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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida businesses relying on tourism hope to recover from pandemic lows
With Florida's tourism high season rapidly approaching, tourism officials, hotel, motel, and restaurant owners are hoping for a solid comeback after almost two years of a COVID-impacted economy. Looking ahead, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association issued numbers indicating business travel would be down 61% compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic hit. More from CBS Miami.
Florida finally wins approval for summer food stamp program helping children in poverty
It’s official: After weeks of pleas from education and anti-hunger advocates and finger-pointing by politicians, Florida has become one of the last states in the nation to win federal approval for a one-time pandemic food stamp boost of more than $1 billion for children in poverty. The program will provide an extra $375 in benefits to families of an estimated 2.7 million children statewide. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Environmental group: Florida pollution enforcement fell into 'COVID coma'
The state agency most responsible for keeping sewage out of the Indian River Lagoon and drinking water safe went too soft on violators last year, according to a nonprofit group of public employees. Despite a tripling in overall penalty amounts — driven by a handful of big fines — the Florida Department of Environmental Protection let most polluters off easy in 2020, especially during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), concludes. More from Florida Today.
Miami commissioners push to ban use of scooters
The scooter program in the City of Miami may be running on empty when it comes to continued support from elected leaders. Proposed legislation to make the current pilot scooter program permanent is in jeopardy as city Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla is expressing a desire to end the program for good. More from Miami Today.
St. Petersburg’s Vinoy hotel planning remodel for 2022
At nearly 100 years of age, the Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort is getting a facelift. The iconic hotel overlooking the downtown St. Petersburg’s waterfront has announced plans for a “comprehensive transformation” in the coming months, with the lobby, ballroom, restaurants, spa, guest rooms and veranda all getting updates by 2022. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Transportation
Brightline train rolls off California factory line for delivery to Florida
At nearly 500 feet long, more than a million pounds and redolent of leather upholstery, Brightline’s newest train consisting of two locomotives and four coaches rolled out of a Sacramento factory this week for delivery to Florida. Brightline will receive five trains in the coming months in anticipation of opening passenger service from South Florida to Orlando International Airport by early 2023.
» More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Profile
Florida civil rights activist Desmond Meade among ‘genius grant’ recipients
Desmond Meade, who led a successful years-long effort to grant voting rights to Floridians with felony convictions, was awarded a prestigious MacArthur “genius grant” on Tuesday. Meade, 54, was one of the primary architects of Amendment 4, which nearly two-thirds of voters approved in 2018. Its passage allowed an estimated 1.4 million Floridians to register to vote, which was considered the nation’s greatest expansion of voting rights in decades until Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers enacted a law limiting the amendment’s scope.
» Read more from the Tampa Bay Timesand the Orlando Sentinel.
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