March 29, 2024

Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 3/23/2021

Rising gas prices: sign of Florida's economy rebounding

Gas prices are on the rise. Experts say that’s happening for a number of reasons - mainly because life is starting to get back to “normal.” Compared to the height of the pandemic last year, gas prices nationwide today are nearly a dollar more per gallon. Florida Gulf Coast University Finance Professor Tom Smythe said that’s because things are slowly getting back to normal. “People are traveling more. People are getting back into job routines. Those that are going back into offices,” he said. More from Fox 4 Now.

Orlando trust raises enough to buy property along Lake Eola Park for green space

A trust launched by two lifelong Orlando residents, working with city officials, has raised enough money to buy a property along Lake Eola Park in order to prevent it from being developed and transform it into a green space, the group said Tuesday morning. Lynn Long and Eugenia Sefcik, who launched the Orlando Land Trust in 2019, are slated to announce the milestone alongside Mayor Buddy Dyer and other city officials this morning near the roughly 5,000-square-foot parcel on the corner of Rosalind Avenue and East Central Boulevard. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

DeSantis proposes federal money for workforce education efforts

Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking lawmakers to approve creating two workforce education programs by using $75 million in federal coronavirus relief funds. Speaking at a news conference Monday in Melbourne, DeSantis pitched using the money to launch what he’s calling the “Get There Faster Initiatives.” The proposed programs, one to serve high school students and another for adults, are aimed at speeding up pathways to receiving certificates and credentials for jobs. More from the News Service of Florida.

Overcharged? Some Hillsborough businesses slow to lower sales tax rate

A Florida Supreme Court order voided the penny-on-the-dollar Hillsborough County sales tax for transportation that had been collected since Jan. 1, 2019. The court issued the order Feb. 25 and it became final Monday, March 15. The next morning the Florida Department of Revenue issued a notice to the approximately 35,000 businesses in Hillsborough to stop collecting the 8.5 percent sales tax and to return to the previous amount of 7.5 percent. But a week later some businesses still hadn’t changed and some of their customers weren’t happy with the dawdling. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Royal Caribbean announces return to cruising this summer — from the Bahamas

It’s the news cruise enthusiasts have been awaiting for a year: Royal Caribbean International has announced it will again sail from North America this summer. Well, technically. Actually, the cruise line says it will be running a schedule of seven-day sailings aboard its Adventure of the Seas ship from Nassau, Bahamas. Travelers will have to fly or find a separate water service to Nassau. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Transportation
Miami Mayor Suarez envisions Musk-built mass transit system

 Miami Mayor Francis Suarez believes Elon Musk’s Boring Company tunnel-makers could build a new mass transit system in Miami’s urban core — a considerably larger vision than the original Brickell Avenue tunnel Musk initially proposed. Suarez and other local officials Friday visited Musk’s tunnel system under Las Vegas. In a Monday press conference outside city hall, Suarez said the visit helped clarify — and expand — how exactly the tunnels could be used in Miami.

» More from the Miami Herald.

 

Business Profile
Ocean Insight's technology is used across an array of industries

floridaDespite its name, Ocean Insight’s optical sensing technology is used across an array of industries and fields of academic research. Ocean Insight partnered with Lugo Machinery & Innovation in Israel, for instance, to devise an automated system that uses optical sensors and artificial intelligence-enabled algorithms to sort fruit for freshness based on its moisture content. The process can detect abnormalities that are invisible to the naked eye.

» Read more from Florida Trend.

Tags: Daily Pulse, Afternoon Pulse

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Facial recognition cameras in Florida city spark privacy concerns
Facial recognition cameras in Florida city spark privacy concerns

New security cameras in downtown Lakeland are raising concerns about privacy. The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority has begun installing 13 new security cameras on streets, sidewalks, and alleyways, and there are mixed feelings about them.

Video Picks | Viewpoints@FloridaTrend

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