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Monday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
In final days, Miami-Dade commission taking up $12M rail payment to Brightline
The nonbinding Brightline resolution would establish a framework for a final deal that could come months later if the new administration agrees. It’s part of the Monday agenda for the commission’s final scheduled meeting before five newly elected commissioners and Mayor-elect Daniella Levine Cava take office. At stake is a long-sought agreement with the for-profit companies that control the private tracks to launch a commuter rail system between Miami and Aventura, and then on to Broward and Palm Beach counties More from the Miami Herald.
Tampa seeks to parlay city land in booming West River to kickstart affordable housing
For years, sewer and water pipes have been stacked on the ground near the western bank of the Hillsborough River. It wasn’t exactly the highest and best use of valuable city property, located west of the Hillsborough River, east of Rome Avenue, south of Columbus Drive and north of Spruce Street, known as the “Rome Yard.” That could change in December when an ambitious city plan to transform the lot into a mixed-use project with the potential to kickstart development on the west side of the river meets the private market’s appetite for big-ticket development projects in a pandemic economy. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Astronauts arrive in Florida to ready for SpaceX launch to Space Station
The NASA and SpaceX Crew-1 mission is scheduled to launch Saturday evening. NASA sees the mission as a major step for its commercial crew program, which aims to routinely rotate crews on and off the International Space Station, while also laying the groundwork for future missions to the moon and Mars. More from WAMU.
Tampa seeks to parlay city land in booming West River to kickstart affordable housing
The Nature Conservancy's Florida Chapter estimates roughly 1,000 people were moving to Florida every day before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter's Executive Director Temperince Morgan says that rapid growth is stretching the state's water resources. Morgan says demand for freshwater will keep going up, especially in places like Central Florida, where more people are choosing to live. More from WUSF.
FAMU President Robinson to moderate session at HBCU Sustainability summit
Florida A&M University President Larry Robinson will serve as the moderator for a panel on corporate philanthropy and Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the Third Annual National Summit for Sustainability of HBCUs on Thursday, Nov. 12. Among the panelists for the “Corporate Philanthropy: A Corporate Response to the Challenges of Today and the Future,” are Carlos Brown of Dominion Energy, Mandell Jackson of Quest Diagnostics and Fred Lowery of Thermo Fisher Scientific. The 90-minute session begins at 11 a.m. More from the Tallahassee Democrat.
Cravings Corner
Groundbreaking on largest White Castle set a year after the location's announcement
Last year, White Castle announced that it would be making its return to the sunshine state with what will be the chain's largest restaurant. While the coronavirus pandemic may have altered plans behind the scenes, construction on the new location is finally set to begin. White Castle is set to break ground on the new location — the first location for the chain in Florida in about 50 years — in later this month.
» More from FOX Business.
Florida History
St. Petersburg historian says Ponce de León was killed in Safety Harbor
St. Augustine, founded in 1565, is considered the first successful European settlement in what is now the United States. But it has long been assumed that, in 1521, Charlotte Harbor was where Juan Ponce de León, the Spanish explorer and supposed seeker of the Fountain of Youth, was mortally wounded while failing to establish the first European settlement. Now, historian James MacDougald contends that rare German reprints of 500-year-old Spanish maps point to Safety Harbor as the locale.
» Read more from the Tampa Bay Times.
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