March 29, 2024

Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 2/12/2019

Florida taxpayers could be in for smaller tax refunds

Rachel Katz usually receives a tax refund of about $2,000 to $3,000. The Seminole Heights resident expected about the same this year, given that little changed in her financial life. Instead, she’s getting about $700. The jolt stems from changes to the tax code made near the end of 2017. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the South Florida Reporter.

Florida stadiums strike out on state money

Florida lawmakers are taking another run at eliminating an unused pool of sales-tax dollars intended for building and improving professional sports facilities. In past years, House leaders have blocked efforts to dip into the funding pool, which has also tempered efforts to repeal the program. More from CBS Miami.

Judge won’t end decades-old Everglades cleanup oversight

A judge has refused to end a decades-old court order that oversees water quality in the Florida Everglades. Miami U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno on Monday rejected a motion by the South Florida Water Management District to end a decree signed in 1992. More from the AP and TCPalm.

TripAdvisor joins growing list of home-share platforms paying tourism taxes to Orange County

TripAdvisor and affiliates like vacation-home rental networks HouseTrip and FlipKey have voluntarily agreed to pay Orange County taxes on stays booked through the sites, the comptroller’s office announced Monday. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Tourists will overrun Miami on Presidents’ Day weekend. Here’s a look at the main events.

The Miami Yacht Show, Miami International Boat Show, Coconut Grove Art Festival, Art Wynwood fair, and the Design District’s luxury watch and car shows will make the long weekend one of Miami’s busiest tourism weekends of the year. For the past five years, average hotel occupancy during Friday-Monday of Presidents’ Day weekend has hovered around 89 percent, far above the 77 percent yearly average for those years. More from the Miami Herald.

Business Profile
Poppo’s Taqueria

 When Patrick, Casey and Rowen Coleman started Poppo’s Taqueria in 2013, it started out as something they thought they’d do for fun. Now, the Manatee County-based, family-owned restaurant chain has three new locations in the works.

» More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

 

Out of the Box
Dunston’s Shoe Hospital

show hospitalRobert Dunston keeps hammering away at the heel of a cowboy boot as he talks in a cluttered store reminiscent of a Harry Potter set, with shoes on top of shoes, some dusty, some more recent. Dunston, 86, said he started repairing shoes after he graduated sixth grade in 1952. He bought the store in Eustis in 1976 and renamed it Dunston’s Shoe Hospital — and the rest is, well, history.

» Read more from the Gainesville Sun.

Tags: Daily Pulse, Afternoon Pulse

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Florida Trend Video Pick

Bitter-to-swallow cocoa costs force chocolate shops to raise prices
Bitter-to-swallow cocoa costs force chocolate shops to raise prices

Central Floirda chocolate shops are left with a bitter taste as cocoa prices hit an all-time high earlier this week.

Video Picks | Viewpoints@FloridaTrend

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