Florida sees uptick in jobless claims
Florida continues to see higher numbers of unemployment claims than earlier in the year. The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday released a report that estimated 7,687 initial unemployment applications were filed in Florida during the week that ended July 13, up from 6,552 during the previous holiday-shortened week. Since the start of June, Florida has averaged 7,519 claims a week, after averaging 6,091 a week over the first five months of the year. More from the News Service of Florida.
Grassroots groups end voter registration drives, fearing Florida law pushed by GOP
A key part of the election season lead-up has disappeared this summer across Florida, with voter registration by grassroots groups all but halted because of a new state law many say targets minorities and younger voters. The number of voters registered by so-called third-party organizations is down dramatically. Just over 7,000 voters have been enrolled through the end of June by these groups, compared with almost 60,000 during the 2020 presidential election year, state records show. More from the Tallahassee Democrat.
Florida Holocaust Museum 'transformative' expansion will include Danish rescue boat
The Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg will close on July 22 while it undergoes the first part of a renovation and expansion project. The museum will temporarily close through the end of 2024 for the project, which will include an expanded gallery with space for the Danish rescue boat Thor, which will arrive in the fall. According to the museum, it was one of multiple fishing boats used to evacuate Jewish people from Nazi-occupied Denmark to Sweden in late 1943, an operation that saved more than 7,000 lives. More from ABC Action News.
Florida sues Palm Beach County moving companies accused of bait-and-switch scams
A network of South Florida moving companies is accused of multiplying prices on the day of customers' scheduled move and holding their belongings for ransom. A lawsuit against the owner claims he defrauded clients across the country out of more than $1 million since 2018. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sued Palm Beach County resident Richard Falcone after investigating the complaints of at least 150 jilted customers. They described a pattern of unscrupulous business practices by Falcone's companies: Alliance Moving and Storage, based in Boca Raton; American Wide Relocation Inc. and American Movers and Storage, based in Lake Park; and First Priority Van Lines, based in West Palm Beach. More from the Palm Beach Post.
Seven UF Health specialties among nation’s best in new U.S. News hospital rankings
Seven University of Florida Health Shands Hospital medical specialties are ranked among the best in the nation, once again marking UF Health as an elite health system, according to the 2024-25 U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” report. The specialties recognized by U.S. News are neurology and neurosurgery (No. 33); otolaryngology, also known as ear, nose, and throat (No. 35); urology (No. 38); obstetrics and gynecology (No. 41); geriatrics (No. 43); orthopaedics (No. 46); and pulmonology and lung surgery (No. 48), its 15th consecutive year ranked among the nation’s best. More from UF.
Scholarships
This year the South Florida HBCU Picnic handed out scholarships for the first time
Jaden Gilliam, a recent graduate of Coral Reef Senior High school in Kendall, had attended the South Florida HBCU Picnic as a child. But this weekend he attended as one of the event’s inaugural scholarship recipients. “I didn’t really think about the real implications of where I really was,” said Gilliam, 18, referring to the annual gathering that brings together alumni and students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) from South Florida. “But now, coming back eight years later, I’m just really starting to understand the gravity of how important this HBCU picnic is.”
» More from the Miami Herald.
Immigration
Transylvanian Transplant
For much of the time since Mihaela Coprean arrived in Florida in 2009, she worked residential real estate sales in Southeast Florida and, since last year, Orlando. She credits her success in part to being able to speak to Latin American buyers in Spanish, a language with much in common with her native tongue, Romanian. She was born and raised in Transylvania — “I always jokingly say I’m Dracula’s cousin from Transylvania.”
» Read more from the Florida Trend.