March 28, 2024

Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 7/30/2019

Proposal to revamp Florida primary elections heads to Supreme Court

A proposed constitutional amendment that would revamp Florida’s primary-elections process has been formally sent to the state Supreme Court for review of the ballot wording. The proposal, which supporters hope to place on the November 2020 ballot, would allow all registered voters to cast ballots in primaries, regardless of political affiliation. The two candidates getting the most votes in each primary would advance to the general election. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Tampa Bay Times.

NFIB: Florida shoppers should support small businesses during back to school sales tax holiday

With the Sunshine State getting ready for a tax-free back to school shopping holiday later this week, the executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in Florida offered a reminder to support small businesses. On Monday, Bill Herrle, the state executive director of NFIB, pointed to the tax-free holiday which will run from August 2 through August 6. Traditionally, these are the busiest shopping days in Florida outside Black Friday. More from Florida Daily.

See also:
» Study: Sales tax holidays don’t help states’ economies

St. Petersburg innovation incubator wins $7.5 million federal grant

The Trump administration on Monday awarded Pinellas County $7.5 million to help build the proposed $12 million Tampa Bay Innovation Center Incubator near downtown St. Petersburg. The county has agreed to put up the remaining $4.5 million to pay for the project, a 45,000-square-foot facility to be built on 2.5 acres owned by the city, according to county records. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Record summer shaping up for Orlando International Airport

More than 4.3 million passengers went through Orlando International Airport in May, launching what is shaping up to be a record-breaking summer for Florida’s busiest airport. Airport officials said Monday that passenger traffic at the airport increased 8% in May from the previous year. The airport had 3.7 million domestic travelers and almost 615,000 international passengers in May. More from the AP.

Facing a seaweed ‘crisis’ on the beach, Miami-Dade’s preparing to haul away sea grass

Miami-Dade leaders are scrambling to tackle an unprecedented inundation of sargassum this summer. After weeks of using tractors to churn the seaweed back into the surf, the county this week plans to deploy bulldozers, front-end loaders and dump trucks to actually scoop up the unwanted grass and haul it away. More from the Miami Herald.

Building today's student housing -- The average dorm is not the norm

Universities are growing in attendance at an unprecedented rate. The demand for additional student housing will continue to increase over the next decade. Adding to the challenge are not only space and time constraints, but requirements for the actual living space. Today’s student housing is very different from the communal, no frill dorms some of us remember in our college days. [Sponsored report]

Out of the Box
Tampa Bay Rays minor league baseball player converts bus into tiny house

 Baseball pitching prospect Jack Labosky knows there’s a long road ahead to make it to the big leagues, but he will be traveling in style. The 23-year-old Duke graduate and his girlfriend, Madi Hiatt, bought a 1999 International school bus and converted it into their home on wheels. The minor league Charlotte Stone Crabs right-handed pitcher figured that investing $14,000 to $15,000 into the project would pay for itself in rent savings in about a year.

» More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

 

Consumer Protection
5 tips for dealing with the Capital One breach

floridaIn the aftermath of Capital One’s announcement on Monday that roughly 100 million credit card applications had been compromised in a data breach, exposing an estimated 77,000 bank account numbers and 140,000 Social Security numbers, many consumers likely have questions and concerns for their own wallets. With that in mind, the free-credit-score website WalletHub has some tips for how potential victims can keep their financial info safe.

Tags: Daily Pulse, Afternoon Pulse

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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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