March 28, 2024

Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 2/15/2019

Gov. DeSantis wants to expand scholarships for private schools

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday his proposal for an “equal opportunity scholarship” to supplement the state’s Tax Credit Scholarship program. He said the new scholarship would be equal in size and purpose to the tax credit scholarship program — one of the nation’s largest school choice initiatives — in order to get more needy children into the schools that can best serve them. More from Tampa Bay Times and the AP.

When snowbirds flock to St. Augustine, business soars

As soon as the temperatures dip in places north and west, the snowbird season begins in full earnest in St. Augustine. Out-of-state visitors come from all areas of the country, but the highest percentage are from Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York. The greatest number of foreign visitors are from Canada. Of course, the annual migration of seasonal guests helps inject money into many sectors of the local economy. More from the St. Augustine Record.

FSC builds upon history of civic leadership though statewide educational program

Florida Southern College announced today the next phase of its decades-long civics education program. At a Celebration of Our Freedoms luncheon that drew an audience including trustees, civic leaders, friends, and alumni, the College announced that recently retired Florida Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis will join the faculty as the College’s first Eminent Professor of Law and Letters. In his new position, Justice Lewis will teach FSC students and direct community programs focusing on civics and government. Read the full announcement here.

Related Florida Trend Content
» Video Q&A: Interview with Anne Kerr of Florida Southern College

Number of hepatitis A cases in Florida growing

Cases of hepatitis A in the state of Florida are climbing and the Tampa Bay area is a hot spot contributing to that rise. In 2018, the number of hepatitis A cases in Florida was more than triple the usual annual rates over the past five years. So far, 2019 is on track to be even worse. More from WTVT.

At Florida's gateway to space, archaeologists are in a race against time

Long before Cape Canaveral became home to advanced aerospace technologies, indigenous people and early settlers developed their own tools to live on the beaches and the swampy lands that would eventually become the gateway to space. Now, in a race against time, archaeologists from all over the state are hurrying to uncover and document the undiscovered archaeological sites across the Cape before they are eroded and lost to humankind forever. More from Florida Today.

Transportation
Feel like your life is wasting away sitting in Miami traffic? This study confirms it

 If it feels like your life is wasting away while you’re sitting in Miami traffic, you’re not imagining things. Miami metro area drivers waste more than four days of their life a year sitting in traffic, according to a new study. If you live to age 75, it means you will have lost 300 days of your life behind someone’s bumper in the Magic City and its environs.

» More from the Miami Herald.

 

Out of the Box
Old Florida law says Disney can build a nuclear power plant. Legislators could change that.

floridaThe Mouse has always been powerful, but who knew it had the right to split atoms? A 52-year-old state law says Disney World’s government can build a nuclear power plant on its property in Orlando — an example of the resort’s political leverage it had in creating the Magic Kingdom in 1971.

» Read more from the Orlando Sentinel.

Tags: Daily Pulse, Afternoon Pulse

In case you missed it:

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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