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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Disney scuttles $1B Florida development plan
The Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development. The decision follows a year of attacks from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature, with Disney filing a First Amendment lawsuit against him and other officials last month. More from the AP, the Orlando Sentinel, Politico, and the New York Times.
Business Beat - Week of May 19th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Hate going to the office? See Florida’s best cities for remote work
As job candidates continue to seek remote or hybrid work opportunities, a recent study ranked three Florida cities among the Top 25 for remote workers.And one of those cities, Orlando, scored the No. 1 slot. Apartment search engine Rent.com recently released its list of the Best Cities for Remote Work. It considered rents, access to the internet, internet speeds, work-from-home statistics and number of coworking spaces to arrive at its list of 100 cities. More from WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.
Nearly a quarter of a million vehicles with dangerous recalls on Florida roads
More than 2.5 million vehicles are still on U.S. roads despite being recalled, leaving people at risk of fires, serious injuries, or death and a lot of those vehicles are in Florida. According to CARFAX, 237, 000 vehicles in the Sunshine State have unrepaired "do not drive" and "park outside" recall orders. That’s the third-highest total in the country behind California and Texas. [Source: FOX 13 News]
Florida families likely to receive money for kids' summer meals late
Help is on the way for families who worry about putting food on the table for their children this summer; however, it's less money than in previous years and it most likely won't get to you until after summer break. This year, it's less money than in previous years and because Florida is applying later than most other states, activists say you shouldn't expect to receive the money for summer meals until after the summer. [Source: First Coast News]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Jacksonville-based Regency Centers to buy Urstadt Biddle Properties in $1.4 billion deal
Regency Centers Corp. announced May 18 an agreement to buy Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.4 billion. Greenwich, Connecticut-based Urstadt Biddle, like Regency, focuses on operating neighborhood shopping centers. The company has 77 properties mainly in the New York metropolitan area.
› Polk County citrus grower plans central Florida’s first avocado farm
A Polk County citrus grower says he’s taking a risk to help other growers throughout the Tampa Bay area. Farmer Mitch McLellan is moving on from citrus after a tree disease and a hurricane wiped out his grove. He says many growers throughout Florida are losing their livelihoods due to citrus greening. According to leaders with the U.S. Department of Agriculture the bacterial pathogen is the greatest threat to the country’s $3 billion citrus industry. Nearly 76,000 Floridians rely on the industry for work.
› A boat from Cuba arrived in the Florida Keys, breaking a lull. What to know about it
Migrant landings, a daily occurrence in the Florida Keys only a few months ago, have dwindled recently because of an increase in federal and state law enforcement patrolling the waters surrounding the island chain. But some boats are still getting through. A group of 23 people from Cuba arrived Thursday morning in a wooden boat on the shore of the Upper Keys Village of Islamorada, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.
› Florida man loses business after someone hijacks his company
Russ L’Hommedieu and his wife left New York for paradise. They quit their jobs and sold their home to live in sunny Florida. His dream was to own a lucrative boat towing company, so they made that happen and opened Cross Bay Marine. “On the Sunbiz profile, I was the incorporator and the president of the company, and I owned all of the shares,” L’Hommedieu said. That’s when he says their nightmare began. After months of hard work, someone hijacked his company.
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