Three weeks left in legislative session and there is still a lot of business to tackle

The Florida legislature’s current session comes to a close in three weeks and they still have a lot of business to take care of. Currently, the Florida legislature is brewing with bills that will have an impact on Florida’s employers if they become law. These bills cover a wide variety of issues including parental leave, medical marijuana, gender identity, sexual orientation and race discrimination. More from WTSP and the Daily Business Review.

Florida added almost 2,000 solar jobs last year, the most in the nation

The Sunshine State’s solar energy industry is growing. A recent report by The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing solar energy, found Florida added 1,843 solar jobs in 2019 — the largest increase among U.S. states. Other top states that added solar jobs include: Georgia with 1,102 jobs, Utah with 1,062 jobs, and New York with 1,011. No other states added over 1,000 jobs. [Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal]

Bling bling! South Florida is the jewelry king, and it’s not just Miami.

If you’re looking to buy new jewelry, you certainty won’t find a shortage of options in South Florida. In fact, Miami ranks No. 1 in the entire country in jewelry stores per capita, according to a study from Rent.com. With 446 stores for a 471,000 city population, Miami has over 60 percent more per capita than the next highest city, Scottsdale, Arizona. Orlando, Honolulu and Columbia, South Carolina, round out the top five, and there are four other South Florida cities in the top 50. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

‘I think I was deceived’: In pay scandal, Florida nonprofit’s former chairs claim ignorance

In a rare exercise of its investigative authority, the Florida House brought in for testimony former chairs of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s board of directors, the state-funded organization under fire for paying its former CEO more than $7.5 million over three years. Three FCADV board chairs going back 10 years put on a stunning show of a lack of intimate knowledge of the decisions made by the coalition and shirked responsibility for former CEO Tiffany Carr’s outsized compensation packages. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Florida wildlife: Silver River monkey population grows unchecked

The growing number of monkeys is something Steve Johnson worries about, as it raises the possibility of confrontations with humans and the expansion of the non-native primates’ range beyond the idyllic river in Marion County. Johnson, a University of Florida professor of wildlife ecology and conservation, co-authored a recent study that estimated the monkey population on the Silver River will double by 2022. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Spring training brings thousands of visitors, boost to Southwest Florida economy [WINK News]
Major League Baseball’s spring training is in full swing here in Southwest Florida this weekend. That means thousands of visitors will be in the region to catch a ball game, not to mention all the teams and staff that come along with them.

› Town plans to pay $15 million for land, and residents are on hook for tab [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Hillsboro Beach is buying nearly 2 acres to make room to beef up the beach with sand. And the town’s property owners will be required to pay their share of the $15 million cost, outraging some who call it a last-minute deal that caught them off guard.

› Forbes taps 14 Sarasota-Manatee wealth advisors among best in Florida [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Fourteen wealth advisors working in the Sarasota-Manatee region were tapped for the latest “Best in State” list by Forbes magazine. The entire list spotlights more than 4,000 top advisors across the country who were nominated by their firms, and then researched, interviewed and assigned a ranking within their respective states and markets.

› Grand Hyatt is coming to South Beach. ‘Sky Bridge’ will connect to convention center [Miami Herald]
There is only one Grand Hyatt hotel in Florida. The second one is planned for South Beach — and it comes with a “sky bridge.” The 800-room luxury hotel planned for city-owned land near the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center will be managed by the Chicago-based company, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber announced during his State of the City speech Monday.

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› Michael Bloomberg is ahead in Florida’s brick-and-mortar race, but does it matter? [Tampa Bay Times]
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has 14 offices across the state, from Tallahassee to Little Havana and in both St. Petersburg and Tampa, with plans to open six more in the coming days. It’s a demonstration of the billionaire’s deep, deep pockets and his campaign’s must-win approach to Florida after entering the race too late to qualify for the first four nominating contests.

› Another sewer main break in Fort Lauderdale [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
City crews were on the scene of another sewer line break in Fort Lauderdale, officials said Monday. Initial reports indicate the break happened in a 14-inch sewer line in the parking lot area of George English Park, 1101 Bayview Dr., city spokesman Chaz Adams said in an email at 8 a.m. The line that broke is connected to a nearby pumping station.

› In a growing office market, Blue Lagoon district will spend $10M to stay relevant [Miami Herald]
The Blue Lagoon office community is revamping itself with a $10 million makeover. And a name change. The 250-acre office park near Miami International, Waterford at Blue Lagoon, re-branded itself as the Waterford Business District on Monday, said Tere Blanca, chairman and chief executive officer of Blanca Commercial Real Estate.

› Florida’s ‘winter’ means about 1 more month of manatee watching [Orlando Sentinel]
Florida’s winter season, laughable by some metrics, is coming to an end. But the end Florida’s manatee season might bring some sadness to some. Tis the time of the sea cow in Florida’s spring waters, which ends officially on March 31.