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Thursday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Citrus leaders look to weather Ian
Shifting about $1 million from marketing and public relations into reserves, the Florida Citrus Commission hopes to weather the impacts of Hurricane Ian, which exacerbated an already-anticipated decline in this season’s citrus crop. The money shift and a few smaller changes allowed the commission on Wednesday to approve a revised $29.795 million budget for the Department of Citrus without revamping a tax that growers pay on each box of citrus to help with marketing. The issues will be revisited in December. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Chamber Forum: With the right strategy, the space industry could revolve around Florida
As advancements in tech continue looking toward the stars, Florida has emerged as one of the top launchpads for a surging industry. But the next decade will be crucial in determining whether the Sunshine State remains in a leadership position. At the Florida Chamber Foundation’s 2022 Future of Florida Forum, the leader of state-backed aerospace industry booster Space Florida, Frank DiBello, led a panel examining where Florida stands in the global space race, how it got there and what it needs to do to continue rocketing toward the top of what is expected to become a $1 trillion industry within the next 10 years. [Source: Florida Politics]
These old Florida theme parks gave us all a good time. Then reality killed them
As Walt Disney World keeps on expanding and a planned West Miami-Miami megamall dreams of becoming Retail World, let’s take a moment to mourn the loss of South Florida’s defunct theme parks and attractions. Remember the Miami Wax Museum? What about Pirates World and Six Flags Atlantis? And Blockbuster Golf & Games and Boomers? Now, they’re all gone, replaced by housing complexes and stores. What killed them? Take your pick: struggling finances, valuable real estate, a change in customer tastes. [Source: Miami Herald]
Citizens insurance rates increasing
Citizens Property Insurance Corp. rate increases will take effect Tuesday, as thousands of homeowners a week continue turning to the state-backed insurer for coverage. The increases, which apply to what are known as “personal lines” policies, were approved by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation in June. They include an average 6.4 percent increase for homeowners with “multi-peril” policies — by far the most-common type of policy. Customers with other types of policies will see average increases ranging from 8.4 percent to 11 percent. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Flu and COVID are coming to Florida. Are you ready?
Florida’s flu season officially has arrived — and hospitals already are seeing patients with respiratory illnesses. The state’s flu monitoring report shows Florida’s flu season started on Oct. 2, and emergency department visits with a discharge diagnosis of flu are already on the upswing. While the season has just kicked off, by all forecasts, the situation is about to get worse. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› These companies laid off the most Central Florida employees in the past 12 months
Over the past 12 months, more than 1,126 people in Central Florida had their jobs cut or were told they would be laid off soon, according to notices filed with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to give advance notice of plant closures and layoffs.
› Some of the world’s best chefs will host Miami Art Week dinners
Art Basel draws some of the best artists in the world to Miami for one weekend in December, and now it’s doing the same for some of the world’s best chefs. Four top chefs, including the owner of the one-time best restaurant in the world, Massimo Bottura, are putting on intimate pop-up dinners the week of Art Basel. The dinners, a collaboration between American Express and the online reservation platform Resy, will be set in a Design District gallery space designed by California artist Phillip K. Smith III to be immersive.
› Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association honoring past presidents
The Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association will meet at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at Epping Forest Yacht & Country Club to recognize some of the attorneys who have led the association the past 40 years. Admission is free for “Shoulders We Stand On: Honoring Our Past Presidents.” Beverages and light snacks will be served. Also Nov. 10, the guest speaker at JWLA’s lunch meeting at The River Club Downtown will be Donna Eng, president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers.
› Tampa Museum of Art gets $1 million donation, large collection of Haitian art
The Tampa Museum of Art announced a gift of 88 pieces of Haitian art and a $1 million donation in support of the collection. The artwork and cash gift were bequeathed to the museum by the Arthur R. Albrecht Revocable Trust. Albrecht was a devoted collector of Haitian art. The collection includes rarely seen paintings by prominent Haitian artists including Rigaud Benoit, Wilson Bigaud, Prefete Duffaut and Philome Obin.
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