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Tuesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Lake Okeechobee plan fosters east side-west side split among Florida Republicans
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed Lake Okeechobee release schedule unveiled last week appears to favor environmental concerns over agriculture and development, but the real divide between proponents and opponents is an east side-west side story. Communities east of Lake Okeechobee are pleased because the plan reduces harmful discharges into the St. Lucie Estuary and increases flows into the Everglades by 52% during the dry season – tactics designed to stymie blue algae outbreaks that befouled the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers in 2019.
› Development of grocer, boutique hotel near St. Armands Circle takes step closer
A proposal that could reshape St. Armands Circle by adding a hotel and the barrier island's first grocer took a step closer after a July memo from the city's attorney laid out how it could be done. The potential development would see a 15,000-square-foot Morton's Gourmet Market, a 98-bed boutique hotel and six townhouses developed on two acres of city-owned land now used as a surface parking lot on Fillmore Drive.
› Global Peace Film Festival returns this fall with hybrid event
The 19th annual Global Peace Festival returns this fall in Central Florida. The lineup has not yet been announced, but the Global Peace Film Festival is a topical festival that looks at peace “incredibly holistically,” said Nina Streich, the festival’s executive director.
› Hanania has contract to buy former Stein Mart headquarters on Southbank
Jacksonville-based Hanania Automotive Group owner and CEO Jack Hanania has a contract to buy the former Stein Mart building on the Downtown Southbank for $20.6 million. He intends to move his corporate headquarters there and put the Hanania name on the building.
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