March 28, 2024

Tuesday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 4/5/2022

Economy adds 431K jobs in March. Will Florida see more tourists?

The US unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% in March, and with more people working, Don Wiggins, the CEO of Heritage Capitol Group, predicts this will boost tourism rates in the Sunshine State. “The tourism is definitely going to make a comeback — it already has made a comeback,” said Wiggins. Right now, there’s an uptick in air travel. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the strongest travel demand is for domestic and short-haul international trips. [Source: WJXT]

New York running ads amid Florida controversy

New York City launched an ad campaign Monday that takes aim at the controversial new Florida law that critics call the “don’t say gay” bill. The campaign will use digital billboards in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach, according to a New York City news release. The law (HB 1557) will prohibit instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third-grade. More from the News Service of Florida and the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida's yo-yo'ing gas prices on the decline after double-digit increase last week

Florida’s gasoline prices, although still above $4 a gallon, are on the decline following a month of rising costs and a 13-cent jump just in the last week. The average price of gas on Sunday was $4.17 a gallon, a drop of 7 cents in the last five days, according to the weekly briefing by AAA-The Auto Club Group. The latest decline, however, is part of a long-term yo-yo effect that has caused motorists to change their driving habits. [Source: Northwest Florida Daily News]

42% of Florida’s employees make less than $15 an hour

Only three other states do worse than Florida in the number of workers making under $15 an hour. According to Axios, Mississippi, New Mexico, and South Carolina also have high numbers of employees making less than $15 an hour. Florida voters approved gradually increasing wages from $8.65 an hour to $15 an hour by 2026. Currently, the minimum wage in Florida is $10 an hour which workers say is not a living wage.  [Source: WMNF]

NASA hits new snag with Artemis test at KSC, could threaten Axiom mission

NASA looked to complete its Artemis moon rocket tanking test at Kennedy Space Center after an issue forced a scrub on Sunday, but a new valve issue forced mission managers to call it off again. NASA officials had already pulled the plug Sunday on the tanking test of the fully integrated Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule at KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B when it wasn’t able to keep safely pressurized the mobile launcher on which the hardware sits. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Garbage war: How Broward’s trash-hauling industry has sparked an $81 million lawsuit
A fight over Broward County’s garbage-hauling business kicked off in court Monday — pitting business entrepreneur Ron Bergeron against corporate giant Waste Management. It’s the latest in a clash over which company would ultimately go on to serve many Broward residents.

› Orlando reveals roadmap to electric vehicle future, eco-friendly fleet
Orlando plans to expand electric vehicle charging stations, transition its fleet of vehicles to electric or alternative fuel sources, and promote equitable access to the emerging advancements by the end of the decade, the city revealed this week. The “Electric Mobility Roadmap,” put together over the past year, spells out the city’s goals and plans to “embrace emerging technologies, reduce emissions that harm public health, bolster climate change resilience, and increase access and affordability for our disadvantaged communities.”

› Off-beat films, live performances highlight film festival in Jacksonville
After a two-year COVID break, the Sleeping Giant film festival returns to Sun-Ray Cinema in Jacksonville's Five Points neighborhood, with more than a dozen films, shorts, cartoons and live appearances. Tim Massett, who owns the theater and curated the festival, said the idea is to show films casual movie fans might never see. Sun-Ray is known to show "films that exist in the margins," and Sleeping Giant is just a way to show a bunch of them at once, he said.

› Effort launched to raise $100M to boost diversity, inclusion in Miami-Dade tech sector
An initiative was announced Monday that aims to provide $100 million over five years to improve equity and inclusion in Miami’s rapidly growing technology sector. Called Tech Equity Miami, JPMorgan Chase, The Knight Foundation, The Miami Foundation and aÄ«re ventures have come together to launch this effort to give underserved communities greater access to tech and create educational and career opportunities for youth, females and small business owners in underserved communities.

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