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Wednesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida sees a record 2,783 daily coronavirus cases as state total hits 80,000
Florida's confirmed coronavirus cases rose sharply again Tuesday, weeks after the state began reopening its economy, setting a daily record with almost 2,800 new cases reported as the overall count eclipsed 80,000 and the death toll neared 3,000. The state Department of Health reported 2,783 new confirmed cases, breaking the record of 2,581 just set on Friday. Both days are almost double the previous high of 1,601 set in mid-May. The state has reported 2,993 deaths, a one-day jump of 55. More from the AP, the Miami Herald, and the Orlando Sentinel.
See also:
» After biggest one-day coronavirus total, how bad could it get in Florida?
» How many people have recovered from coronavirus in Florida? It’s complicated
Florida businesses are reopening. So what about state government?
More than a month after Gov. Ron DeSantis began restarting Florida’s economy, his administration has not issued guidance for how state agencies should reopen offices to workers and the public. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many state workers have been working from home and have been following telework and sick leave policies issued in March by the Department of Management Services, an executive agency that oversees state personnel matters. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Florida Trend Exclusive
Ed Massey is a Florida Icon
Ed Massey talks about his 32 years leading one of the state’s top colleges. “It’s hard to figure out sometimes how you end up where you end up. But this was a good path for me, a fantastic path, and I hope it was a good path for everybody I worked with. I’m emotional about leaving this place. I know it’s a cliché, but this really hasn’t been a job to me. It’s been a lifestyle.” [Source: Florida Trend]
With eviction freeze extension, Florida landlords wonder how they’ll recover lost rent
Gov. DeSantis ordered the statewide stay on evictions April 2 and has twice extended it. The move was to prevent out-of-work renters from becoming homeless, though his office has stressed that it does not cancel rent obligations altogether for tenants. Hundreds of eviction cases have stacked up in Florida courts since then, leaving landlords fretting whether they will be able to recover the thousands they are owed from unemployed tenants who may be unable to pay ballooning back payments. Some also fear their tenants are taking advantage. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
2 Florida welcome centers are back, and they’re handing out face masks instead of orange juice
Two state-operated welcome centers opened to the public this week for the first time since March, while the coronavirus pandemic keeps two others shut down. And while the highway centers were once known for offering free orange juice to weary travelers, state workers at the reopened facilities on Interstate 10 near the Alabama border and Interstate 75 near the Georgia border are providing free face masks as part of COVID-19 protocols. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› How Tampa Bay tourism is faring
Hotels in the Tampa Bay area had their second best month ever in February. But, what a difference a month makes. When the coronavirus pandemic heated up shortly afterward, hotel occupancy tanked nearly 70 percent. Even in the midst of all of this - the Tampa Bay area still had the third-highest occupancy rate of all metro areas in the nation.
› Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium drive-in movie theater to open Friday
The drive-in movie theater at Hard Rock Stadium will make its debut on Friday, June 19, with timely Juneteenth screening of Ava DuVernay’s critically lauded 2014 civil-rights drama “Selma.” The film will be shown on four large video boards inside the stadium for an audience in cars parked on the field — home to the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes — as well as on a large screen outside for fans set up on the Fountain Plaza.
› SeaWorld has fallen behind on millions of dollars in construction bills, including Iron Gwazi and Ice Breaker roller coasters
A growing number of contractors are pressuring SeaWorld to pay its bills. In Orange County alone, vendors have filed at least 56 liens totaling about $16 million since April, according to a review of public records by the Orlando Sentinel. The disputed contracts are stacking up at other SeaWorld properties including in Tampa and California, records show.
› Miami-Dade chosen for new Rockefeller initiative to boost minority business
A Rockefeller Foundation effort to combat economic inequality selected Miami-Dade County as one of 10 places nationwide for the nonprofit’s newest initiative: the Rockefeller Foundation Opportunity Collective. Launched Tuesday, the collective has pledged an initial $10 million across the locations to invest in partners and projects that help eliminate barriers for Black, Latino and women-owned businesses.
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