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Monday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida Trend Exclusive
When it comes to cars, how fast can Florida really go electric?
Sales of electric vehicles are growing in Florida, but EVs still amount to less than 1% of registered vehicles, cost about a third more than gas cars, and charging stations are far from universal. How fast can Florida really go electric? As of January, there were more than 120,000-plus light-duty electric (or hybrid) vehicles on Florida’s roads — nearly double the number from two years ago, according to vehicle registration data, and nearly two-thirds (63%) of them were Teslas. [Source: Florida Trend]
Florida adds 32,981 COVID cases, highest weekly jump in 2 months
COVID-19 infections in Florida continue to climb. Average daily cases have reached 4,711 for the most recent seven-day period from April 30 to Friday. That’s a 24-percent increase from last week and the highest point since Feb. 21. It’s the seventh straight week that cases have gone up, but the growth rate is starting to slow. Hospitalizations are climbing, but also at a slower pace than in previous weeks. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Florida’s disputed voting laws likely in effect this year after appeals court ruling
A federal appeals court panel has temporarily reinstated a Florida voting law that a federal judge recently declared unconstitutional for its limits on drop boxes, “line warming” activities at polling sites and third-party voter registration efforts. In March, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee struck down large parts of Senate Bill 90, passed by Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year. [Source: Miami Herald]
Florida pension fund sues Elon Musk and Twitter to stop buyout
Elon Musk and Twitter were sued on Friday by a Florida pension fund seeking to stop Musk from completing his $44bn takeover of the social media company before 2025. In a proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Delaware chancery court, the Orlando police pension fund said Delaware law forbade a quick merger because Musk had agreements with other big Twitter shareholders, including his financial adviser Morgan Stanley and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, to support the buyout. [Source: The Guardian]
Gas, diapers, essential items will be tax-free in Florida
From gas to diapers to hurricane supplies, dozens of expensive and essential items will be tax-free in Florida over the next few months. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed the "largest tax relief in the history of the state of Florida," a $1.2 billion plan that's designed to provide relief for Floridians from the highest level of inflation in 40 years. One of the biggest benefits will be during the entire month of October, when gas will be tax-free. [Source: WFTX]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Tallahassee Starbucks becomes the first Florida location to unionize
A Tallahassee Starbucks became the first Florida location Tuesday to unionize. Employees voted 16-1 in favor of unionization. The location will work alongside other stores across the country that have also voted to unionize, but each store will bargain individually with the international coffee chain.
› Sloppy Joe’s is celebrating 85 years on a Key West corner. This bar’s story is even older
On an island filled with famous watering holes and charming backstories, one bar stands out as a Key West classic. This year, Sloppy Joe’s Bar is celebrating 85 years of doing business at 201 Duval St., where it anchors a corner at Greene Street and each year hosts a contest to find someone with the beard and the bulk to double as Ernest Hemingway.
› Superyachts closer to a bigger home as Fort Lauderdale starts Las Olas Marina project
As much as Fort Lauderdale has always welcomed luxury vessels to the city’s vast network of waterways, the “yachting capital of the world” often has been a tough place for a captain of superyachts to find a place to dock. But now, the space issue is closer to easing as the city started construction last week of the Las Olas Marina, which would provide helmsmen with 7,000 new linear feet of dockage, a three-story marine services building and a 15,000-square foot, two-story upscale restaurant with outdoor dining.
› Salvation Army cuts services as Sarasota-Manatee nonprofits struggle
From the start of the pandemic through the current housing crisis, area nonprofits have been a lifeline for a deluge of residents struggling to stay afloat through illness, job loss or skyrocketing rents. But now – after successive waves of hardships hitting both the people they serve and their own employees – nonprofits are taking on water, too.
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