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Monday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Heart of Florida headquarters humming to life
The new home of the Heart of Florida Health Center continues to take shape in what was once a grocery store. With nearly 70% of the work done, the group hopes to start moving operations to the location by June 1. The organization bought the former Albertsons location in late 2018 for $2.9 million and started renovations of the 67,000-square-foot space last April.
› Pasco County park reels 'em in at annual Fishing Festival
The event, now in its 23rd year has grown exponentially. Sponsors include Pasco County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Fish Florida. 12 years ago, about 50 people came out for what was then a more intimate and more involved teaching of the sport. More than 1,000 attended the 2019 festival, drawn in part by free fishing rods offered to the first 300 attendees.
› Python hunters chase down 80 slithering snakes ahead of Super Bowl
As football fans prepared to descend on South Florida, hunters were fighting off a different invader: Burmese pythons. In 10 days, snake wranglers captured 80 pythons in the Everglades National Park an effort to hinder their decimation of South Florida’s ecosystem. The competition, dubbed the Florida Python Challenge 2020 Python Bowl, is one of a number of events being put on in conjunction with the 2020 Super Bowl.
› JTA, city launch new program to help Northside residents get to grocery stores
A new program aimed at alleviating food deserts in Northside neighborhoods will begin next month by the city of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. Beginning Feb. 1, the “Door to Store” pilot program is designed to provide complimentary rides to grocery stores for residents living in the JTA’s Northside ReadiRide zone.
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