Florida is back in the land conservation business

Florida is back in the land conservation business in a big way, but that is not stopping environmental advocates from moving ahead with a lawsuit accusing the state of failing to abide by a 2014 constitutional amendment that earmarked money for conservation. The Sierra Club and a number of other environmental groups say the 2014 amendment requires that 33 percent of tax revenue from real estate transactions, or more than $800 million this year, go toward conservation efforts. More from the Daily Commercial and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Earlier:
» At long last, Florida Forever program can help wildlife

In Miami, MCM thrives on big county contracts. Now it faces the FIU bridge catastrophe

Last year, Florida was on track to spend $800 million for a new overpass in downtown Miami, a lucrative contract Munilla Construction Management failed to win from a state selection committee. When MCM protested the Florida Department of Transportation’s award to rival Archer Western, the losing bidder gained a high-profile ally at the top of Miami-Dade’s government. [Source: Miami Herald]

Florida Trend Editorial
Yesterday's solutions for Florida's transportation problems

Florida isn’t exactly a hotbed of public transportation. And the trends don’t look good. After perking up for a few years during and immediately after the Great Recession of 2008- 09, ridership has fallen off at most transit systems in the state. Read the full column from Florida Trend's Executive Editor Mark Howard, here.

Florida, the 'Salmon State'? It could happen soon

It comes as a surprise to many that salmon -- the cold-water, protein-rich fish -- are well-suited to be farmed in the tropics. Southern Florida offers the ideal geology for an innovative approach to aquaculture: the world’s largest land-raised salmon farm. Atlantic Sapphire CEO and Founder Johan Andreassen said he expects their $100 million facility will be capable of producing around 10,000 metric tons of salmon, or 22 million pounds annually, by the beginning of 2020. Read more at Seafood Source and the Miami Herald.

Many in Central Florida’s tourism industry fear Haitian, Salvadoran deportations

Thousands of people with Temporary Protected Status work in Orlando’s tourism mecca along International Drive or around Disney World, SeaWorld, Universal Orlando and the Orange County Convention Center. Around 1,000 work for Rosen Hotels & Resorts alone, which has seven locations. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Thousands of Florida homeowners will be paid for lost trees [AP]
Thousands of Florida homeowners who had healthy citrus trees cut down by the state are finally going to get paid for their losses. Gov. Rick Scott on Friday approved a new state budget that includes more than $52 million to pay homeowners in Broward and Palm Beach counties whose trees were removed more than a decade ago.

See also:
» Final state budget for 2018, HB 5001

› FTC shutters 3 cryptocurrency businesses with South Florida ties [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
The Federal Trade Commission on Friday said it won a federal court order in Miami to shut down three cryptocurrency businesses operating in South Florida and elsewhere around the United States. See the news release from the FTC, here.

› Lockheed Martin’s new $3.5B contract will yield Orlando jobs [Orlando Sentinel]
Lockheed Martin has landed another huge contract, $3.5 billion to maintain over 300,000 devices and systems used by the military, the company announced Friday. And that will result in at least a few dozen new jobs in Orlando if not more, company officials said. See the news release from Lockheed Martin, here.

› Jabil plans to spend $67 million remaking its headquarters in St. Petersburg’s Gateway area [Tampa Bay Times]
Jabil plans to invest an estimated $67.3 million expanding its corporate headquarters in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, according to Pinellas County records.

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› Roofing businesses skyrocket after Irma: Avoiding the bad players [Florida Today]
Hurricane Irma last October wasn't kind to many roofs throughout the Space Coast and that's still keeping many area roofers busy these days. Extremely busy.

› Voters want taller buildings for Key West affordable housing. Here’s what happens next [Miami Herald]
Key West voters did what Mayor Craig Cates wanted them to do in last week’s referendum: Approve a measure to raise the allowable building height on a Stock Island property up to 40 feet. So now what?

› Six months after Maria, transplanted Puerto Ricans struggle to put down roots in Central Florida [Orlando Sentinel]
With the region already suffering an affordable housing crisis well before the storm, the transition has been a rocky one, even for the many people who have found jobs.

› Pasco officials say CareerSource Tampa Bay blocked county from federal funds with ‘unethical’ grant application [Tampa Bay Times]
Edward Peachey, president and CEO of CareerSource Tampa Bay, helped his agency win a $3.8 million federal grant in 2016. The agency's application said the grant would serve five other area counties. Officials in those counties did not know the application listed the other areas.