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Tuesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Over 100 new Florida laws to kick in this weekend
More than 100 bills that Gov. Rick Scott signed into law from the 2018 legislative session will take effect Sunday, including a new state budget that tops $88 billion. Lawmakers sent 195 bills to Scott from the session that ended in March. The governor vetoed two, while signing the rest. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Campaign markets Florida Keys tourism
Visit Florida on Monday launched a campaign to promote tourism to the Keys, the visitor-dependent area of the state damaged severely by September’s Hurricane Irma. The message is that the Florida Keys are unlike any other destination in the world and there is no better time to visit than this summer. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Florida gas prices continue to decline
Florida gas prices went down for the 30th straight day Sunday, and they have dropped twenty cents since Memorial Day, according to Triple A Auto Club. The average cost for a gallon of gas in the state is now two dollars and 70 cents. The prices are still 50 cents per gallon higher than one year ago, and gas will be at its highest price in three years for Independence Day. [Source: WTXL]
Florida Trend receives 7 'Editorial Excellence' honors from the AABP
Over the weekend, the Alliance of Area Business Publishers (AABP) presented 115 Editorial Excellence awards to newspaper and magazine business periodicals at its three-day annual conference in Washington, DC. Florida Trend won seven awards in the "large" magazine category. One winning entry - a Gold award for Best local coverage of national story is "Water World," by Mike Vogel. The judges said: "It's a raging debate — climate change. Florida isn't arguing about it — the state is dealing with the reality of rising seas." See all the winning entries (with links to stories) here.
A look back at transformative Florida weather events
In other parts of the country, great weather events are associated with blizzards, floods and heat waves. In the Sunshine State, epic hurricanes and killer freezes have wrecked economies and changed the landscape. Sarasota Magazine goes back as far as 1846 to review storms that stand out in state history.
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› BBX sees upside in vacation sharing, real estate, pizza and sweets — now if only the markets agree
If South Florida investors are looking for a local growth story, they may not need to look any further than BBX Capital Corp. of Fort Lauderdale and its Bluegreen Vacations Corp. subsidiary of Boca Raton.
Related:
» Bluegreen finalizes exclusive agreement to acquire the Manhattan Club
› Facebook to offer free training for businesses in Miami
Social media giant Facebook Inc. has expanded its Community Boost tour to visit 50 cities across the U.S. by the end of 2018 and Miami made the list. The in-person training program, which includes free workshops and networking designed to help small businesses use the social media platform to grow, will visit the Magic City Dec. 18-20. See the announcement from Facebook, here.
› Orlando ends use of facial recognition software
The city of Orlando announced Monday it has ended its pilot project for the police to use Amazon Rekognition facial recognition software but held the door open for possible further use. The action came after the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida called it a potential invasion of privacy, free speech and due process in a letter that was sent to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and members of the city commission. See that letter, here.
› Boca-based Geo Group poised to profit from Trump order for illegal immigrant beds
Boca Raton-based Geo Group is in a strong position to capture millions of dollars in business from the Trump administration’s order last week not to separate undocumented families who cross the U.S. border.
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