Wednesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 2/7/2018

For the first time in a decade, the solar industry is shrinking

The American solar industry cooled down last year, shedding nearly 10,000 jobs after a record-breaking 2016 and states with solar markets that are just starting to take off, like Florida, may have the most to lose. More from USA Today, Inc., and Reuters.

Citing train deaths, Miami-Dade mayor wants safety check before Brightline comes south

Before Brightline comes rolling through Miami-Dade County, Mayor Carlos Gimenez has asked the Florida Department of Transportation to evaluate safety measures in place at the railway crossings along the private passenger line’s route. More from the Miami Herald.

Suits against Citizens Insurance declined 23 percent in 2017

State-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. appears to have made significant progress last year in its long-running fight to reduce costly lawsuits. The number of lawsuits filed against the “insurer of last resort” declined from 10,056 in 2016 to 7,744 in 2017 — a 23 percent decrease. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Architect poses Vertical Medical City complex for downtown Orlando

Orlando-based Ponte Health architecture group this week proposed helping develop a 550-foot tall “Vertical Medical City” complex near downtown Orlando. The idea grew out of a conceptual design-team exercise for the Chicago skyline but it garnered interest from health professionals and Orlando stood out as a market in need of the services. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

The chances of resurrecting Florida’s Office of Drug Control this year appear slim

It was a top recommendation by a statewide panel created by Gov. Rick Scott: bring back the Office of Drug Control to coordinate the state's opioid fight. But of the four bills in the Legislature that would revive the office, not one has been scheduled to be heard in a committee yet. More from the Times/Herald.

Health Care
University of Florida Health continues expansion into northeast Florida

UF Health North nearly doubled the size of its campus with the opening of its new 168,000-square-foot bed tower last May. The latest addition to the North Jacksonville medical campus on Max Leggett Parkway, just a few miles from Jacksonville International Airport, is the 92-bed hospital with all-private patient rooms on four floors of the five story building. Full story here. [Sponsored report]

Entertainment
“Marineland” is back in movie business

Back in the 1950s Marineland, the oceanfront oceanarium located south of St. Augustine, was used for numerous movies and television shows. It has been many years since a movie was filmed there, but that That changed this week as a film crew used the park, approaching its 80th anniversary, as the setting for some scenes for the movie “Bernie the Dolphin.”