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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Colombian bell peppers arrived in the US for the first time
Colombia just exported nine thousand kilos of bell peppers to the United States for the first time ever. This shipment, which arrived at the Miami Port Wednesday afternoon, despite the strong winds and surges from Hurricane Ian, goes to Central Florida where it will reach out to customers around the southeastern USA.
› Florida business settles landmark FCA whistleblower case involving PPP loan
A Florida-based investment fund will pay approximately $22,000 as part of a settlement resolving the first False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower case involving a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan in which the United States intervened. Pan African Interchange and its owner, Stanley Damas, applied for two PPP loans on consecutive days in May 2020 and received the two loans in June 2020, according to a Thursday press release from U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida. The business had falsely certified it would not receive more than one PPP loan, the Justice Department stated.
› UF Health North is growing again in North Jacksonville. Here's what's planned.
Construction is moving forward on the new six-story UF Health North inpatient hospital tower intended to improve access to state-of-the-art healthcare in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. The tower's frame of steel beams is rising skyward on the medical campus at 15225 Max Leggett Parkway — off Interstate 95 near Jacksonville International Airport.
› ‘Spooky Soiree’ helps kick off Halloween in The Milk District
Orlando’s Milk District is helping Central Floridians get into the spirit of Halloween this weekend, kicking off October with a “Spooky Soiree.” An estimated 170 vendors will pop up in the parking lots behind The Nook and other permanent businesses on Robinson Street on Oct. 2. Makers will travel from near and as far as St. Petersburg and Jacksonville to display and sell paintings, plants, ceramics, baked goods, apparel, bags and more.
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