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Monday's Daily Pulse

Florida may adopt limits on amount of toxins from blue-green algae blooms allowed in waterways

Amid fears of another summer of toxic algae afflicting the state and hurting its economy, officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection say they are considering new regulations on how much of the natural toxins are allowed in the state's waterways. One of the environmental groups that petitioned the state to take the step says it's a welcome move. But state officials and the environmental activists disagree on how the water pollution regulations ought to be employed to combat the algae blooms. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

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Florida's tax law exemptions

The story of how Florida taxpayers wound up subsidizing junk mail. The Florida Legislature started charging a sales tax 70 years ago. It’s been handing out tax exemptions ever since. It gave one of the first sales-tax exemptions to an industry that once was among the state’s most influential: Newspapers. Buried deep inside the General Revenue Act of 1949 — tucked between sales tax breaks on garden seeds and film rentals — was a provision declaring newspapers exempt from the sales tax. [Source: Florida Trend]

Florida’s economy is primed for growth, a new report suggests

Florida’s economic outlook will more than double over 30 years, says a new report. The quarterly report is authored by Sean Snaith, a national economist and Director at the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Forecasting. According to Snaith, “The total value of goods and services produced in Florida is expected to increase by more than 2.5 times the current value, reaching more than $4.6 trillion by 2049.” [Source: Florida Politics]

Ready or not, a Miami entrepreneur is trying to get funeral prices online

A Miami entrepreneur is on a mission to make shopping for a funeral home as easy as ordering off Amazon Prime. But funeral homes may not be ready for the digital market. In a survey of 211 funeral homes in 25 cities, only 27 percent of funeral homes with websites posted any prices online, according to a report compiled by the Funeral Consumers Alliance and the Consumer Federation of America in 2018. And only 16 percent posted a full general price list. [Source: Miami Herald]

Felons challenge new voting law in Florida

As a group of felons challenge a new Florida law that requires them to pay all fines and fees before getting their voting rights restored, their attorneys say they need a court decision well before this fall's off-year elections. The attorneys said Friday during a telephone hearing, and earlier in court papers, that they need the federal court in Tallahassee to act before a voter registration deadline in October. Some Florida municipalities hold elections in November. [Source: AP]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Innovation Square under new leadership
University of Florida Innovate leaders have taken over management responsibilities for Innovation Square; and in doing so, hope to create a more diverse, sprawled Innovation District. Jim O’Connell, assistant vice president for commercialization at UF Innovate, the umbrella term for UF’s innovation efforts, will assume responsibility for the management of Innovation Square. Mark Long, director of incubation services at UF Innovate’s business incubator The Hub, will also manage Innovation Square.

› There’s a small chance of a tropical system forming in the Gulf of Mexico next week.
Foul weather fueled by a low pressure area in the Gulf of Mexico could soon batter the Florida Panhandle, still recovering from last year’s devastating hurricane season, forecasters say. There’s no need to panic yet, as computer models don’t agree on much except for increased rain in the area, meteorologists say. But the evolving forecast comes as a reminder to remain alert.

› Need a computer or camera? The defunct Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale is selling off everything.
The tools of the trade that led to countless careers in the worlds of media, fashion and culinary arts soon will be auctioned off at the now-defunct Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. The decades-old school on 17th Street Causeway shut its doors and filed for bankruptcy last year amid the financial troubles of a national network of sister institutes.

› More public money sought to keep eager producers filming in Tampa Bay
Producers are tearing through the half-million dollars in television- and film-incentive money budgeted this year in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, so county leaders will be asked to add more to the pot for next year. It’s only July, and Pinellas already has $300,000 more in incentive requests than it has money available. In Hillsborough, there’s a shortfall of $52,000.

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› The Wine Room tasting place with 2,500 rare wines coming to Delray Beach
The restaurant, which replaces the former Caffe Martier, will become the second location of the 13-year-old Wine Room in Winter Park. It will boast more than 200 wines dispensed from Enomatic machines, along with 80-plus cheeses and 2,500 bottles of rare wines.

› The new USF president is here — and he brought ideas
He’s met with student government leaders, hung artwork on the walls inside his on-campus home and twice dined at Ybor City’s Columbia Restaurant. A week into the job, Steve Currall is settling in as president of the University of South Florida.

› Train horns to be silenced across South Florida
Effective 12:01 a.m. Monday, engineers will no longer be required to blast their horns at every one of the 18 railroad crossings between Northeast 79th Street and County Line Road in north Miami-Dade. That completes the long-promised and oft-delayed installation of supplemental safety measures at many of the larger railroad crossings along the Florida East Coast rail line that mostly runs parallel to Dixie and Federal highways through three counties.

› Public Records Began To Reveal How Much Florida Cabinet's Israel Trip Cost Taxpayers
When Florida Cabinet members jetted off to Israel in late May, some state employees who traveled at taxpayer expense stayed in a more than $400-a-night luxury hotel in Jerusalem, where a Cabinet meeting was held. More than a month after the trade mission ended, the full cost of the trip, proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is not clear.