New laws taking effect in Florida on Oct. 1

A number of new laws went into effect last summer after being approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Now 27 new laws are taking effect on Oct. 1, including laws about hazing and veteran access to court-appointed programs. Also, the state’s ban on texting while driving will expand to prohibit motorists from using handheld wireless devices while driving in designated school crossings, school zones and work zones. More from WFLA, Flagler Live, and Bay News 9.

Florida Food Access Roadmap shows area food deserts

"Florida's Roadmap to Living Healthy" is a new way of looking at information about health and nutrition in our state. The map uses GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technology to visualize data. It can help government agencies, nonprofits and other organizations identify gaps in services and improve access to nutritious food. [Source: Action News Jax]

Tourists search out their favorite Florida

Florida’s famous theme parks aren’t the only things feeding the beast that is the state’s thriving tourism industry. The state’s history, culture, environment and geography give it advantages in attracting people for an eclectic range of tourism specialties. In 2018, 126 million visitors came to Florida, 45 million more than a decade earlier, according to Visit Florida, the state’s public-private tourism marketer. [Source: Villages Daily Sun]

Vape 'mass hysteria' killing business for Florida shops, owners say

Their livelihoods are at risk. That’s what Florida vape shops are saying, worried about new restrictions proposed in the next legislative session. The downturn in customers comes as the state worries about high underage-vaping rates and vape-related lung illnesses, nationally. [Source: WFTS]

Facing dissolution, Visit Florida getting key support from DeSantis

Visit Florida, the state’s tourist marketing arm, has been kept on a short — and tightening — leash by state lawmakers the past two years. But now facing a deadline that would kill the agency outright, tourism officials say they are bolstered by what they see as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ show of support for Visit Florida. [Source: Daily Commercial]

Three benefits developers should expect

Design-build is quickly gaining traction in the United States as the preferred project delivery method in construction. In fact, according to Fails Management Institute (FMI), it will represent nearly half of construction spending by 2021. There are many benefits to the design-build approach over traditional design-bid-build methods. [Sponsored report]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Floridians testing positive for drugs more often [Tampa Bay Times]
Florida’s teachers are less likely to test positive for drugs than other workers. On the other hand, employees in safety-oriented fields like nuclear power plant operators are consuming drugs far more often than just a few years ago, according to Quest Diagnostics, one of the country’s largest drug testing companies.

› Sarasota restaurant firm cooks up rapid growth phase [Business Observer]
The popular Sarasota restaurant Der Dutchman is known for its down-home Amish cooking, tasty pies and cavernous size. It’s also the spot where Chris Tomasso, president and CEO of a $354 million restaurant company, discovered one of his core leadership principles.

› Two Tampa Bay ad agencies recognized in Adweek ranking [Tampa Bay Times]
Two Tampa Bay ad agencies were listed on Adweek’s “Fastest Growing Agencies” list this week. Tampa’s Chacka Marketing ranked No. 17 among the 100 listed, averaging 477 percent revenue growth between 2016 and 2018. Clearwater’s Bluewater Media ranked No. 33 with 226 percent growth over that period.

› Virgin Hotels will open in Miami, the company’s latest venture for all-things travel in Florida [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Over the last two years, the travel arm of the far-flung London-based company has been on a developmental tear in South Florida, cutting a deal to become the face of Brightline, the high-speed train service now serving Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami, and starting an “adult” cruise line called Virgin Voyages at PortMiami, with its headquarters in Plantation.

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› Expect Fort Lauderdale airport to be more crowded. Rebuilt runway reopening soon. [Miami Herald]
The terminals of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport will be seeing a lot more fliers in the coming weeks as the airport re-opens its second runway. The airport announced Friday night that the north runway will re-open on Oct. 1 after a four-month closure for significant repairs. The reconstruction project cost an estimated $95 million.

› Volusia-Flagler salaries rise, as do disparities [Daytona Beach News Journal]
In Volusia County, the median household income was $50,361 in 2018, a 5% increase over the 2017 survey. In Flagler County, the uptick was even greater, 16%, to $58,963. Other measures, however, point to future troubles.

› In Miami’s Little Haiti, some business owners displaced by gentrification lose out [Miami Herald]
When developers jockey over property in Little Haiti, some Haitian business owners lose out. Marie Jeannine Desir ran a dress shop for a dozen years in a strip mall in Little Haiti’s northernmost corner that was home to several Haitian-owned businesses. Then developer Thomas Conway bought the rundown strip and another across Second Avenue, for a total of $6.25 million, according to public records. He vacated both before undertaking a total renovation. Because the tenants had no leases, they got just a 15-day notice.

› New backyard learning center a boost for Bradenton [Sarasota Herald Tribune]
Wasn’t it great being a kid? Your backyard was the center of the universe. You could be anyone in your backyard, go anyplace, do anything. All that was required was an imagination and a grape juice mustache. Who wouldn’t want to return to those days? Well, you actually can. It’s called the Mosaic Backyard Universe at the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton.