Wednesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 5/16/2018

Florida tourism promoters face challenges

The Sunshine State, long the U.S. vacation destination leader with a 16 percent share of the market, faces some challenges. Research shows that interest in traveling to Florida within the next two years has fallen by 2 percent, while some competitive destinations have shown “significant” increases. More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Patriot National reorganization plan approved without severance pay for 250 laid-off workers

Fort Lauderdale-based insurance services firm Patriot National Inc. has been approved to continue operations while creditors -- including 250 laid-off workers -- will have to keep waiting for their claims to be heard. The workers are seeking severance pay and benefits they say the company owes them. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Short on workers, CSX again warns employees about time-off policies

CSX Corp. is again struggling to staff during holidays and weekends, according to an internal system notice sent to the Jacksonville Business Journal. "CSX continues to experience disruptions to its operations on holidays and weekends due to crew unavailability," the notice reads. More from the Jacksonville Business Journal.

FPL will give customers refunds after collecting too much for Hurricane Matthew repairs

Florida Power & Light has reached an agreement to refund $27.7 million to customers, in part because of an “over-recovery” of costs following Hurricane Matthew in 2016. The agreement still needs approval from the Florida Public Service Commission, which could sign off next week. More from the Miami Herald.

High gas prices won’t dampen Floridians’ Memorial Day driving plans

A spike of 16 cents a gallon in Tampa Bay gas prices in just one week doesn’t typically inspire motorists to hit the road. But soaring pump prices aren’t expected to deter some 2 million Floridians that AAA, The Auto Club Group, forecasts will travel by car Memorial Day weekend for summer’s start. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Out of the Box
Florida store uses opera to deter crime

A 7-Eleven in Jacksonville, Florida, is blasting classical music and opera around its gas pumps in an effort to stop loitering and cut down on crime. This music is part of a 7-Eleven initiative that encourages non-confrontational methods to reduce loitering. It’s been underway for three weeks.

» More from WSB.

Florida Trend Icon
In Memoriam: H. Wayne Huizenga

In 2006, Florida Trend debuted a new feature, the Florida Icon. H. Wayne Huizenga was the first person we chose to interview, for good reason — he was the most iconic business figure in the decades we had been publishing. Huizenga died in March of cancer.