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Friday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Orange County’s new wetlands ordinance aims to protect ‘earth’s kidneys’
Orange County is strengthening its protections for the area’s vast expanse of wetlands, delicate but critical natural areas often imperiled by pressure for new development. The updated rules, effective June 1, were two years in the making but won unanimous approval at the county board’s final meeting of 2023. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
These Central Florida employers laid off the most employees in 2023
Central Florida's five largest permanent layoffs in 2023 totaled more than 942 jobs lost. Cuts announced this year included a variety of industries, from retail and financial institutions to agriculture and trucking. Those cuts did not include contracts ending, such as Orlando Sanford International Inc., as those jobs are being absorbed. More from the Orlando Business Journal.
Thousands of books were pulled from school shelves in Florida in 2023. What to expect in 2024
Thousands of books were pulled off Florida school classroom and library shelves this year. The removals were in response to a new law, HB 1069,that took effect in Florida. The law made it easier to challenge any book that the state defines as pornographic, containing sexual conduct or age inappropriate. More from WUSF.
These creepy crawlies could be Florida’s next big invasive threats, scientists say
Florida has long been home to an unnatural assortment of creatures from faraway lands and habitats, and these tourists turned permanent residents have wreaked havoc on the natural ecosystem. You can thank the Burmese pythons slithering around the Everglades for the lack of marsh rabbits, and the Asian swamp eels are to blame for cratering populations of native crayfish and flagfish. But what’s next? More from the Miami Herald.
Florida Trend Exclusive
Baptist Health Care is up and running at its new Brent Lane campus
Pensacola-based Baptist Health Care’s new $650-million hospital campus opened in late September. It is the largest single capital investment in a health care facility in Northwest Florida history. More from Florida Trend.
Business Beat - Week of December 29th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video news brief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Rising Executives: Ones to Watch
Courting success
Chanel T. Rowe's parents, Jamaican immigrants, instilled in her the importance of education. Today, she's the first Black woman to serve on Florida International University's board of trustees. "As the child of immigrants, education is really a vehicle for social and economic movement," she says.
» Read more from Florida Trend.
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