Hurricane season outlook worsens, as updated forecast predicts more storms

An extra-busy hurricane season may be particularly unwelcome this year, but a major weather forecasting service on Thursday announced an upward revision of its already pessimistic forecast. AccuWeather said it now expects up to 11 hurricanes this season, including up to four major hurricanes. The organization has previously predicted seven to nine hurricanes. Although the lower range of the forecast held steady at seven, the organization increased the upper range to 11. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Florida schedules July bar exam, with no plans for September test

Florida is sticking with the July bar exam. The Florida Board of Bar Examiners announced May 5 that it intends to move ahead with the regularly scheduled bar exam July 28 and 29, and that the Florida Supreme Court has signed off on the plan. That makes Florida the largest jurisdiction to administer the licensing exam in July without offering another test date in September. [Source: Daily Business Review]

Pawn shops thrive in the world of the coronavirus pandemic

More people have been visiting pawnshops for short-term loans, offering up family heirlooms, wedding rings and even gold teeth as collateral, said Orlando Grafals, who has helped run Pawn Bros on Sand Lake Road for about three years. But as some customers visit pawn shops for loans, many want something to keep their kids busy now that school districts in the region have shuttered, industry leaders say. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Merger swells auto club’s membership to 14 million

The Auto Club Group, headquartered in Tampa, has merged with AAA Colorado, growing its membership to more than 14 million and its workforce to 10,200 employees. According to a press release, the fast-growing AAA club’s territory now includes Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, most of Illinois and Minnesota, a portion of Indiana and the province of Quebec. [Source: Business Observer]

Florida is planning something for its worst troublemakers: a prison-within-a-prison

Florida’s prison system, overrun with violent gangs distributing contraband, operating rackets, running shakedowns and carrying out blood feuds, are looking to create a separate category of incarceration where those seen as the worst troublemakers can be bunched together, segregated from the rest of the general population. This prison-within-a-prison would be referred to as an administration management unit, or AMU. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Florida Supreme Court conducts historic oral arguments using video screens [Palm Beach Post]
Breaking 175 years of tradition, the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday did not meet in person for its oral arguments. This time, it used video conferencing and courtroom virtual backgrounds. The experiment was largely successful, with a few minor glitches: long pauses between speakers, a pop-up on the screen displaying ‘unstable internet connection’ and times when the video was glitchy and broke up.

› Blue Angels to fly over Jacksonville on Friday [Florida Times-Union]
The team will fly south along the Beaches beginning at 11:40 a.m. before making its way inland toward downtown Jacksonville, south to Orange Park and looping up to Jacksonville’s Northside before flying over Arlington, Mandarin and Fleming Island as they exit the area around noon.

› As Disney CEO expects more delays, 3 cruise ships park at Port Canaveral [Orlando Sentinel]
Disney Cruise Line’s four ships aren’t sailing amid the coronavirus shutdown, and so the company has parked three of them at Port Canaveral. The move came as Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek said cruising would most likely be the last of its businesses it brings back online.

› Pinellas County accepting applications for personal and business grants [Tampa Bay Times]
Pinellas County residents and businesses can now apply for one-time payments worth thousands of dollars to struggling families and small businesses suffering under the COVID-19 pandemic. The payments of up to $4,000 will help stabilize low-income individuals and families.

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› Florida company ‘willfully’ put workers in cave-in danger, faces $303,000 in fines: OSHA [Miami Herald]
An Oveido construction company’s workers on faced cave-in hazards via safety violations OSHA classified as “Willful.” Cathcart Construction faces fines of $303,611 from nine violations found at worksites in Orlando and Winter Garden, the Department of Labor announced.

› Coronavirus causes concert hall, events center to permanently shutter [Business Observer]
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed another business victim: the Southwest Florida Event Center. Jennifer and Richard Shanahan, the owners of the facility — which had hosted concerts from Melissa Etheridge to Amy Grant to Toad the Wet Sprocket, among dozens of other acts — announced the permanent closing in a May 6 email and social media post.

› Weekiwachee Preserve re-opens after coronavirus closure [Tampa Bay Times]
Walkers, runners and hikers can return to the Weekiwachee Preserve in Hernando County on Friday, a month after the Southwest Florida Water Management District closed it to public use. The closure came when large groups began gathering there, even after the agency posted rules prohibiting that to help prevent spread of the coronavirus.

› Miami-Dade Public Library System honored for innovations [Miami Today]
The Miami-Dade Public Library System in 2019 received two National Association of Counties Achievement Awards, which celebrate innovative programs that increase services to county residents. This feat earns it recognition as a winner for an organization in Miami Today’s Gold Medal Award Contest. The judges’ rankings in each category – Bronze, Silver or Gold – will be announced at an awards ceremony after the pandemic has passed.