With deadline looming, environmental groups push Florida to oppose expanding Gulf drilling
To win support from West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin for its climate-fighting Inflation Reduction Act earlier this year, the White House included a perk for the oil and gas industry: expanded new drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Now environmental groups in Florida want Gov. Ron DeSantis to fight to kill the deal. The deadline for states to submit comments is later this month. [Source: WLRN]
Florida's jobless rate inches down in November following a brief Hurricane Ian surge in claims
Florida’s unemployment rate dipped to 2.6% in November, after a brief surge in claims following Hurricane Ian. The November rate was down from 2.7% in October, as Gov. Ron DeSantis credited the state’s “resilience in this economy.” The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, in a report released Friday, estimated that 280,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed in November, down 5,000 from October and 87,000 from November 2021. The estimated labor force grew by 352,000 over the year to 10.756 million. [Source: WUSF]
Where is the red tide in Florida? What to know about the toxic bloom along the coast
Red tide is blooming along Florida’s Gulf Coast. This past week, levels of the toxic algae dropped around Manatee, Sarasota and Southwest Florida, although the toxic algae is still around, water samples and local beach reports show. But the bloom has intensified in Lower Tampa Bay and around Pinellas County, including St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island. [Source: Miami Herald]
Baker Act exams among Florida children reach historic new high
It's a sobering sign of Florida's mental health crisis among children. While the total number of Baker Act exams performed on adults in Florida is down, more of these involuntary mental health exams were done on kids during the fiscal year 2020-2021 than ever before. The numbers were released as part of the latest annual report by the University of South Florida's Center for Baker Act Reporting. [Source: WFLX]
Amazon failed to record some warehouse injuries, including in Florida, says OSHA
Amazon failed to properly record work-related injuries at warehouses located in five states, a federal agency said Friday while announcing it issued more than a dozen citations during the course of its ongoing investigation of the company. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it handed out 14 citations during inspections over the summer at six Amazon warehouses in New York, Florida, Illinois, Colorado and Idaho. [Source: AP]
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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Miami-Dade broadens eligibility for rental aid program
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Friday announced an expansion of the county’s emergency rental assistance program to assist more people trying to stay afloat in the pricey housing market by raising the income eligibility requirements. Single individuals earning less than $95,620 and couples making less than $109,200 now are eligible to apply for the financial aid. Families of three earning less than $122,920 and families of four earning less than $136,500 can also qualify for the program.
› Orlando tech job growth surges in 2022
Orlando has seen the second-biggest increase in tech job postings of any major U.S. city this year, according to a new report by careers site Dice.com. Metro Orlando tech job postings boomed 42.7% between January and October, per Dice’s Dec. 13 report. Orlando’s job postings growth was behind only Houston (45.6%), showing strong demand for tech positions persists in the region despite concerns of an economic backslide and possible recession in 2023.
› JEA plans electric 'base rate' increase but still sees overall bills going down
A JEA rate increase proposed in April for the "base rate" portion of electric bills would fall heaviest on customers whose consumption is in the lower range − such as someone in an apartment or a small house − while those who tap into higher levels of electricity might end up seeing a comparative reduction in the base rate part of their bills.
› Tampa Bay’s Christmas weather could be coldest in 27 years
Cold air is comin’ to town. Two of the world’s leading weather models are in agreement — Christmas in Tampa Bay is going to be chilly. Like, the kind of chilly that means you won’t sweat just looking a hot chocolate. Or the kind of chilly that means the matching flannel pajamas your family forces you to wear for a Facebook photo may actually be cozy instead of clammy.
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› National cap and gown company cuts ties with controversial Broward schools vendor
Herff Jones, a national supplier of scholastic products, is severing ties with a Broward schools vendor who was criticized for overcharging parents for graduation caps and gowns, and failing to provide students’ invoices to the district. Chuck Puleri, 65, has been Broward County’s exclusive distributor of Herff Jones products since 1992. The school district is also dropping him due to a scathing audit it commissioned in response to a series of South Florida Sun Sentinel investigations.
› SpaceX makes it 2-for-2 with launches from Canaveral, California
SpaceX had a double launch day Friday from both coasts of the U.S. with a morning liftoff in California for NASA followed by a launch of a pair of communication satellites in the evening from the Space Coast. The latter launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station came at sunset at 5:48 p.m. with a Falcon 9 blasting off from Space Launch Complex 40 on a mission to bring up a pair of broadband internet satellites into medium-Earth orbit (MEO) for Luxembourg-based communications company SES.
› Low tech: Uber unveils dial-up service in Miami
Uber Technologies Inc. has launched a phone call-based service that allows customers to request rides by dialing 1-833-USE-UBER. The “Call to Ride” service plans to expand Uber’s accessibility beyond customers who have the Uber app. Customers will be able to experience the same convenient and affordable Uber experience, just without the app, said Giovanni Castro, public affairs manager for Uber in Miami.
› ‘It’s right out of Miami Vice’: A prisoner’s yacht is demolished off Pompano Beach
This year’s late-season hurricanes washed ashore many relics and curiosities across Florida, some of which are still being dealt with more than a month later. In recent weeks, a wooden ship dating to the 1800s was unearthed off Daytona Beach Shores. A large yellow and red buoy surfaced near Fort Pierce. A trunk from the 1930s was found off St. Augustine. And most recently, beachgoers gawked at a yacht in Pompano Beach. It turned out that the boat’s owner was serving time in prison — so the city had to coordinate with his family to demolish the vessel Thursday.