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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
State weighs in on drug importation lawsuit
Gov. Ron DeSantis has jumped into an ongoing legal fight between pharmaceutical companies and the federal government over rules that would open the door to Florida importing drugs from Canada. The state Agency for Health Care Administration, at DeSantis’ direction, filed a friend-of-the-court brief Tuesday siding with the federal government in a lawsuit filed in November by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. More from the News Service of Florida.
Future looks good for fantasy sports games in Florida
The Legislature’s rejection of a fantasy sports bill turned out to be just what the fantasy sports business needed. Officially, the big fantasy sports companies such as FanDuel, DraftKings, and Bet MGM lost big, twice, in the Special Session, when the Legislature refused to come up with a regulatory framework and then handed sports betting to the Seminole Tribe of Florida as a monopoly. Yet the Seminole Compact also gave fantasy sports what it needed. The Seminole Compact now explicitly defines fantasy sports, saying they are games of skill, not games of chance. More from Florida Politics.
80% of cruise enthusiasts would prefer to sail with vaccine requirement
Eighty percent of likely cruisers want to resume sailing on ships that require vaccinations, according to a survey conducted over the Memorial Day weekend by the consumer-focused travel website CruiseCritic.com. Results of the poll, which generated 5,025 responses, indicate that a majority of cruise industry consumers do not agree with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to extend his “vaccine passport” ban to the cruise industry. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
COVID hits Central Florida tax rolls, but real estate values still grow
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, which shuttered office buildings, hotels, restaurants and even theme parks a year ago, real estate in Central Florida proved to be a resilient economic force, especially residential property values that skyrocketed. Orange County’s residential market hit a new high — $106.5 billion in value, up 6.5% over pre-pandemic 2020, Property Appraiser Amy Mercado said in her mid-year update required by state law. Estimated taxable values, used by governments to craft their budgets, were up in most counties and cities. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Miami-Dade looks to a Center for Genetics of the Americas
While Miami-Dade is already working to attract genetics-focused organizations and businesses, more can still be done, including the possible creation of a Center for Genetics of the Americas, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s administration says. The genetics industry – which encompasses life science, healthcare, agriculture and genomic research, among others areas – is one of several sectors targeted in the Beacon Council’s “One Community One Goal” economic development initiative. More from Miami Today.
Out of the Box
Where wild mustangs from the West come for Florida ‘healing’
What you likely don’t picture when you think of wild horses are the mossy oak trees of flat, green Webster, Florida, where the Wild Horse Rescue Center is spread over 30-plus shady acres. That is where Pinto the Oregon mustang arrived recently, skinny and frightened, after he was rescued from a “kill auction” in Louisiana. Wild Horse Rescue Center founder and president Diane Delano has for several decades devoted her life to working with mustangs, the free-roaming horses managed and protected by the Bureau of Land Management as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.”
» More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Business Profile
Plant City berry farm's new state-of-the-art headquarters a nod to the future and the past
Driving down Interstate 4 between Tampa and Lakeland, past the farmland, car dealerships, gas stations, homes and warehouses that line road, one building sticks out. It’s a contemporary structure with huge windows that's covered in blonde wood. It's sitting on an immaculate campus right before an exit with a Denny’s, a Circle K and a Burger King. It looks like something you’d see in Scandinavia — not Plant City. The seemingly out-of-place building is the headquarters of Wish Farm, the new home of a family business that traces its roots back to the 1900s.
» Read more from the Business Observer.
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