Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried appoints Shenika Harris as first ever LGBTQ consumer advocate

Established as a new position under Fried, Harris will serve as the Department’s liaison to Florida’s LGBTQ community, raising awareness on opportunities within the agriculture industry, and helping address discrimination and fraud targeted at the LGBTQ community. A licensed Florida attorney since 2004, Harris has worked at the Florida Department of Transportation for more than a decade and most recently served as Senior Attorney, where she provided legal counsel including negotiation, drafting, and review of contracts, intergovernmental agreements, permits and more. [Source: Space Coast Daily]

Florida Trend Exclusive
Heavy equipment rental companies seek tax breaks

Companies that rent bulldozers, backhoes and other construction and industrial equipment are lobbying the Florida Legislature for a $30-million tax break this spring. Led by industry giant United Rentals, which owns a $14-billion fleet of machines and has more than 60 locations in Florida, the heavy equipment industry wants state lawmakers to reclassify their rental equipment as “inventory,” akin to new products waiting to be sold. Inventory is exempt from property taxes under Florida law; tangible personal property, which is how heavy rental equipment is generally classified now, is not. [Source: Florida Trend]

Golden opportunity: Mom-and-pop Florida dog breeders

During the past decade, about 60 cities and counties statewide have banned or curtailed retail dog sales in an effort to reduce the market for commercial breeding and encourage more people to adopt pets. As governments restrict sales of commercially bred puppies, Brandie and Matt delaPaz’s mom-and-pop dog breeding business has emerged to meet the demand. While recent efforts to ban retail dog sales in Florida aren’t aimed at small-scale breeders like the delaPazes, they say they’re wary of the new regulations. “Eventually, they’re just going to put all those laws and regulations on us,” Brandie says. If that happens, she adds, they’ll move their business to North Carolina, where they also own a home. [Source: Florida Trend]

House committee votes to make Medicaid cuts permanent

House Republicans released a proposed health-care budget and an accompanying bill that could lead to putting people with disabilities in managed-care plans. The proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year also would make permanent a $103 million reduction to the state’s Medicaid program and reduce Medicaid spending at Florida’s hospitals by about $111 million in federal and state funds. Those reductions would come in reimbursements for inpatient and outpatient care. [Source: WUSF]

SpaceX's next-gen Starship will be built in and launched from Florida

SpaceX's next-generation launch system designed to take humans beyond low-Earth orbit will at least partially call Florida home, CEO Elon Musk confirmed over the weekend. When asked where the vehicle known as Starship and Super Heavy would launch from, Musk said both Texas and Florida would host liftoff and assembly operations. "Working on regulatory approval for both Boca Chica, Texas, and Cape Kennedy, Florida," he said via Twitter Sunday. "Will also be building Starship and Super Heavy simultaneously in both locations." [Source: Florida Today]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› New Florida crop -- hops -- results from climate change [UPI]
Climate change, craft brewing and local food trends are powering greater interest in a new Florida crop -- hops -- and some initial attempts to grow barley in the state. From Gainesville to St. Petersburg to Delray Beach, breweries are trying Florida-grown hops -- a key flavor ingredient in beer. "Locavores" -- people who like to eat locally grown food -- can be credited for some of the interest in Florida-grown hops. But another factor is increasing crop uncertainty because of periodic drought in Western states where hops are traditionally grown, chiefly in the Yakima-Wash., area, about 140 miles southwest of Seattle.

› Virus sickens, kills freshwater turtles along Florida river [News Herald]
Wildlife officials say a virus may be targeting freshwater turtles along a Florida river. According to a recent Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission statement, no toxins from harmful algae blooms were found in the turtles collected from the St. Johns River since March 2018. Approximately 300 sick or dead Florida softshells and cooters have been reported from Palm Bay north to Crescent Lake and Palatka. No fish or other wildlife appear to be affected.

› Proposed Florida Legislation would protect students from hazing [Source]
Andrew Coffey should have been graduating from Florida State University with his classmates this May. But his life was cut short when he was pressured into drinking an entire bottle of 101-proof Wild Turkey bourbon in a fraternity hazing ritual. Now his parents are pleading the Florida Legislature to pass a bill that expands the state’s anti-hazing laws. The proposed legislation offers amnesty to the first person who makes a 911 call in a hazing emergency, meaning he or she can’t be prosecuted for hazing.

› Good riddance, Florence and Michael. You're off the hurricane list [Gainesville Sun]
The names will live in legend — Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Michael — but they will never be repeated. Both were retired this week from the six-year rotating list of cyclone names by the World Meteorological Organization’s Atlantic basin hurricane committee, which is meeting in Curaçao. They will be replaced with Francine and Milton, which will first appear in 2024s name list.

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› Bucs become 1st NFL team with 2 female coaches on staff [AP News]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired Maral Javadifar and Lori Locust as assistant coaches, becoming the first NFL team with two female coaches on their staff. Locust and Javadifar are also the first full-time female coaches in franchise history. Locust will be an assistant defensive line coach and Javadifar an assistant strength and conditioning coach. “I know how hard it can be to get that first opportunity to coach at the highest level of professional football,” Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said in a statement.

› New Baptist Health medical center to create 230 new jobs in Plantation [Sun Sentinel]
Baptist Health South Florida has broken ground on a new wellness and medical center in Plantation that officials say will create 230 new jobs. The 100,000-square-foot center, at 1228 S. Pine Island Road, north of Interstate 595, will offer primary care, diagnostic imaging, urgent care, multi-specialty surgery, medical oncology, physical therapy and a spine care clinic.