Florida Housing Summit: No silver bullets, but plenty of ideas to help make homes affordable
Here are some truths about living in Florida: Housing in many parts of the state is expensive, there’s no single solution to making it less expensive and the term “affordable” housing is misunderstood to the point where many people who don’t need it don’t want it in their neighborhoods. All of these problems are difficult to overcome, which is why the Florida Policy Project gathered industry experts Wednesday for a daylong meeting to talk about solutions. More from Florida Politics.
Florida Python Challenge 2025 is set: When is it, where is it, prize money. What to know
Burmese pythons are like the proverbial needle in a haystack. In other words, good luck finding the invasive species that has been slithering around the Everglades for years and destroying the ecosystem. But just because pythons are difficult to find doesn't stop hunters from looking for them with hopes of putting a small dent in the population. More from the Naples Daily News.
Dick's Sporting Goods to buy struggling shoe chain Foot Locker for $2.4 billion
Dick’s Sporting Goods is buying the struggling footwear chain Foot Locker for about $2.4 billion, the second buyout of a major footwear company in as many weeks. In March, Foot Locker announced the company signed a long term lease to relocate the company's headquarters to St. Petersburg. It's unclear if those plans will continue under this new deal. More from WFTS.
Dutch coaster titan Vekoma establishes downtown Orlando office
You can’t hear the rumble of roller coasters in downtown Orlando, but thrill rides have a new presence there. Vekoma Rides, a manufacturing giant based in the Netherlands, has opened a North American office in the downtown business district. “This is the place to be in terms of theme parks, even though we work all over the U.S.,” said Ricardo Etges, vice president for sales and marketing for the Americas. Etges was Vekoma’s first Orlando-based employee. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Estero-based Hertz reports $443M net loss in Q1
Estero-based car rental company Hertz experienced a $443 million net loss in the first quarter, according to an earnings report. The loss was partly due to a 13% year-over-year decrease in total revenues. The company reported $1.81 billion in total revenues, attributing the decline to an 8% reduction in fleet capacity. More from Gulfshore Business.
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Transportation Trends
Boca Raton could be the next U.S. city to launch this self-driving shuttle
More than 40 self-driving MiCa shuttles, which can seat up to eight people and travel up to 25 mph, already operate in more than 16 countries across the world, according to AuveTech, the company that produces them. The one in West Palm Beach is MiCa’s United States debut, and Boca Raton could soon become the second U.S. location to use them.
» More from South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Florida Trend Exclusive
Prepping for higher seas
Broward’s seaport, Port Everglades, began work in October on a $152-million project to replace four of the port’s bulkheads, the retaining walls that protect the shore from erosion by waves and currents. Some $32 million of the money to “mitigate environmental threats from flooding and sea level rise” comes from the state Resilient Florida grant program, part of $275 million in such grants in that 2024 cycle.
» Read more from Florida Trend.