Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Tuesday's Afternoon Update

DeSantis lays out first year agenda during Florida State of the State

Speaking to a packed Florida House filled with lawmakers on the opening day of the Legislative session, Gov. Ron DeSantis made his final pitch to Florida legislators on Tuesday for the bills he hopes will cross his desk. Tuesday's speech follows a whirlwind pace of policy announcements since DeSantis took office two months ago. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the AP.

See also:
» Gov. Ron DeSantis' State of the State speech: complete text
» Galvano opens Florida’s legislative session quoting Lincoln and urging moderation

UF scientists sequence vanilla genome, could support domestic industry

NOAA forecast

Dr. Alan Chambers

The U.S. leads the world in imported vanilla beans, said Alan Chambers, an assistant professor of tropical fruit breeding and genetics at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. That’s why Chambers is leading a group of scientists trying to develop new Vanilla varieties to grow in Florida. More from Florida Trend.

Orlando home flipping falls to lowest level in 4 years as supply of bargain houses dwindles

Orlando’s rise in home prices has put the squeeze on home flippers hoping to turn a profit on rundown homes. The number of home flips — properties bought with the intention to remodel and resell — fell to the lowest level in four years in metro Orlando, according to real estate tracking firm Attom Data Solutions. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

JaxPort inks “game-changer” deal with tenant

In an agreement hailed Monday by JaxPort as a “game-changer,” port tenant SSA Marine will pay nearly $130 million to expand its international cargo operation at Blount Island, and JaxPort will use $28 million from the company to help pay for deepening Jacksonville’s ship channel. More from the Florida Times-Union.

Space Florida seeks federal grant to replace aging KSC bridge

A federal grant could help replace a deteriorating bridge that serves as a critical link for employees, tourists and spacecraft bound for Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The project is urgent because engineering studies show the 55-year-old State Road 405 bridge over the Indian River Lagoon may not be safe for heavy freight and spacecraft to cross as soon as 2021. More from Florida Today.

Florida History
Historic doctor's office to be moved to make way for apartment building

 Pompano Beach’s first doctor’s office will be moved to make way for a 10-story rental apartment project. The developer for Old Town Square confirmed he will contribute to the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency’s expenses to relocate the 1920s medical office of Dr. George S. McClellan.

» More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

 

Out of the Box
From kids’ pedal cars to Publix barber chairs, he collects the impossible

floridaThe first childhood present David Mallory remembers receiving was a 1960s pedal version of a speedway race car. He was 5 and rode the wheels off it. Years later, Mallory spotted an old pedal car like his. He bought it. Same with two barber chairs from old Publix. They now form part of a collection of memorabilia that Mallory has been gathering for 30 years, more than 200 pieces that turned his Land O’ Lakes home into what he called a museum of vintage Americana

» Read more from the Tampa Bay Times.