Florida cities face 'all or nothing' choices on medical marijuana

Florida cities and counties are in a dilemma about pot. Local governments can either impose outright bans on medical-marijuana dispensaries or allow unlimited numbers of marijuana retail outlets, under an “all or nothing” approach approved during a special legislative session. More from WUSF and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Hurricane Michael killed at least 35 in Florida, 45 total

Florida authorities have linked six more deaths to Hurricane Michael, raising the state’s death toll to 35. The storm’s overall death toll now stands at 45, with 10 deaths in other states. Florida Emergency Management Division spokesman Alberto Moscoso said in an email Saturday that two more deaths were confirmed in hard-hit coastal Bay County, raising the total there to 21. [Source: AP]

Voter-turnout efforts go into overdrive entering homestretch

With tight races at the top of the ticket and Florida being, well, Florida, Democrats, Republicans and allied organizations are putting voter-turnout efforts into overdrive entering the last full week before Election Day. Both sides are chest-thumping about how well-positioned they are to motivate their bases. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Mosaic picks Bank of America Plaza in downtown Tampa for HQ

Bank of America Plaza in downtown Tampa will be the new corporate headquarters of the Mosaic Company, the first Fortune 500 firm to relocate to the Tampa Bay area. The phosphate mining giant announced in May that it was moving its corporate offices from Minneapolis to Hillsborough County but the exact site had not been known until today. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Florida’s next governor should leave corporate tax rate alone, influencers say

Andrew Gillum wants to raise the corporate tax rate. Ron DeSantis wants to lower it. But a panel of the Florida’s most prominent voices thinks it should remain the same. A new survey of 50 of the state’s leading political and policy figures, found that more than half of respondents (54 percent) believe the next governor should not alter the state’s current corporate tax rate of 5.5 percent. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

Florida Trend Exclusive
› Coming clean: Crowley Maritime launches an LNG-powered ship [Florida Trend]
In July, Crowley Maritime’s El Coqui made its maiden voyage from Jacksonville to San Juan, Puerto Rico -- the first time an American-flagged ship designed to transport vehicles operated on liquefied natural gas (LNG).

› Springs summit set for this week in Ocala [Gainesville Sun]
Four years ago, a group of scientists and advocates gathered to discuss the plight of the Floridan aquifer and the state’s network of springs. The result was the establishment of The Florida Springs Council (FSC), whose purpose is to monitor the health of the springs, identify threats to the springs and develop a map for restoration and protection.

› In picking new leader, JEA will have to reckon with turbulent year [Florida Times-Union]
Aaron Zahn — the 38-year-old interim CEO of Jacksonville’s electric, water and sewer utility — is a remarkably audacious man for someone who started the job roughly seven months ago with limited experience in the industry and no guarantee he’d be there in the long run.

› What's in a name? This South Florida bank is making a change [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Mercantil Bank has announced it is changing its name to Amerant. Headquartered in Coral Gables, it has 15 branches in South Florida, seven in Texas, and a commercial real estate loan production office in New York City.

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› Florida-based Dycom faces putative federal securities investor class action [Florida Record]
A Florida-based telecommunications infrastructure company and its leading executives misled investors about the company's expected growth ahead of a sharp drop in its stock price earlier this year, according to a putative federal securities class action filed this week.

› Falling stock markets take toll on Tampa Bay area companies. [Tampa Bay Times]
October hasn’t been kind to stock prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is off nearly 7 percent, the S&P 500 almost 9 percent and the Nasdaq 11 percent. The sell off has ensnared many of the Tampa Bay area’s largest companies.

› Mote secures $28 million for Benderson Park location [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Not even a week after the Sarasota County Commission unanimously approved the terms of an agreement that would allow Mote Marine Laboratory to build a multi-level, state-of-the-art aquarium at Nathan Benderson Park, the nonprofit announced it has already secured $28 million in private donations and corporate sponsorships toward the $130 million project.

› Fattmerchant launches feature to help small businesses track data [Orlando Sentinel]
Orlando financial tech firm Fattmerchant has created a way for businesses to see detailed analytics and payment data related to transactions more easily. The platform, which offers a dashboard that reports specific metrics and data across any payment channels, works for both companies that require a physical credit card and those that do not.