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Wednesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
NASA launches massive Artemis I rocket to the moon
After several high-profile delays brought on by hardware and hurricanes, a towering rocket emblazoned with NASA logos blasted off from Florida early Wednesday, finally kicking off a month-long mission to the moon that hearkens back to the Apollo days more than 50 years ago. At 1:47 a.m. EST, the multibillion-dollar Space Launch System's four main engines and two solid rocket boosters rumbled to life at Kennedy Space Center with a whopping 8.8 million pounds of thrust, making it the world's most powerful operational rocket. More from Florida Today and the Orlando Sentinel.
Florida’s Rick Scott says he’s challenging McConnell for US Senate leadership
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott from Florida announced on Tuesday that he is challenging Sen. Mitch McConnell to be the Republican leader in the Senate. “The status quo is broken and big change is needed,” Scott wrote on Twitter. “It’s time for new leadership in the Senate that unites Republicans to advance a bold conservative agenda. That’s why I’m running to be the Senate Republican Leader.” More from the Tampa Bay Times and the AP.
Florida returns traditional public access to court documents ahead of schedule
Florida, with a population of 22 million, is now giving public access to court complaints when they are electronically received, reinstating a tradition that existed for centuries in the time of paper. The nation’s third most populous state joins California, with 40 million people, and New York, with nearly 20 million, in returning traditional access to journalists. Texas, the second biggest state, is currently evaluating its public access policy. [Source: Courthouse News]
Citizens boosts Ian cost estimate to $3.8 billion
The state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. on Tuesday substantially increased its estimated costs from Hurricane Ian, with the tab now expected to reach $3.8 billion. Citizens last month projected its expenses at $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion from the Category 4 hurricane, which made landfall Sept. 28 in Lee and Charlotte counties and swept across the state. But in a news release Tuesday, the insurer said its initial projection was based on one hurricane model. The new estimate used a second model, along with factoring actual claims data, litigation costs and inflation. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Why Florida Latinos turned out in favor of Republicans
Florida Democrats are reeling and coming to terms with devastating Election Day losses, particularly among Latino voters who turned out solidly for Republicans in statewide contests. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won the state with a stunning 59% of the vote, compared to Democrat Charlie Crist's 40%. DeSantis outperformed former President Donald Trump’s 2020 Latino gains in Florida. [Source: NBC News]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Tampa taps new convention center director
The Tampa Convention Center has a new executive director — David Ingram who had been general manager of the convention center in Orange County. Ingram started at Orange County Convention Center in 2003 and has served as its acting executive director, assistant director, event operations division manager, event set-up supervisor, and event manager. He also worked for Walt Disney World Co. and Gaylord Palms Resort.
› Lee County's Ian debris haul hits record level, continues to grow
As of Tuesday this week, Lee County has collected over 3 million cubic yards of debris since Ian made landfall six weeks ago, a record amount for any hurricane in the United States, but particularly here in Southwest Florida. Doug Whitehead is the director of Solid Waste in Lee County. "There's no comparison. Irma was about 1.8 million cubic yards, and that was done I think over about five months. We surpassed that in about 40 days," he said.
› Leaders of Florida’s largest homeowners association charged in $2 million fraud scheme
Current and former board members of the largest homeowners association in Florida are being charged with plundering millions of dollars from the organization’s finances. Investigators on Tuesday arrested five members and vendors of the Hammocks Community Association, which oversees 40 communities and over 6,500 units in West Kendall.
› Disney World hikes ticket prices, will vary by park
Visiting Walt Disney World is about to get more expensive as the world’s most-attended tourist attraction raises its base ticket prices for the first time since 2019. On Tuesday morning, Disney announced new park-specific prices that are set to go into effect Dec. 8. Currently the lowest price for all four parks is $109. With the increase, Magic Kingdom will be the most expensive at $124-$189, depending on the date and demand.
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