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Tuesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Higher room rates could put damper on tourism
Hotel room rates pushed up by demand during the past year might now be hindering tourism amid increasing inflation, state tourism officials said. As the Visit Florida tourism-marketing agency celebrated record first-quarter tourism numbers while meeting last week in Orlando, staff and board members also expressed concern that increasing cost of hotel rooms is slowly affecting occupancy rates. “I think we're starting to see, just over the last couple of weeks or so especially, inflation actually starting to catch up with us in most markets,” said Jacob Pewitt Yancey, Visit Florida director of consumer insight and analytics. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida Trend again earns five national 'Editorial Excellence' awards from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers
The Alliance of Area Business Publishers (AABP) presented its annual Editorial Excellence awards to newspaper and magazine business periodicals at the closing celebration of its three-day annual Summer Conference on June 11, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio. The annual AABP Editorial Excellence competition recognizes excellence in journalism, photography and design achieved by regional business publications. The awards were judged by faculty members from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. [Source: Florida Trend]
SpaceX pitches shift of human launches to Canaveral amid Starship explosion concerns at KSC
With the chance that SpaceX’s development of its new Starship rocket will pivot to Kennedy Space Center, NASA has reportedly been working with the company to consider contingencies for migrating astronaut launches to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. In an interview with Reuters’ Joey Roulette, Kathy Lueders, NASA’s Associate Administrator of the Space Operations Mission Directorate, said the agency has concerns about the unproven Starship rocket suffering some sort of explosive incident that could damage the launch pad at KSC. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
New statewide program offers millions to first-time Florida homeowners
The state of Florida is allocating $100 million to first-time Florida homeowners through the Hometown Heroes Housing Program. People who the state considers as frontline community workers are eligible to receive funds. Over 50 occupations are included in this list such as educators, first responders and healthcare workers. Homebuyers can receive up to five percent of their first mortgage loan amount up to $25,000. [Source: WEAR]
Average gas prices top $5 in parts of Florida
The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has topped $5 in parts of South Florida, while statewide prices hit another record Monday at $4.89, according to the AAA auto club. The average price in the West Palm Beach and Boca Raton area was nearly $5.02. Statewide average prices were up 13 cents a gallon from last week and 42 cents from last month. “This is some unprecedented pain at the pump that we are seeing,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said. “We are setting new records and not in a good way.” More from the News Service of Florida and the Florida Times-Union.
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Tampa Bay History Center exhibit focuses on history of Cuba and Tampa connections
The exhibition has been in development for two years and occupies 2,000 square feet of gallery space. It presents more than 100 objects such as the first map of the Caribbean basin published in 1511 and a homemade refugee boat that took the 90-mile trip to Key West with 12 people aboard. ‘Cuban pathways’ — which runs for a year-long showing — features documents, music and images of men and women who are part of Cuba’s history and diversity.
› Gainesville's Mosquito Control Division uses innovate measures to combat mosquitos
Tucked away behind Gainesville's public works building along Northwest 39th Avenue are a research lab and a host of creatures dedicated to combating flying, blood-sucking pests people prefer to avoid. Chickens, fish and plants are just some of the resources used to control Gainesville's mosquito problem. While many cities around the state do more to control mosquitos than most may realize, Gainesville offers a unique approach where spraying pesticides is seen as a dated tool.
› Fast-growing Northrop Grumman to hire 'hundreds' for Melbourne operations
Northrop Grumman Corp. is looking to hire hundreds of people for its fast-growing Melbourne operations. The aerospace company and military contractor is holding a job fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday in Melbourne to fill a "couple of hundred" local positions, according to Chris Warner, manager of talent acquisition for Northrop's engineering organization. Location details will be provided when interested job candidates preregister for the event.
› Freedom House Mobile Crisis wants to offer a 911 alternative for Miami public safety
The origin of the Freedom House Mobile Crisis program can be traced back to 1967. Disappointed by the quality of emergency medical care, a group of Black Pittsburgh residents formed Freedom House Ambulance Service, which was the first time medical equipment and trained personnel were in the ambulance, setting the standard for modern emergency treatment.
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