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Friday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida’s next unemployment crisis: running out of benefits before economy revives
Frustrated Floridians seeking unemployment compensation could face a new crisis in the coming months: exhausting their benefits before the state’s tourism-dependent economy bounces back from the coronavirus pandemic. Because Florida’s state benefits end at 12 weeks, Sunshine State workers could run out in September. But with the economy sagging, especially in the tourism sector so central to it, many of the jobs are unlikely to return by then. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
See also:
» Lawmakers seek independent federal probe of Florida’s problem-plagued unemployment benefits system
System south of Florida has 80 percent chance of becoming first named storm
Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center say a weather system off Florida’s coast now has an 80 percent chance of becoming the first named storm of the 2020 hurricane season. The trough of low pressure located over the Straits of Florida on Friday was already bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to the Florida Keys, portions of southeast Florida and the northwestern Bahamas. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
With Bar exams set for July, wave of worry for prospective Florida lawyers
Thousands of prospective Florida lawyers are likely to take the General Bar Examination in July. And that’s making a lot of people nervous. The exams, which applicants must pass to practice law in Florida, are set to be administered July 28 and 29 in Tampa and Orlando, with the threat of COVID-19 likely still looming. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Are you ready to gamble again? Hard Rock casinos could open in less than a month.
After a two-month shutdown, the Hard Rock Seminole casinos are preparing to open their doors in South Florida. In an appearance on Fox Business, Seminole Gaming CEO and Hard Rock International chairman Jim Allen said they’re aiming to relaunch their Florida casinos at the end of May or early June. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Voter registration mailers confuse some Florida residents
Operating with virtuous and trustworthy names, the Voter Participation Center and the Center for Voter Information have blanketed Florida residents with what it labels a historic effort to register voters for the 2020 election. But one recipient was certain — absolutely, positively — that the official-looking envelope that arrived in the mail at his Fort Lauderdale home last month, containing voter registration material and a “DO NOT DISCARD” warning, was problematic. The recipient was Supervisor of Elections Peter Antonacci. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Arts Business
Creative Clay is providing virtual workshops for art students
Perhaps you saw Creative Clay’s vans adorned with colorful artwork driving around St. Petersburg, in the Before Time. Driven by teaching artists, they would take the member artists around to various art galleries and museums, one aspect of the 25-year-old organization’s core Community Arts Program. That can’
t happen anymore. And neither can the studio time with teaching artists that helped more than 40 adult artists with neuro-differences create, market and sell their work.
» More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Out of the Box
In lockdown, bicycles are ‘the new toilet paper’
So many kinds of businesses have suffered so much during the coronavirus pandemic, but here’s one that’s not only endured but boomed. Like, crazy booming. Bicycle shops. “This has been the craziest six weeks of my life,” said Brian Corcoran, an owner of three Champion Cycling shops in Jacksonville. “I haven’t had a day off since March 6.”
» Read more from the Florida Times-Union.
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