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Monday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
AI could be the future of Florida's agriculture
Monday through Wednesday, agriculture business people and academics developing new artificial intelligence technologies are coming together in Orlando for a conference. Agriculture lags behind most other major industries in terms of integrating data management through artificial intelligence, but it's catching up very quickly, according to J. Scott Angle, the senior vice president at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. He said AI robots can help during labor shortages for crop picking, as well as save money on irrigation and pesticide application. A-I can even help prepare growers for a warming climate. More from WUSF.
Gas supplies almost back to normal after historic South Florida flooding
Gas prices are on the rise again. The price of oil hit a yearly high of $83.26 per barrel last week, and Floridians could see a 5-cent increase at the pump. It's still 44 cents less than the average price per gallon last year, when drivers paid $4 per gallon for regular unleaded. After historic flooding in South Florida last week, operations stalled at Port Everglades, which provides about 40% of the fuel that powers Florida. Some gas stations ran out of gas, and Port Canaveral, Tampa and Orlando picked up the slack. More from the Tallahassee Democrat.
BAE Systems starts $200 million project that will add 500 jobs in Jacksonville
BAE Systems broke ground April 11 on a shiplift system at its Jacksonville shipyard that is expected to add 500 full-time jobs to the 650 currently employed at the facility. The new system, which can accommodate a Flight III U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer, will be able to move dry-docked ships to one of several repair berths inside the yard. The $200 million project also includes a land-level repair area that can provide electrical, sewage and water services to docked ships. More from the Jacksonville Daily Record.
‘Spring has sprung:’ Orlando home sales heat up, report says
After a major slump in January, Orlando home sale continued to rise in March, a sign that the spring selling season is getting underway, according to a new report. Sales were up 31.1% in March from February, and new listings rose by 22.1%, according to the latest report from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, which looks at sales from Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Sea rise could wipe out coastal nesting grounds for endangered Everglades sparrow within decades
A secretive Everglades sparrow at the center of some of the most contentious debate over restoring the vast wetlands is facing an ever more dire threat: sea rise. A new study that modeled both rising sea levels and restoration efforts to move more water into Everglades National Park concluded that in just 50 years, the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow could likely disappear from coastal nesting grounds. Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey put the odds of finding sparrows in the prairies just inside South Florida’s watery wilderness then at less than 10%. More from WUSF.
Out of the box
How about some pickleball under those Tampa Bay highway overpasses?
The space under a highway overpass can be pretty underwhelming — sidewalks, maybe some litter, pretty much a place to pass through. But not so at one particular underpass beneath the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway that runs between Tampa and the east county suburbs.
» More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Profile
Child's play
Will Weinraub caught the entrepreneurial bug early, while attending Nautilus Middle School in Miami Beach in 1997. For $100 a pop, he and a friend, Alfonso Martinez, would make custom wrestling fan websites for other kids devoted to their favorite pro wrestling characters. Now, Weinraub's daughter Victoria has inspired his entrepreneurial spirit with the creation of cryptoys.
» Read more from Florida Trend.
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