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Wednesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida ranks No. 11 for GDP growth in first quarter of 2018
Florida just missed a spot in the nation’s top 10 for economic performance in the first quarter of the year. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Tuesday ranked the Sunshine State No. 11 for gross domestic product performance, which increased 2.5 percent from the last quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018. Read more at the Tampa Bay Times and see a chart of industry performance in Florida during Q1.
Florida Trend Exclusive
Flying high
Eyeing the end of his military pilot career, fighter jock Rob Ceravolo had a choice. Transitioning to a job as a commercial airline pilot meant a great salary, benefits and predictability. Instead, Ceravolo founded a seaplane airline. Full story here.
» This article is part of a business news roundup for Southeast Florida and includes briefs, people in the news.
Judge strikes down Florida's campus ban on early voting
A federal judge is telling Florida that college campuses can be used for early voting sites in this year's elections. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled Tuesday that the state's ban on using college and university campuses for early voting sites is unconstitutional. Walker ruled that a 2014 state opinion that banned early voting on campus violates three amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Walker's injunction directs Scott's chief elections official, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, to tell all 67 counties that they can use campus buildings for early voting this fall. [Source: AP] See the original 2014 ban from Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, here.
Summer of seaweed: Battle against smelly seaweed spreads on South Florida beaches
It has been an especially difficult battle lately with a dramatic increase in seaweed floating to South Florida and the Caribbean. From using heavier equipment to more frequent sweeps of the beaches, cities are working harder to clean it up. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Ratings agency ignites controversy over financial strength of Florida insurers
With Florida about to enter peak hurricane season, a state insurance association representing more than a dozen insurers in Florida is hitting back against a recent report from ratings agency Weiss Ratings that identified 10 Florida-based insurers as “weak.” [Source: Insurance Journal]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› National junior college golf championship coming to Viera
The junior college national golf championship tournament will be coming to Viera next May — giving a boost to both the sports sector and the tourism sector along the Space Coast.
› Florida Supreme Court justices to weigh FPL environmental costs
The Florida Public Service Commission filed a brief Monday urging the Supreme Court to uphold a decision that allows FPL to recover money from customers to deal with a saltwater plume that moved from a power-plant complex into nearby groundwater.
› Miami Dolphins want county and city dollars to move training camp to Miami Gardens
The Miami Dolphins want to move their training camp about 10 miles south from Davie to a new facility next to Hard Rock Stadium that would cost at least $50 million to build, a relocation across county lines that would be subsidized by Miami Gardens and Miami-Dade.
› Rehearing rejected in conservation funding case
A Leon County circuit judge has rejected the state’s request for rehearing in a battle about whether lawmakers properly carried out a 2014 constitutional amendment that required spending on land and water conservation.
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