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Monday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
A key 2020 constituency: Florida’s Hispanic vote nearly doubled in 2018
Florida’s Hispanic electorate grew by 81 percent between the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections, and Hispanics who registered to vote as independents grew by 101 percent, meaning Hispanics are the fastest-growing portion of Florida’s electorate heading into the 2020 election. The data shows that campaigns and candidates who make early investments in Spanish-language media and advertising efforts are reaching more potential voters in Florida than ever before. More from the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times.
Polk County returning to the small-farm lifestyle
The seeds of a new agriculture have taken root and are growing. The new agriculture is being built on a small scale and pointedly rejects the industrial, single-crop production model practiced on most commercial farms. “People are getting disconnected from their food. There’s a huge interest in wanting to know where your food comes from,” said Benny Glass, 35, of GlassRoots Farm and Haberdashery, an organic grower on four acres in North Lakeland. More from the Lakeland Ledger.
The nation’s largest private prisons operator is based in Florida. And profits are up
The national tab for incarceration comes to $182 billion a year. While most of that money is paid to public employees at public correctional facilities, a small but lucrative 4 percent goes to a lucrative and growing market for a myriad of private operators. The country’s largest: Boca Raton-based The Geo Group. Long-time Miamians know it better by its previous name: Wackenhut. More from the Miami Herald.
What's next for SpaceX after weekend accident?
SpaceX had appeared to be cruising to victory over Boeing in the race to be the first to launch astronauts to orbit from U.S. soil since NASA’s final shuttle mission in 2011. Details about what happened Saturday on a test stand at one of SpaceX’s two rocket landing pads are sparse. The company confirmed that after a series of successful tests of a Crew Dragon capsule, something went awry on the final test. More from Florida Today.
MIA’s forgotten workers: Low wages, poor treatment for many at Miami International Airport
Every day more than 45 million people pass through Miami International Airport. No other entity in the State of Florida produces more revenue than MIA – not even Disney World can touch the $31 billion the airport generates a year. But many airport workers do not share in that wealth. More from CBS Miami .
Florida Dining
Experience the gourmet dining of Wolfgang Puck's Spago at Disney Springs event
What happens when a celebrity chef selects the best menu items from his iconic restaurant in Los Angeles, then gathers his top chefs from around the country in one kitchen? Find out April 23 at Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill, which opened in November 2018 at Disney Springs. During the one-night event, “The Spago Experience,” dine as the beautiful people of Beverly Hills do.
» More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Out of the Box
Grisly crime scenes are her work place. Instagram loves it and a YouTube series is on the way.
People use Instagram with its many enhancing filters to make images look their best. “Fake,” Laura Spaulding calls it. She takes a different approach, using the social media platform to showcase some of the grisliest reality on earth — hoarder homes, bloody crime scenes, and other places she cleans for a living as the founder of Spaulding Decon.
» Read more from the Tampa Bay Times.
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