Meet the tree that could save Florida’s citrus industry
Matt Mattia used both hands to flip through the branch at his eye level, studying each side of every leaf as sunlight filtered from above. “Just healthy leaves,” he said, noting the dark green color. He turned his attention to a young fruit that was still the same color as the leaf next to it. “That looks pretty symmetrical,” he said. Mattia is no farmer, and the tree was no ordinary plant. He works for the United States Department of Agriculture as a geneticist. The tree has a name: Donaldson. Mattia called it the most researched tree in the state of Florida. It’s also the tree that growers hope will save the state’s citrus industry. More from WFTV.
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» Citrus forecast ticks up
Does St. Petersburg need baseball?
Losing a professional sports franchise has long been regarded as a black eye, particularly for up-and-coming Sun Belt cities like St. Pete. But the city has grown tremendously since the first pitch was thrown at the inaugural Tampa Bay Devil Rays game at Tropicana Field on March 31, 1998. Some real estate developers and civic leaders say St. Pete has evolved so much since then that the Rays’ potential departure won’t be a catastrophic economic blow. More from the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
'Hockey stick of job growth' fueled by space, aerospace industries across Brevard
Rather than die on the vine, high-tech space and aerospace industries have mushroomed and flourished across Florida's Space Coast — to magnitudes few could have predicted — since NASA mothballed the space shuttle program after Atlantis' final flight in July 2011. Think billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos — the two richest men in the world — and their respective companies SpaceX and Blue Origin. And national defense contractors like L3Harris Technologies, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. More from Florida Today.
City of Gainesville gives final approval for special election; GRUA readies second lawsuit
For the second time in less than a year, the Gainesville City Commission on June 12 voted to pass a second reading of an ordinance that will place the future of the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority in voters’ hands — the latest to be held in a special election this November. The special election is expected to cost the city around $250,000. More from the Gainesville Sun.
Tri-Rail, citing a lack of riders, will halt late-night trains to and from Miami
The idea sounded plausible enough: Run late-night Tri-Rail trains to and from downtown Miami and Miami International Airport to serve swing-shift workers, late-night revelers and air travelers who arrive after sundown. But a pilot program started last year by South Florida’s publicly subsidized commuter line failed to draw enough riders to justify the service, a spokesman confirmed this week. The trains will stop running effective June 30. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Business Beat - Week of June 13th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Retail Trends
South Florida mall voted best in the country
Aventura Mall fans already know it’s the best mall in the United States. Now the sprawling shopping center has national recognition, too. The Northeast Miami-Dade mall, a city unto itself with plenty of offerings and surrounding traffic jams, plays big. There’s a big slide, an Apple Store, an Italian food hall and market. Now it also has a big ranking: Best Mall in America, as voted in the new USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
» Read more from the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post.