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Friday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
DeSantis axes $510 million from record state budget
Gov. Ron DeSantis trimmed $510.9 million from a record-high state spending plan signed Thursday, with nearly one-fifth of the cuts coming from a single program designed to keep swaths of rural property from commercial and residential development. While DeSantis didn’t give any explanation for projects he slashed for the fiscal year that begins July 1, the governor’s line-item vetoes put the state budget at roughly $116.5 billion, a 6 percent increase from the current year’s spending plan. More from the News Service of Florida.
Tropical wave moving toward Americas showing signs of development
Chances for development of a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic continue to increase and the National Hurricane Center is now saying a tropical depression could form by early next week. Tropical development is rare for this time of year in the eastern Atlantic, according to forecasters. More from Florida Today.
Miami is best metro in the U.S. for gig economy workers, study says
South Florida's large number of self-employed residents and the density of coworking spaces makes it the best metro in the nation for gig economy workers, according to a new study. With more than 17,860 non-employer establishments per 100,000 residents, the tri-county area has the highest ratio of self-employed residents out of the 71 U.S. metros analyzed. More from the South Florida Business Journal.
Clearwater advances $45M plan for new City Hall, office upgrades
Council members had settled last year on the site, a vacant, city-owned lot at the southwest corner of Myrtle Avenue and Pierce Street with the Pinellas Trail and Clearwater Police Department to the west. But on Thursday, they selected a stand-alone City Hall concept among two other configuration options. The City Hall is estimated to cost $31.5 million but would be coupled with a renovation of the 27-year-old Municipal Services Building next door for a total of $44.8 million, according to Wannemacher Jensen Architects. More from the Tama Bay Times.
Gainesville leaders grapple with budget, cut jobs, property tax hike
Gainesville commissioners held a special meeting to discuss their upcoming budget, proposing to cut jobs, slash funding for homeless services and increased property taxes. The cutbacks come at a time when city leaders are being forced to reconcile debt after being grilled by the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee in February about utility debt and oversight. More from the Gainesville Sun.
Business Beat - Week of June 16th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video news brief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Florida History
Publix looked like that? See the supermarket in the days before Pub Subs and BOGOs
What is it about Publix? We sometimes love it. We sometimes hate it. But it’s Florida’s grocery store. So it’s ours. What did Publix look like in the early years? The days when customers got green stamps? Before pharmacies, olive bars, chicken tenders and the dining nooks to eat your Pub Sub?
» Read more from the Miami Herald.
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