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Wednesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› UF/IFAS awarded 1st Ph.D. plant breeding program in Florida, one of few in USA
Working in labs and fields across Florida, a new generation of students will start earning a Ph.D. in plant breeding from the University of Florida – the first program of its kind in Florida and one of a few in the nation. The UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences has received approval from the Florida Board of Governors to start the program. Seven students are in the first cohort to begin in August.
› Lawsuit over odors from Westside Jacksonville chemical plant dismissed with no findings
A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit by Murray Hill homeowners who argued “noxious odors” from a Westside Jacksonville chemical plant were keeping them from enjoying their houses and wrecking their property values. U.S. District Judge Brian Davis didn’t rule on the residents’ case against IFF Chemical Holdings Inc., which residents tried to turn into a class-action suit on behalf of thousands of people downwind from the factory.
› Central Florida tourism leaders see high hopes, challenges in post-pandemic
Tourism is coming back toward the level it was in Central Florida — but it won’t be the way it was. With demand for hotel rooms, convention space, and tourism reaching peak levels already in the summer of 2021, Central Florida’s tourism industry — the heart of Florida’s tourism industry — is challenged with finding labor and adjusting to some of the other post-pandemic changes in the economy.
› $22.8M landscaping firm moves up in Top 150 list
ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design, based in Venice, has moved up in Landscape Management magazine’s Top 150 list. The list highlights the highest, revenue-generating landscape firms in the country. ArtisTree went from 120 to 110 on the list with $22.8 million in revenue for 2020. The 31-year-old company is the only independently owned company in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties to make the list, according to a press release.
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