‘Iconic’ Florida Keys primed for $100 million restoration

For decades, most of the news about coral reefs has been pretty gloomy. Now the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is launching a new mission to bring back a few of those reefs. Reefs along the Keys once commonly had coral cover of 30 to 40 percent of its surfaces. Those healthy reefs protected the Keys from storms, nurtured fish and lobsters and helped create a thriving tourism industry that relies heavily on diving, snorkeling and fishing. Now the coral cover is more like 2 percent on a lot of the reefs that still draw tourists. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Column: Florida owes its growth and development to the trades

The construction industry provides good paying jobs and quality careers to a large segment of the local population, is projected to grow 10% by 2024, and with some workers looking longingly at retirement skilled tradespeople are in great demand. In the words of early 20th century actor Will Rogers, “America is a land of opportunity and don’t ever forget it.” The construction industry offers that opportunity. Through hard work and an honorable work ethic, young people with an entrepreneurial spirit can learn a trade and eventually own a business. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

A hop and a prayer — Florida scientists cultivate key beer ingredient

Shinsuke Agehara likes a challenge. The plant physiologist has tackled nutrient profiles for strawberries and tomatoes, two of Florida’s marquee crops. He co-wrote guidelines for growing artichokes and pomegranates in the state’s tricky climate. Now, he’s figuring out how to produce hops. More specifically, how to make the key ingredient in beer a commercially viable option for local farmers. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

South Florida officials seeking more international soccer

More than two dozen political leaders in South Florida have written letters to the U.S. Soccer Federation’s board of directors, urging them to allow top-tier international matches to take place in the Miami region. The politicians — ranging from city mayors, county mayors, county commissioners and one state Senator — all essentially said the same thing, that bringing major international soccer to South Florida only will help the region’s tourist-dependent economy. [Source: AP]

Senate President balks at Governor’s E-Verify proposal

Gov. Ron DeSantis wants all Florida businesses to use a system to prevent undocumented immigrants from getting jobs in the state, but a powerful Republican leader is pushing back against the proposal. Senate President Bill Galvano said he does not support a measure that would force Florida’s private employers to use the federal government’s E-Verify system, which checks to see if new hires are authorized to work in the U.S. More from the Orlando Sentinel and Florida Politics.

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Million-dollar Space Coast tourism campaign targets visitors from Miami, Super Bowl [Florida Today]
The Space Coast Office of Tourism is targeting the Miami area for its largest single-city marketing campaign ever — a million-dollar effort in early 2020 to lure visitors to Brevard County. The eight-week campaign will begin a week before Miami hosts the Super Bowl on Feb. 2 — a time when the area will have visitors from throughout the country and abroad.

› Company paid $47,000 after not properly feeding H-2A visa farm workers in Florida [Miami Herald]
A Mississippi company that brings in H-2A visa workers to Florida farms has paid $47,154 in pay to workers after not feeding them as required, the Department of Labor announced. That owed money from H2A Complete went to 66 workers, an average of $714.45 per employee.

› Florida gas prices fall 6 cents in a week [Orlando Sentinel]
Gas prices in Florida continue to decline, but the U.S.-China trade agreement may stall lower prices, according to AAA. The weekly report from the travel service said the state saw nine consecutive days of falling prices at the pump, dropping 8 cents during that period, and 6 cents week over week. The state average as of Sunday was $2.46 a gallon.

› SuperShuttle is going out of business. What it means for South Florida’s major airports [Miami Herald]
For more than 35 years, SuperShuttle, the shared van service with the blue and yellow color design, has been a familiar sight at airport terminals nationally and internationally and on our roadways. But that’s about to end by Dec. 31, The Los Angeles Times reported first. The ride service, founded in 1983, initially to whisk passengers to and from Los Angeles International Airport before expanding services worldwide, is going out of business this month.

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› Original Big Olaf owners are back with new Siesta Key ice cream shop [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Dennis and Nancy Yoder thought their days of operating an ice cream parlor on a Florida barrier island were over. The couple, the founders and original owners of Big Olaf Creamery, had been out of the frozen dessert business for a while. They sold their five ice cream shops to separate owners in 1990, and even 19 years later, when they opened a Big Olaf in Lakewood Ranch, Dennis had to promise Nancy that he wouldn’t be in the business for more than two years.

› Thousands of gallons of raw sewage are still pouring into Fort Lauderdale’s rivers and canals [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Work crews removed sludge, set up an additional pump and took other steps Saturday to defend southeastern Fort Lauderdale from a massive sewage leak that won’t be stopped until Monday at the earliest. Sewage contamination concerns for Fort Lauderdale waterways are growing because of continuing discharge from the Tuesday sewer line break, with city officials warning people Saturday to avoid recreational activities on the water in an expanded area.

› Sarasota’s first contemporary art museum opens [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
For the past 16 years, residents of Sarasota have worked to transform the old campus of Sarasota High School into a contemporary art museum. Saturday morning, Sarasota Art Museum finally opened to the public. “We had to keep the community interested for 16 years — and they were,” said Lois Stulberg, one of the founders of SAM, more formally known now as Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College. “It’s been a long, wonderful journey.”

› Report: Tampa had top job market in Florida this year [WFLA]
A new report is showing how strong Tampa Bay’s job market has been in 2019. According to recruitment website, Zippia, the Tampa Bay metro area had the best job market in the state, with an unemployment rate of 3.4 — .3 percent lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.7.