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Thursday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Miami Wilds batted back to December as legal issues swirl
Miami Wilds reared its tumultuous head at last week’s Miami-Dade County Commission meeting when Commissioner Kionne McGhee offered a surprise motion that the county provide a status report on the decades-long water park effort. Ultimately, the commission passed the motion after 16-plus minutes of confusion and uncertainty about the litigation-ridden plans to build the park on county-owned land next to Zoo Miami. The item was not on the agenda.
› Seminole schools yank 31 books based on complaints from other counties
Seminole County Public Schools removed 31 books from their high school libraries last month, not because a Seminole parent complained about the novels but because another Florida school district had yanked them based on objections from someone in their county. The Seminole district said it pulled the books from shelves based on state guidance advising schools to “check any books that have been removed or restricted due to a challenge in other districts.” The state advice added that those volumes should be “carefully considered” before being stacked on school library shelves.
› SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of asteroid mission and double sonic boom landings Thursday
SpaceX teams at Kennedy Space Center are gearing up for a Thursday morning launch attempt of a triple-core Falcon Heavy rocket packed with NASA's Psyche spacecraft, though weather conditions are projected to be less than ideal for liftoff. Meanwhile, at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, after standing down on Monday, SpaceX is set to try again Friday night to launch its latest Falcon 9 Starlink mission.
› ZooTampa scores record-setting attendance year
ZooTampa at Lowry Park says it was one of Florida's most-attended cultural attractions by again breaking its own record, welcoming 1,171,319 guests in fiscal year 2023, which ended on Sept. 30. It was the third consecutive year of record attendance, the zoo says. The zoo says it also expanded its leadership in wildlife preservation by sending staff to various countries to participate in field conservation and education projects.
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