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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Disney posts $2.8 billion annual loss after summer of theme park woes
With the movie and theme park industries still reeling from the disastrous impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Walt Disney Company on Thursday posted a rare annual loss of $2.8 billion during the 2019-20 fiscal year. Since the start of the pandemic, Disney parks' staggering losses more than wiped out any early profits from what had started out as another standard banner year. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Florida’s minimum wage increase could help and hurt home healthcare
Voters’ Nov. 3 decision to raise Florida’s minimum wage from $8.56 to $15 per hour by 2026 may increase wages for some workers but also may put financial pressure on home healthcare agencies, causing some to lay off workers or even go out of business, according to the Home Care Association of Florida. [Source: McKnight Senior Living]
Port Canaveral CEO tempers 2021 expectations, but bullish on cruise future
Port Canaveral has not had a good year because of COVID-19, and while 2021 shows some rays of light for a return to cruising, Port CEO Capt. John Murray said there are a lot of uncertainties. In his annual State of the Port speech given Thursday, Murray went through the financial realities of the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 after cruises shut down around the world in mid-March. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
As COVID-19 surges in Florida again, symptoms linger in patients from the first two waves — a warning of the virus’ long-term effects
With Florida entering what health experts say is a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, many patients who contracted the virus during Florida’s first two waves continue to battle debilitating symptoms, a growing indication of the long-term effects of COVID-19. Researchers estimate that at least 10% of coronavirus patients still have symptoms long after the virus has left their bodies. [Source: Sun Sentinel]
Tourism bureaus in Southwest Florida pivot marketing strategies amid pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has forced Lee and Collier counties to rethink the way they market themselves to tourists. Tourism bureaus in both counties have developed new messaging — and new strategies — to reach willing travelers amid the COVID-19 outbreak. [Source: Naples News]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Bay County small businesses seek COVID relief money as grant application period opens
Bay County’s restaurant, shop and hotel owners are wasting no time trying to recoup pandemic-related costs. Eighty small business owners and nonprofits submitted applications for coronavirus relief grants in less than 24 hours after an online portal opened at noon on Wednesday, said Griff Griffiths, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners.
› Miami-based Black entrepreneurship growth center awarded $2 million investment
Being a Black entrepreneur just got a little bit easier. The Center for Black Innovation, a Miami-based organization focused on increasing entrepreneurship in the African-American community, received more than $2 million in investment courtesy of the Knight Foundation, Surdna Foundation and Comcast NBCUniversal.
› Weather looks good for ULA launch; astronauts rehearse SpaceX mission to ISS
Weather conditions around Cape Canaveral Air Force Station should be favorable for the launch of an Atlas V rocket Friday, a mission slated just one day before four astronauts take flight from neighboring Kennedy Space Center. If schedules hold, the Space Force on Thursday said conditions should be 90% "go" for United Launch Alliance's 5:13 p.m. liftoff.
› SFWMD seeks $64 million to finish EAA reservoir's STA to cut Lake Okeechobee discharges
The reservoir project to cut Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers got $64 million closer to completion Thursday. The South Florida Water Management District board agreed to officially ask for a transfer of the $64 million the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis set aside earlier this year for the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir Project.
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