Florida growth to top 300,000 people a year

906 people are moving to the state of Florida every day. 330,605 people are moving to Florida every year. That's equal to adding a city slightly larger than Orlando every year, according to a report released online this week by state economist. Sunshine state economists estimate the population of Florida will grow to 22 million residents in 2022, according to the Demographic Estimating Conference. More from WFTS, the AP, and WOFL.

Tropical wave could form into tropical storm with Florida in its sights

A tropical wave is developing in the southeast Caribbean Sea and has a 20 percent chance of becoming a tropical system within the next five days, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 2 a.m. update. Current projections show Central Florida lying directly in its pathway as it continues to move northwest while producing heavy rainfall and the possibility of flash flooding in Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, and Hispaniola. More from the Orlando Sentinel and WKMG.

The development of autonomous vehicles in Florida

Fifty years after Florida revived for a moonshot, the state’s government and industry pioneers have mixed around another breakthrough innovation that will be deployed closer to home. Executives and authorities have looked to make Florida a hotbed of activity in the advancement of self-driving innovation, an area as synonymous with next-generation transportation as Silicon Valley or Detroit. [Source: Analytics Insight]

Did Florida accidentally legalize pot? Officials clamber for a solution after hazy hemp law

State officials have heralded hemp as a new wonder crop. But the plant’s recent legalization is complicating efforts to prosecute marijuana-related charges, and has left police and prosecutors alike scrambling for a solution. As state attorneys from across Florida huddled in Naples this week for their summer conference, one issue was at the front of everyone’s mind: a new state law has made charging people for marijuana possession much harder. [Source: WJCT]

New Study Says Everglades Water Is Harming Keys Corals. Not Everyone Agrees.

The Florida Everglades can be a contentious place. Politicians, conservationists and farmers never seem to agree on much. Debate among scientists tends to be collegial. But a new study on coral and the Florida Keys that gained national headlines last week has reignited a decades-old dispute over pollution and the Everglades. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Auto mechanic shortage prompts hiring call from AutoNation [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
AutoNation, the country’s largest automobile retailer, is putting out a nationwide call to hire more than 500 service technicians for its service and collision centers. The Fort Lauderdale-based company is seeking to avoid effects of an auto mechanic shortage that grows worse as baby boomers retire from the profession.

› Naples-based Conditioned Air to build new operations hub in Lee County [Naples Daily News]
Conditioned Air has its eye on growth. The longtime Naples-based company has announced plans for a 52,710-square-foot operations center in Fort Myers to support its current and future growth. With the new building, Conditioned Air's footprint in Lee County will nearly triple in size. The company is already one of the largest air-conditioning contracting and service firms in Southwest Florida.

› FPL shows early interest in JEA [Florida Times-Union]
The day after JEA made its historic decision to invite offers for privatizing the city-owned utility, executives with the parent company of FPL had a quarterly conference call with industry analysts to discuss company earnings. An analyst popped the question about acquiring JEA. NextEra Energy CEO Jim Robo was ready with an answer.

› Universal Orlando plans ‘major’ announcement; could it be details about new theme park? [Orlando Sentinel]
A month away from Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge opening, Universal Orlando Resort has some of news of its own to share. Universal said Friday it would hold a press conference on Thursday morning to make a “major” announcement at the Orange County Convention Center, which is in the shadow of the hundreds of acres of land that Universal has been acquiring.

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› NASA chops down 385 acres of trees for better view of Kennedy Space Center launch pads [Orlando Sentinel]
In need of a better view for launches, NASA has cut down more than 385 acres of trees at Kennedy Space Center. NASA officials said the move was necessary in preparation for the return of human spaceflight. The last astronauts to launch from KSC did so on the space shuttle Atlantis in 2011. Since then, trees have grown so thick that the view of launch pads from the press site a few miles away had been somewhat obstructed.

› St. Petersburg wants scooters. But it doesn’t want scooters’ problems. [Tampa Bay Times]
The Sunshine City wants to avoid the problems that scooter rollouts have faced in other cities, such as scooters left lying on streets and minors illegally riding them. The city’s proposed plan to introduce scooters aims to reduce clutter and emphasize safety, said St. Petersburg transportation and parking management director Evan Mory.

› Sarasota filmmaker has ‘Skin’ in national release [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
While building his career as a filmmaker, director and producer and founder of Triforce Pictures, Shaun Greenspan discovered early on the importance of connections. One seemingly mundane, temporary and low-paying job as a fill-in production assistant on a television series could introduce to you the “right” people who could provide more jobs in the future or lead you to something bigger or more permanent.

› Health Department Emphasizes the Importance of Preventing Mosquito-borne Diseases [Florida Trend]
Surveillance systems are detecting the presence of mosquito-borne viruses. "The Florida Department of Health in Alachua County (FDOH-Alachua) would like to remind citizens and visitors the importance of preventing infection from mosquito-borne diseases as our surveillance system is detecting increased mosquito activity and the presence of Eastern Equine Encephalitis," said Anthony Dennis, Environmental Health Director, Florida Department of Health in Alachua County.