Florida, other states lose Supreme Court case against Obamacare

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge by Florida and 17 other states to the Affordable Care Act, leaving intact the law that has helped more than 2 million Floridians obtain subsidized health insurance this year. The court, in a 7-2 decision, did not opine on the crux of arguments by Florida and other plaintiffs that the law was unconstitutional after Congress in 2017 eliminated a financial penalty for people who didn’t carry mandated coverage. More from the News Service of Florida.

Fast-spreading COVID variant from India reported in Florida

The highly aggressive delta variant first detected in India has surfaced in Florida, just as national leaders warn it could soon become the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID tracker shows Florida has at least 72 cases of the variant as of June 15. Federal health officials have labeled Delta a “variant of concern,” a designation given to strains that show evidence of increased transmissibility or that cause a more severe disease. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentineland Health News Florida.

Tropical storm warning extends to Florida’s Panhandle

For the developing storm known as Potential Tropical Cyclone 3, the projected range includes the Florida Panhandle, and its outer winds are expected reach Louisiana’s coast today. The National Hurricane Center extended its tropical-storm warning from Intracoastal City, Louisiana to the Alabama/Florida border including the Okaloosa-Walton county line, the NHC said in its 8 a.m. update. The warning also includes Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Metropolitan New Orleans to the west. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Algae task force to gather in West Palm; meeting follows city's toxic water emergency

Florida’s Blue-Green Algae Task Force will convene in West Palm Beach next week in its first meeting in Palm Beach County and a month after a cyanotoxin emergency left the city’s tap water undrinkable by some vulnerable populations. West Palm Beach's battle with a toxin produced by the Cylindrospermopsis cyanobacterium, also known as blue-green algae, will likely be on the agenda for discussion June 23, but if it’s not, one member said he plans to make it an issue. More from the Palm Beach Post.

Tampa’s Sykes Enterprises to be sold in $2.2 billion deal

Sykes Enterprises, one of the largest public companies in the Tampa Bay area, is being sold to a private Miami company in a deal worth $2.2 billion. The Tampa company, which provides corporate services like customer assistance and technical support, will be sold to Sitel Group, a global customer service firm, in an all-cash deal worth $54 per share, a 31.2 percent premium over Thursday’s stock price. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Business Beat - Week of June 18th

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