After unemployment fiasco, Florida senators move to punish vendors

A Senate committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would penalize companies that perform poorly on state contracts, a reaction to the various contracting scandals that have erupted in the state government in recent years. Senate Bill 788, sponsored by Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, would bar companies from bidding on new state contracts if they fail to meet the terms of their previous contracts with the state. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Cruise industry workers struggling after a year since sailings stopped

On the verge of tears, Richard Robberts shared his story of having worked as a cruise line chef for almost 13 years before being laid off in March, due to the coronavirus pandemic. "I was the sole breadwinner of the household and now it is embarrassing for me, for any man that takes care of the household and you can’t provide anymore. It breaks you," he said. A November report from the Cruise Lines International Association says over 164,000 people have lost jobs since the shutdown of the industry. [Source: WOFL]

DeSantis gives doctors discretion in defining ‘extremely vulnerable’ people under 65 for vaccines

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday said doctors would have wide discretion on determining which people under age 65 were “extremely vulnerable,” a determination that will allow them to get COVID-19 vaccinations at pharmacies and doctor’s offices. His comments came after confusion erupted over his order first allowing people with serious conditions to get shots but also requiring doctors to fill out a mandated state form only available late Tuesday. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Florida’s toll road projects a ‘fiscal cliff,’ in serious trouble, lawmakers say

For the last two years, opponents of a controversial plan to build three new toll roads across Florida have been saying the projects aren’t needed and they’re too expensive. On Wednesday, a key Republican senator sided with them. “This is not tenable to do at this point,” said Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. Just 21 months after the plan to build 330 miles of new toll roads was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the projects could be in serious trouble. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Here are four bills that would change insurance in Florida

Last year was one of the most tumultuous in recent times for Florida’s insurance markets. Home insurance premiums spiked by double digit percentages after carriers requested substantial hikes to cover rising reinsurance costs, increasing litigation and lingering storm claims. Florida’s insurance regulator launched an examination of the financials of many of the state’s carriers. And while the final figures are not yet in, 2020 losses for Florida’s domestic property insurers are projected at about $1.3 billion. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Poll: Floridians want COVID-19 liability protection for businesses, health care [Florida Politics]
Floridians overwhelmingly would like businesses and health care providers that operate in good faith during the COVID-19 pandemic to have protection from lawsuits, according to a new poll. The poll, released Wednesday by Mason-Dixon and Florida TaxWatch, essentially shows widespread support for two Republican-run bills that Florida TaxWatch is supporting that would limit business and health care provider liability during the pandemic.

› Sarasota Memorial Hospital and Florida Blue wrangle over insurance contract [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Florida Blue and Sarasota Memorial Health Care System are at a crossroads in contract negotiations that could ultimately result in Sarasota County’s public hospital and doctors affiliated with First Physicians Group becoming out-of-network providers. Florida Blue sent letters to more than 15,000 members in the Sarasota-Manatee County area Tuesday, alerting them that their contract with Sarasota Memorial will technically end April 1.

› More FPL solar ‘trees’ in parks producing energy [Miiami Today]
Four new solar trees and canopies have been unveiled this year in Miami-Dade and Broward as part of Florida Power & Light’s SolarNow program. These canopies and trees, the company’s website says, “provide shade and harness the power of the sun while generating emissions-free energy” which is fed back into the “grid.”

› Chicago pizza chain makes Florida debut in Tampa Bay area [Business Observer]
Billy Bricks Wood Fired Pizza has opened its first Florida restaurant in Clearwater, the Chicago-based chain says. The family owned chain, which specializes in thin-crust, Neapolitan pizza baked in a wood-fired oven, recently opened at 1100 Cleveland St. in Clearwater. Summit Design + Build’s Southeast office completed the build out of the chain’s 2,506-square-foot restaurant, located within the 1100 Apex apartment building.

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› ‘A melting pot for variants.’ U.K., Brazilian, New York COVID strains found in Miami [Miami Herald]
Taking a deeper look at the types of COVID viruses circulating in some hospital patients, researchers at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine have identified a scattering of genetic footprints, with one viral culprit out-competing the others and surging to become the predominant strain.

› UF scientists sequence genome of the supersweet corn you’ve nibbled for 20-plus years [Fresh Plaza]
Sweet corn, a food favorite for many consumers, serves as a major crop for Florida. Earlier research by UF/IFAS scientists led to an even sweeter sweet corn dubbed “supersweet” because it has more sugar than other types of the staple crop. Now, a University of Florida scientist is laying the genetic groundwork for better sweet corn varieties. For the first time, Marcio Resende, a UF/IFAS sweet corn breeder, led a team of researchers to sequence the genome of a type of supersweet corn.

› FlexCold working toward North Jacksonville warehouse [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Charleston, South Carolina-based Flexspace Ventures LLC is working toward developing a FlexCold warehouse in North Jacksonville. The company says on its FlexCold.com site the almost 150,000-square-foot cold-storage facility with more than 25,000 pallet positions will open in April 2022. The Jacksonville Planning and Development Department is reviewing plans for the project on 12.06 acres at 11180 Blasius Road at southwest Faye and Blasius roads.

› Tampa’s Super Bowl was not a coronavirus super spreader, officials say [Tampa Bay Times]
Tampa’s Super Bowl was not a coronavirus super spreader event, Hillsborough County health officials said Wednesday. Fifty-three COVID-19 cases statewide were found to be associated with official Super Bowl events, Michael Wiese, chief epidemiologist at the county health department, said in a live interview. Four were found outside the state.