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Friday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida hasn’t issued any fines under its ‘vaccine passport’ law so far
Florida is investigating 43 businesses or governments for possibly violating the state’s 2-week-old COVID “vaccine passport” law, but no one has yet been issued a $5,000 fine, health officials said Thursday. “Applicable entities that are found to be in violation will be fined,” said Department of Health communications director Weesam Khoury. More from the Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Need a job? Your local school district probably has one.
Classes started weeks ago, but Florida school systems continue to seek teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and more. Getting potential candidates to show an interest — even if just a handful — represents a step toward better serving students and their families, who lately have seen late bus rides, long cafeteria lines, unstaffed classes and more. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Miami-Dade needs more electric vehicles on the road. New charging stations will help
The electric vehicle market is booming in Florida, and Miami-Dade County is getting in on the action. Thursday morning, the county unveiled a new electric car charging station in a county-owned garage, one of five in a new partnership with OBE Energy, which runs the second-largest private charging station fleet in the state after Tesla. More from the Miami Herald.
COVID-19 summer surge slowing in Jacksonville area: 'We are not there yet, but on our way'
On Aug. 10, at the height of the COVID-19 summer surge, UF Health Jacksonville's two hospitals had 269 patients with the virus. By Sept. 22 their daily count was 57, a drop of almost 79 percent. The declining COVID-19 patient volume at UF Health echoes that of other area hospitals in recent weeks. It's good news but not a reason to let our collective guard down, at least not yet, said Dr. Chirag Patel, assistant chief medical officer at UF Health Jacksonville. More from the Florida Times-Union.
Business surges at Port Manatee during pandemic
While the rest of the world was on pause in 2020, Port Manatee kept chugging away. “The port never closed for 10 minutes during 2020,” Port Manatee Executive Director Carlos Buqueras said at a recent Manatee Chamber of Commerce Headliners event, noting people still relied on the port to provide fuel. “We’re open more than Publix.” More from the Business Observer.
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Business Beat - Week of October 1st
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video news brief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Out of the Box
Are robots the future of Tampa Bay dining? This restaurant owner thinks so
There’s no debating that current staffing shortages have put restaurants in a real bind. Could robots be the answer? John Zhao, whose South Tampa Vietnamese restaurant, Pho 813, is the first local eatery to utilize robot technology, certainly thinks so.
» Read more from the Tampa Bay Times.
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