survey finds Florida food inflation turning into a health crisis

A recent survey found that increasing food prices are affecting more than people's wallets — they’re affecting people’s health. The survey, published in August by Sachs Media, was conducted for Farm Share, a nonprofit and the state's largest food bank, revealing that rising food costs are changing the way Floridians eat. [Source: WMFE]

Florida, other states say flood insurance fight against feds should continue

Florida and other states are trying to fend off an attempt by the Biden administration to end a lawsuit challenging changes to the National Flood Insurance Program that have led to higher premiums for many property owners. Attorneys for 10 states and local government agencies in Louisiana filed a 44-page document Tuesday urging a federal judge to reject arguments that they lack legal standing to challenge the changes, which became fully effective April 1 after being phased in. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers filed a motion last month to dismiss the case. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Florida's tax collections top expectations

Florida collected about $3.311 billion in general-revenue taxes in July, $225.9 million more than had been forecast in March, according to a report posted online Tuesday by the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research. The report came after state economists in August issued a new forecast that updated the March estimates. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Manatees were dying in record-breaking numbers. But that trend may be slowing down

Record-breaking numbers of manatees have died in Florida the past few years. But data from a recently released report may indicate that that trend is slowing down this year — at least so far. According to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 431 manatees died across Florida from Jan. 1 to Aug. 25. In 2022, that figure was 669 manatees, and in 2021, it was 928 manatees. The five-year average of manatee deaths is 597. [Source: Miami Herald]

New drugs preserve vision but Florida leads US in eye degeneration disease

Even with effective drugs, age-related macular degeneration remains a concern in Florida, which has the highest rate of the disease in the nation. Among the state’s over 40 population, 18.3% have some form of the disease, according to data from the Vision & Eye Health Surveillance System run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› More Sarasota-Manatee seniors resort to legal action to force family to move out [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Since the start of the pandemic, many public programs and debates related to housing have centered on the problem of evictions. But a different crisis has been brewing below the surface: the removal of family and friends from one’s house. It is a crisis, experts say, that mostly involves senior homeowners whose adult children moved in after the pandemic or Hurricane Ian and will not leave.

› FBI, IRS search Duval teachers union offices; financial wrongdoing suspected [Florida Times-Union]
Several federal agents including the FBI and IRS are working on an investigation at the Duval Teachers United building in Jacksonville's San Marco community. They had been at the teachers union facility at 1601 Atlantic Blvd. since Wednesday morning and left late in the afternoon taking with them equipment and additional materials, as witnessed by The Florida Times-Union.

› Pinellas government takes another step toward move out of Clearwater [Tampa Bay Times]
For years, Pinellas County officials have pondered whether the county’s government should move out of its outdated campus in downtown Clearwater. Though the county is still in the preliminary phases of exploring a move, if it does decide to pull up stakes, the decision could be a transformative one. It would mark a new chapter for the county government, which has operated from Clearwater, the county seat, for more than a century.

› There’s a water park planned for Zoo Miami. Environmentalists say it’s a disaster [Miami Herald]
A planned water park next to Zoo Miami could be blocked this week if Miami-Dade commissioners agree with environmental groups that the project threatens endangered wildlife that live in the forest around the county-owned attraction. Developers pitch the $47 million Miami Wilds project as a fun addition to the zoo, with seven water slides, a lazy river and a wave pool, plus restaurants and shops on land that’s currently covered by mostly paved lots providing free parking for the zoo.

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› South Florida tenants pay much more for rent — and it’ll likely stay that way for some time [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Tenants are still paying hundreds of dollars more than the average rent across South Florida — a region with one of the highest rent premiums in the country, according to a recent rent analysis. The Waller, Weeks and Johnson Rental Index, which tracks rental market trends across the country’s largest metropolitan areas, found the average rent in Miami to be $2,817. But the average rent price should be $2,578, leaving Miami with a rent premium of about 9.3%.

› Belleview is the last place in Marion County that allows internet cafés. Now that's changing [Ocala Star-Banner]
According to city officials, last month, an internet café owner asked about an ordinance passed reference to cafés. The mayor said the ordinance is designed to make clear that the city does not condone or knowingly allow illegal activities in the cafés. Presently there are eight internet cafés in the city, which is approximately 3.3 square miles. They are allowed to operate seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

› Tri-Rail takes added safety measures as it heads downtown [Miami Today]
One of the main obstacles to Tri-Rail trains rolling safety into a new downtown Miami terminal has been the issue of integrating grade-level tracks with passenger vehicle and pedestrian traffic. South Florida Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director David Dech has taken the issue to task.

› A supersized Publix is coming to Winter Haven [Orlando Sentinel]
Publix will introduce one of its new, larger format stores to Polk County shoppers when a new 55,000-square-foot store opens in Winter Haven, according to a report in GrowthSpotter. For years, a typical Publix prototype store averaged between 46,000 and 48,000 square feet, though the company expanded to 52,000 square feet at Loughman Crossing across from the Providence golf community in Davenport.