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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Will our Florida beaches lose their national rankings because of sargassum seaweed?
A seaweed scourge on Florida’s southeast coast could mean a downgrade in national rankings released each year by Dr. Beach with one popular park already taking a hit. Dr. Beach, whose real name is Stephen Leatherman, director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research, grades America’s beaches on a 50-point scale that includes whether the shore is awash in stinky, buggy, scratchy sargassum. This summer is the second consecutive year mats of seaweed have menaced South Florida from the Keys to the Treasure Coast. More from the Daily Commercial.
Tampa Bay area businesses hope to expand global customer base in Brazil
Brews, booze, and a bird’s eye view in Brazil mean big business for the Bay Area. The Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation worked with the economic development leaders in Pinellas and Pasco counties to send 3 Daughters Brewing, American Freedom Distillery and six other businesses to Sao Paolo Monday as part of a program to help small businesses grow into international exports. More from WTVT.
Boca community garden forced to make way for Brightline station
Brightline will plant a station where a community garden now sits, hoping to grow its ridership and connect South Florida to one of the area’s business hubs. The plan means gardeners who have invested in the downtown green space for almost a decade will have to start another garden from scratch. It’s taken that long to cultivate a flourishing food forest of fruits and vegetables, a wildflower walk of native Florida plants and almost 100 rented plots for individual gardens. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
SpaceX finally launches satellite for company whose payload it lost in 2016 explosion
After a 2016 explosion of a SpaceX rocket destroyed its satellite, Israeli satellite manufacturer Spacecom got a free do-over with Elon Musk’s rocket company. This time, everything went as planned. A Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s launch complex 40 at 7:23 p.m. Tuesday night, carrying with it an updated version of the satellite. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Second case of local dengue fever confirmed in Florida this year — both in Miami-Dade
A locally acquired case of dengue fever has been confirmed in Miami-Dade, the Florida Department of Health said in an advisory on mosquito-borne illnesses. The warning Tuesday is the second reported locally acquired case of dengue fever in Florida this year — both in Miami-Dade. The first case was in March. More from the Miami Herald.
Out of the Box
Florida couple poses for engagement photos in Publix
Maybe Publix needs a romance aisle. A Florida couple recently took their engagement photos at a Publix in Lakeland where they met three years ago as employees. The photos captured the couple strolling through the store, posing in the floral area and in the frozen foods section, leaning over a shopping cart and sharing a smooch through a bag of potato chips.
» More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Business Profile
Wall Crawl, an Instagram-worthy photo studio, opens in Parramore
A new photo studio has opened in Orlando’s Parramore neighborhood, and it’s more Instagram-worthy than wherever you might go to have a picture taken for your Christmas card. Wall Crawl, which recently opened on Orlando’s Church Street, is a colorful indoor space that features more than 20 picture-perfect walls to help capture that perfect selfie pose.
» Read more from the Orlando Sentinel.
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