Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 1/15/2019

Florida ranked the best state in which to retire

Florida, long a beacon for retirees, is rated the best state to retire to, according to a new study by WalletHub.com. The survey looked at affordability, quality of life, and quality of health care. See the press release from Wallethub and read more from WKRG and CBS Miami.

Offshore oil drilling in Florida still possible despite ban

Floridians took a stand against offshore oil drilling Nov. 6 by voting their opposition into the state constitution, where it's almost certain to stay for at least a generation. So did passage of Amendment 9, the new ban on drilling in Florida coastal waters, solve the problem? More from U.S. News & World Report.

Lakeland, developers present plan for a ‘Better Downtown’

A work of informed imagination — combined with far-ranging plans for the city — shows Lakeland’s downtown bridging the Florida Avenue chasm, bringing business to a new urban corporate park, crossing into an expanded entertainment area and, most of all, going up, up, up. More from the Lakeland Ledger.

Red tide sullied shorelines and business in Sarasota-Manatee

The economic damage red tide caused may be hard to calculate — a single, definitive source is lacking — but informal local and state studies show the environmental disaster caused by the harmful algae inflicted millions of dollars in damages to Sarasota and Manatee businesses, and took a toll on Florida’s tourism. More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Orlando and Duke Energy may put solar panels, huge battery at sewage plant

Orlando and Duke Energy are considering setting up a “microgrid” solar station, with an enormous battery and thousands of solar panels, to power the city’s Iron Bridge sewage plant near UCF. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Turning surgical waste into green profits

Healthcare supply rebel WestCMR has transformed the surplus surgical supply marketplace. In turn, the company is empowering hospitals and surgery centers on both sides of the equation to improve their procurement practices. Read the full sponsored report here.

Florida Nature
Florida pulls Keys’ ospreys from endangered animals list as numbers climb statewide

The Florida Keys’ ospreys, the fierce fish hawks whose massive nests dot utility poles, channel markers and nesting platforms up and down the ribbon of islands, will no longer be listed as an imperiled species by the state. Some had wanted the Keys’ birds listed as their own distinct population.

» More from the Miami Herald.

Out of the Box
'Real python hunters don't wear gloves'

The husband-and-wife team of Geoff and Robbie Roepstorff founded Edison National Bank in 1997 in Fort Myers. The bank has since grown to four branches in Lee County. The couple spends most weekends — and romantic occasions — tracking down and removing pythons from the Everglades.