Thursday's Afternoon Update
Brace for crowded highways and airports as Floridians help set new holiday travel record
More than 6.1 million Florida residents will take planes, trains and automobiles over the coming holidays to visit family, friends and vacation destinations, according to AAA. The auto club forecasts a total of 115.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more between Dec. 21 and Jan. 1, which would be the largest travel volume since AAA began tracking in 2000. Floridians are expected to help set that record, due to 300,000 more residents traveling this holiday season over the last. Read more from AAA and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Florida bills would give new parents 3 months paid leave
Two bills that aim to give workers three months of paid parental leave are making their way through the Florida state Senate and House. “The Florida Family Leave Act” would require businesses “to allow certain employees take paid family leave to bond with minor child upon child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement.” More from WFLA.
How Miami-Dade collected $3 billion and still can’t afford to expand Metrorail
If spending of Miami-Dade’s transportation tax had gone as planned nearly two decades ago, the county would be preparing for a milestone in 2021: the five-year anniversary of a new elevated Metrorail line running 10 miles north along 27th Avenue to the Broward County line. Metrorail’s “North Corridor” expansion was originally supposed to open by 2016 under a construction timeline laid out in 2002 on how to spend a transportation sales tax. More from the Miami Herald.
Florida’s newest Publix GreenWise features a bar, multiple ‘experience zones’
Publix is bringing the party to Boca Raton with a new organic GreenWise Market, opening Thursday. And there’s a bar! The re-imagined concept is the first to debut in South Florida. It features multiple “experience zones” — from craft brews to wood-fired pizzas — and is squarely aimed at foodies and health-conscious customers. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Why a cyber attack on a Florida prison contractor will delay toll road bills
A cyber attack on a Florida contractor that runs inmate work programs is leading to more problems with the state toll road system. PRIDE Enterprises has been locked out of its computer systems for days in what the organization called a potential criminal attack. The Brandon outfit runs on state prison labor and provides services and products to Florida governments. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Natural Resources
Fish are disappearing from Biscayne National Park. Is state doing enough to stop decline?
For more than a decade, conservationists have been pushing for closing off small parts of Biscayne National Park to fishing by establishing the same sort of zones that have protect reefs and their denizens along the Florida Keys for years. But many recreational anglers and state wildlife managers have never endorsed controversial marine reserves in the heavily used waters off Miami, calling them an extreme measure that infringes on fishing rights.
» More from the Miami Herald.
Floridian of the Year 2019: The Florida Teacher
A Florida Native American teacher is helping to preserve the Creek language
Jade Osceola is fighting to keep her tribe’s native language from becoming obsolete. Today, Osceola, 33, teaches Creek to eighth-graders at the reservation’s Pemayetv Emahakv (pronounced Pemma- yetta Emma-ha-ga) Charter School, or “Our Way” school. Earlier this year, she was named Glades County Teacher of the Year.
» Read more from Florida Trend.