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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Legal recreational marijuana could be a reality in Florida. What to know
Florida voters will finally have the opportunity to legalize recreational marijuana usage after a proposed initiative received almost one million verified signatures, allowing it to officially qualify for the 2024 general election ballot. The measure has received more than 967,000 valid signatures, according to Smart & Safe Florida, the campaign pushing the measure and backed by Trulieve, one of Florida’s biggest medical marijuana providers. The petition needed 891,523 valid signatures to qualify for the 2024 ballot. More from the Pensacola News Journal.
Florida's first 'clean' hydrogen production plant is being built in Polk County
Hydrogen has been called the fuel of the future. But making its production sustainable has been a challenge. That's where "clean" hydrogen technology comes in. Hani Banoub is vice president of Ocean Green Hydrogen of Tampa, one of the companies building the facility. He says they'll use state-of-the-art scrubbers to take carbon out of natural gas that's heated to extreme temperatures to produce hydrogen. More from WUSF.
National Hurricane Center watching 4 tropical waves, including 2 in Caribbean
As predicted, chances for development have dropped for a disturbance in the northeastern Atlantic, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. The number of tropical waves being watched has increased to four, with two moving west in the Caribbean. More from the Gainesville Sun.
NASA on track for Psyche launch on Falcon Heavy after missteps forced delay
Fallout from last year’s delay to the launch of the Psyche asteroid probe led to an independent review of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and its handling of the mission. The leader of that review says the team has been impressed with NASA’s reaction as the launch is back on track for an October liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
St. Petersburg may tweak rules for developers seeking public dollars
A proposed Moffitt Cancer Center campus on city-owned land was the first project required to provide community benefits. Then it was canceled anyway by Mayor Ken Welch, who said it didn’t include enough affordable housing. On Monday, a citizen advisory council met for the first time in nine months to go over proposed changes to make the Community Benefits Agreement program clearer and more predictable. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Transportation
Norse Atlantic Airways operations land in Miami
Norse Atlantic Airways is moving its South Florida operations to Miami International Airport from Fort Lauderdale and, starting Sept. 18, adding flights to London and Oslo. The frequency will be twice a week to Oslo and four times a week to London. Norse Atlantic will consolidate its services in South Florida and operate only flights to and from MIA.
» More from Miami Today.
Retail Trends
Could this Tampa Publix be a blueprint for future stores?
With the rise of specialty grocers like Sprouts, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market, hometown favorite Publix Supermarkets has spent nearly a decade trying to build brand awareness around its own organic chain known as GreenWise Markets. But now the Florida grocer is abandoning that route and instead will focus on bringing some of those GreenWise perks into traditional stores. Publix chose a store in Tampa to be the prototype going forward.
» Read more from the Tampa Bay Times.
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