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Tuesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
11 new Florida laws starting in 2023
The laws, passed during this year’s regular legislative session and special sessions, also include making available land-preservation money, allowing local governments to publish legal notices online instead of in newspapers and ending a long-controversial practice in the property-insurance system. Most of the bills that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed this year took effect on July 1 or upon his signature. More from the News Service of Florida.
Disaster relief for Florida included in federal omnibus, but trade group says citrus growers left out
The omnibus bill passed Friday in U.S. Congress amounted to $1.7 trillion for the 2023 federal budget through September. However, while the bill included billions of dollars for disaster relief, representatives of Florida’s hard-hit citrus industry say they were left out of the assistance. Reports produced by the Florida Department of Agriculture after Hurricane Ian estimated the citrus industry alone faced losses between $417 million to $675.5 million after the hurricane. More from WFLA.
Just how many new housing developments came to Bradenton, Manatee in 2022?
All of the new homes popping up along Interstate 75 north of Palmetto, along Moccasin Wallow Road in Parrish, and in Lakewood Ranch offer proof that Manatee County’s explosion of growth has not yet run its course. Even so, 2022 may be remembered as the time when growth in the Bradenton area went from a rolling boil to a rapid simmer. More from the Bradenton Herald.
Every tech company that moved or expanded to Tampa Bay in 2022
Among the Bay area moves/expansions: Black Dog Venture Partners, an Arizona-based business accelerator and investment fund, moved to Tampa; Avanade, a Seattle-based IT firm co-founded by Microsoft and Accenture, announcedit would open its first U.S.-based engineering hub in Tampa and expects to hire 500 people in three years; Minneapolis-based fintech firm Branch tapped Tampa for its first office expansion; and Enovate Learning LLC, an e-learning content development company, moved its headquarters from the suburbs of Atlanta to St. Petersburg. More from Tampa Bay Inno.
Out of Tampa Bay, former Tesla exec is betting on electric boats
In January, Blue Innovations Group will debut the hull and propulsion system of its first boat called the R30 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company, which started operating a year ago, will test the product throughout 2023 and expects to begin selling in the second quarter of 2024. The R30 boat is expected to run eight hours using a 220-kilowatt battery and a dual motor powertrain with 800 horsepower. It would also have an on-board solar charging platform. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Environment
In the Indian River Lagoon, toxic algae blooms poison bull sharks
Researchers say harmful algae blooms are poisoning bull sharks in the Indian River Lagoon. They say it’s a sign of the widespread impact of the blooms, as the toxins move throughout the food web. The study from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute shows the greatest concentration of toxins were in the sharks’ stomachs. The researchers say that as they examined the animals’ stomachs, they also identified toxins in lower level species like catfish and mullet -- seafood that humans consume.
» More from WUSF.
Cryptocurrency
Miami-based crypto mining company Bit5ive looks beyond chaotic year for the industry
Robert Collazo Jr. started off in the crypto mining industry eight years ago, establishing the first Florida site to mine digital currency in Doral. Since then, his company Bit5ive has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of cryptocurrency mining equipment in the world. deploying modular data centers that house the computer networks at the heart of digital currency and Blockchain transactions. Crypto might be in chaos this year and Miami’s efforts to become a crypto capital are dented in the process, but companies developing data centers and management systems behind the digital currency movement continues to advance, Collazo says.
» Read more from Florida Trend.
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