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Monday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida citrus growers expected to deliver smallest orange crop in almost 90 years
Production numbers for Florida’s orange crop continue to decline as the citrus industry’s storm-battered season nears an end. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday issued a forecast that said Florida growers this season are on pace to fill 15.65 million boxes of oranges, which would be the lowest total since the 1934-1935 season. The new forecast also was down from an April projection of 16.1 million boxes. Florida growers produced 41.2 million boxes of oranges during the 2021-2022 session, which itself saw a large decline. [Source: News Service of Florida]
See also:
» What’s behind a severe decline in Florida’s citrus harvest
What to expect under Florida’s immigration bill? Uncertainty.
The law expands the requirements for businesses with 25 or more employees to use E-Verify, a registration system run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that checks the immigration status of workers. The new measure also requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask about patients’ immigration status during the admissions process, and imposes penalties against individuals who transport someone without legal status into the state, which can result in a third-degree felony. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Florida school start times are in for some big changes
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that will lead to many high-school students having later school start times. Lawmakers passed the bill (HB 733) during the legislative session that ended on May 5. It will prevent middle schools from beginning the instructional day earlier than 8 a.m., while high schools will be barred from starting the school day before 8:30 a.m. The start times will be required to take effect by July 2026, giving school districts three years to develop plans. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
74 million tourists visited Orlando, almost reaching pre-pandemic levels
More than 74 million visitors came to the Orlando, Florida, area last year, a benchmark just short of pre-pandemic levels, tourism officials said Thursday. The number of tourists was 25% greater than it was in 2021, when central Florida was still recovering from the blows to tourism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted international travel and caused convention cancellations. The area’s theme parks closed for several months in 2020 in an effort to stop the virus’ spread. [Source: AP]
Years-long effort to eliminate sales tax on diapers about to pay off for Florida families
Parents are about to get a break on the cost of an essential that has been going up in cost: diapers, which soon will be permanently exempted from sales tax in Florida. The cost in lost revenue to the state is relatively small, while providing savings for moms and dads that could mean a lot to some families. “This is a big deal,” said Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book of Broward, who is ready to see the permanent exemption become law – six years after she first introduced it in the Florida Legislature, armed with first-hand information about the cost of diapers. [Source: Orlando Sentiniel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Fort Lauderdale’s flooded City Hall might be a total loss — or not
It’s still lights out at Fort Lauderdale City Hall. The fate of the 1960s-era building remains unknown four weeks after a 1,000-year rainstorm flooded its basement with 8 feet of water, killing the power, the server and other vital functions needed to keep the building breathing on its own. For now, it’s being run on generator power. The eight-story building took a beating on April 12 when a record-breaking storm took us all by surprise, dumping 26 inches of rain on the county seat within a matter of hours.
› Foundation in St. Pete laid for tallest residential building on Florida’s Gulf Coast
Downtown St. Pete became the center of its second-largest concrete pour Friday night as trucks filled a construction site on Central Avenue. Workers laid the foundation for The Residences at 400 Central, a luxury high-rise residential building that will be the tallest on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The project developer, Red Apple Real Estate, said the building will be a 46-story condominium with 301 luxury homes. It’s a project about four to five years in the making.
› Miami Gardens has changed so much in its 20 years. It’s about to change even more
When Carleena Scott reminisces about growing up near where Hard Rock Stadium now sits, she thinks of the barbeque pit her family frequently patronized and the man selling collard greens standing on a street corner. “We were very much underdeveloped,” she says, remembering passing along Northwest 183rd Street and seeing nothing but open fields. “There was a lot of open land when it was Carol City.” The sprawling area that was once unincorporated Dade County is now Miami Gardens, a city celebrating 20 years.
› Sarasota Improv Festival brings laughs back to FST after four-year pandemic break
After a four-year break caused by the COVID pandemic, Florida Studio Theatre is preparing to welcome back more than a dozen improvisational comedy groups from around the world for a weekend of spontaneous laughter at the 13th Sarasota Improv Festival. The three-night festival, which began in 2009, will be presented July 20-22 in multiple spaces on FST’s downtown Sarasota campus.
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