Florida's long fight with Georgia over water to Apalachicola Bay and its oysters heads back to court

Florida's decades-long fight with Georgia to get an equitable share of a major regional water source to revive its dying oyster industry is headed to a New Mexico courtroom next week. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Paul J. Kelly of Santa Fe, New Mexico, was chosen by the Supreme Court to serve as a special master in the 2013 case and will hear oral arguments from both states on Nov. 7 in Albuquerque. [Source: USA Today]

Florida company continues its solar revolution path

Florida Power & Light’s plans for the expansion of its solar program are clearly ambitious. The utility company will add 30 million solar panels to its power grid over the next 10 years — approximately 300,000 of them at a plant it will begin building in St. Johns County sometime over the next year or so, according to FPL spokesman Stephen Heiman. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

DeSantis' key proposals face early obstacles in Capitol

Ambitious proposals by Gov. Ron DeSantis to raise minimum teacher salaries and require employers to verify the lawful immigration status for workers collided this week with early concerns from Florida’s lawmakers. The chilly reception in the Republican-controlled Legislature signals difficult policy battles for some of the GOP governor’s signature proposals for 2020. [Source: WJCT]

Florida claims to be a driverless car paradise. Critics call it a lawless mess

Florida is racing to overtake states like Arizona and Nevada as the training ground for tomorrow’s self-driving vehicles. Over the past seven years, the Sunshine State has quietly passed legislation that is friendly to AV research and development, luring companies with prospects of lax regulation, perennial fair weather, and the seemingly endless increase in tourists and retirees. AV startups from Pittsburgh to Silicon Valley have launched operations in Florida, lobbying lawmakers and claiming valuable real estate. [Source: Medium]

Census undercount would have a big impact on Florida

The census determines the number of seats each state gets in the US House of Representatives, and it’s used to set federal funding for state and local governments. That’s about $700 billion in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other vital programs. Economic analyst Hank Fishkind says that an under count would have an impact on business too. [Source: WMFE]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› New plan will create affordable housing along South Florida’s rail path [Miami Herald]
A new collaborative between local, state and national non-profit institutions has unveiled an ambitious plan aimed at creating and preserving affordable housing along the rail path throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

› Winning Pulse memorial and museum design announced [Orlando Sentinel]
Vowing to create a “sanctuary of hope and healing,” the onePULSE Foundation announced Wednesday a design for the Pulse memorial that includes a tranquil reflecting pool and 49 trees encircling the remains of the club and a separate, towering museum that “rises like a budding flower,” its rooftop promenade offering views of the memorial and what’s being called the "Pulse District.”

› State coastline still at risk for offshore drilling [CaptivaSanibel.com]
The fight to protect Florida's Gulf Coast from offshore oil and gas drilling is far from over. That was the update delivered on Oct. 28 during a presentation at the Sanibel and Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce's monthly Business After Hours, held in partnership with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and Oceana - an international advocacy organization focused on ocean conservation that is leading a national campaign to prevent the expansion of offshore oil drilling.

› ‘It’s our Super Bowl’: Expect a spectacle at 60th annual Fort Lauderdale boat show [Miami Herald]
If Fort Lauderdale is the Venice of America, the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is its biennale. And though it may be comparatively younger, the boat show, and the city that hosts it, are all grown up.

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› Florida voted to stop resetting clocks, so why are we doing it Sunday? [Destin Log]
Floridians will join most of the nation when they turn their clocks back an hour Sunday, despite legislative momentum to end the practice. While state lawmakers in Tallahassee approved a bill in 2018 that would allow Florida to remain on daylight saving time year-round, it only works if Congress amends U.S. code to allow it.

› Jacksonville City Council’s JEA workshops to run through May [Florida Times-Union]
JEA’s future will go under the microscope of the Jacksonville City Council during at least a dozen “fact-finding” workshops that will run through May. The timeline released this week means the City Council will be doing its own research in workshops while JEA is moving forward with negotiations that could wrap up in March on a potential privatization deal for the city-owned utility.

› PGT Innovations lays off employees [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
PGT Innovations Inc. confirmed it recently laid off employees from its Florida operations, including workers in Venice, involved in the PGT Winguard, CGI and WinDoor product lines. The Venice-based maker of impact windows and doors builds its PGT Custom Windows and Doors line locally, as well as operating the CGI Impact Resistant Windows and Doors in Hialeah and WinDoor High Performance Doors & Windows in Orlando.

› Florida fast train to connect Miami cruise port with Orlando [AP]
Florida's new high speed rail system is building a station at PortMiami, giving theme park tourists the opportunity for a car-free vacation by connecting them to the cruise capital of the world. PortMiami is home to 22 cruise lines. Last year, it served more than 5 million travelers, more cruise passengers than any other port in the world.