Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 11/30/2018

Hurricane season is over but the Panhandle is still digging out

Nearly two months after Hurricane Michael, and with the hurricane season finally coming to an end today, Panama City, Mexico Beach and other parts of the Panhandle slammed by the strongest storm on record to hit the region are still scrambling to recover. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

» See also: Timelapse video shows entire 2018 hurricane season, from space

Sanford airport, once a tiny airfield, now ready for its 3 millionth passenger

A fast-growing number of Central Florida travelers prefer flying from the small Sanford airport, which is on pace to handle 3 million passengers for the first time this year. That’s a nearly 3 percent jump from last year and a 63 percent increase from 2008. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Builders keep adding workers in Southwest Florida

The labor squeeze in Southwest Florida’s construction industry continues to show signs of improvement. Construction employment in the region was 2,000 workers higher in October compared with October 2017, a 7.3 percent growth rate, the Associated General Contractors of America reported Thursday. More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

FPL wins top utility reliability award for year it battled Hurricane Irma

Florida Power & Light Co., which provides electric power to nearly half the state, has been named the winner of a “reliability excellence” award. Industry group PA Consulting gave FPL the 2018 award for reliability in 2017, which is when the utility faced nearly statewide outages from that September’s Hurricane Irma. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

UTC spin-off company with $18 billion in revenue to be based in South Florida

United Technologies will base one of its spin-off companies in South Florida after announcing plans to split into three separate entities. The Climate, Controls and Security division will be based in Palm Beach Gardens, making it one of the largest public companies with headquarters in South Florida. More from the South Florida Business Journal.

Around the State
Monkey Business: Jacksonville's zoo goes out on a limb

Inside the new African Forest exhibit at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, a concrete replica of a kapok tree rises nearly 50 feet from the ground. On a given day, visitors might see a bonobo climbing through the tree or a gorilla wandering along a connecting trail — part of the zoo’s efforts to provide more stimulation for the animals. The $9-million exhibit replaces the Great Apes Loop, which, built in 1998, reflected older thinking about how to treat animals in zoos.

» More from Florida Trend.

Arts Business
Two Banksy exhibits are coming to Miami Art Week — and one of them has him really mad

“The Art of Banksy,” a showcase of 80 original works created by the enigmatic street artist, makes its U.S. premiere Dec. 1 at Magic City Studios in Little Haiti. The show, curated by his former manager Steve Lazarides, bills itself as “unauthorized,” since Banksy did not participate in its curation and does not approve of charging people anything more than a nominal admission to see his work.