As Florida’s COVID toll mounts, the young are dying, and the sick are deteriorating faster

Doctors at Florida’s hospitals expect the death toll of the newest wave to continue for weeks, maybe even months. But they already can see that people dying now of COVID are not the same as in previous surges. They are mostly unvaccinated and more tend to be younger than 60, a stark departure from the frail, older patients who succumbed to the illness when the pandemic arrived in the state. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Convention centers face risks as delta ramps up threat to crowds

The Delta strain is dealing a setback to the convention industry’s fragile recovery. Some big gatherings are being shut down as the number of coronavirus cases surges again, dealing a fresh hit to a business that was already struggling to revive from the era of social distancing and working from home. In Florida, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers and the Global Surgical Conference called off their events, with organizers of the later, citing the “dramatic surge” in the state’s cases. [Source: Bloomberg]

How hurricanes actually help Florida ecosystems thrive

In the middle of hurricane season, most people dread learning about an incoming storm but UCF Associate Professor of water resource engineering Kelly Kibler says storms actually benefit our state in some ways. “A hurricane represents a climatic extreme and things happen during extreme situations that don’t happen during regular weather,” Kibler said. Kibler explained while hurricanes sound scary to humans, many ecosystems need them. “From the perspective of our aquatic ecosystems this is something that has to happen in order for them to continue functioning,” Kibler said. [Source: Click Orlando]

What’s causing the worst die-off of manatees? Starvation from Florida ecosystem collapse

Manatee deaths reported in the past half-century include nearly 5,000 from boat strikes, water structures and red tides. Across that span of mortalities tied to human activities, there has never been a die-off as gruesome as from December through May, when 677 carcasses were counted along Florida’s east coast. Half were in Brevard County’s portion of the Indian River, a coastal lagoon in biological collapse from pollution. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Feds ready to investigate whether students' rights to safe education are being violated in Florida

The federal government is ready to look into the reopening of public schools in Florida as Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran pressure school districts that have approved student mask mandates, despite the governor banning such requirements. "Our Office for Civil Rights is prepared to take on any investigation necessary to support the safe reentry into schools if allegations that students rights to a free, appropriate public education are being violated," U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told the Florida Roundup on Friday. [Source: WUSF]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Tech and the ‘San Francisco-ization’ of Miami [Miami Herald]
During the pandemic, some major cities across the country saw an exodus, accompanied by a dip in rental prices — but Miami is experiencing just the opposite. Drawn by the year-round sunshine and beaches, the city became a destination for people from places like New York, Chicago and San Francisco. With the help of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Miami pitched itself as tech’s newest hot spot, with Microsoft, venture capital firm Founders Fund and private equity giant Blackstone, among others, opening offices. Miami was dubbed the future capital of cryptocurrency.

› Gold coin certified by Sarasota company sells for over $2 million [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
A coin certified as authentic by a Sarasota company sold for more than $2 million in an auction this week. The rare coin is a 1921 Roman Finish Double Eagle. Before the auction, Sarasota-based Numismatic Guaranty Corp. assessed the coin for authenticity and grade.

› Orlando urges reduced water usage as liquid oxygen used to purify water goes to COVID patients [Orlando Sentinel]
The city of Orlando and its water utility made an urgent appeal Friday afternoon for residents to cut back sharply on water usage for weeks because of a pandemic-triggered shortage of liquid oxygen used to purify water. If commercial and residential customers are unable to reduce water usage quickly and sufficiently, Orlando Utilities Commission may issue a system-wide alert for boiling water needed for drinking and cooking. Without reductions in water usage, a boil-water alert would come within a week, utility officials said.

› Tampa Electric Co. customers break record for energy use amid scorching temps [Tampa Bay Times]
The sweltering heat in Tampa Bay this week is doing more than making things uncomfortable — it’s also affecting your wallet. Tampa Electric Co. customers broke a record at 5:17 p.m. Wednesday for the most energy used at any one moment, the company said in a news release. The previous record was set on June 25, 2019, when 4,428 megawatts were consumed.

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› Fast-growing builder expands in Florida with second office [Business Observer]
Sarasota-based commercial construction management Firmo Construction has expanded, opening an office in Fort Myers. The move comes after the firm has more than double its size over the past year, says Firmo President and Owner Eric Collin in a statement, adding “Firmo has experienced substantial growth along the Gulf Coast.”

› Jacksonville area payrolls jump, unemployment drops [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Jacksonville’s unemployment rate fell in July with two local counties having some of the lowest jobless rates in the state. The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area fell from 5% in June to 4.5% in July, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Aug. 20. Duval County’s rate fell from 5.4% to 4.9% last month, but the other four counties in the metro area had lower rates.

› CDC issues warning to not cruise to those at high-risk whether vaccinated or not [Orlando Sentinel]
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated is guidance Friday to warn those at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 to avoid cruise ships, whether they’ve had the vaccine or not. The warning is a shift from the previous warning that only targeted unvaccinated travelers. “Severe illness means that a person with COVID-19 may need: hospitalization, intensive care, a ventilator to help them breathe or they may even die,” according to the CDC.

› Tropicana Field pick could come ‘within the next couple of weeks’ [Tampa Bay Times]
According to the city of St. Petersburg’s official timeline for the redevelopment of Tropicana Field, Mayor Rick Kriseman was supposed to pick his preferred proposal for the 86-acre site as early as May. May came and went. So did June and July. And most of August. Now, days before a primary in the race to name his successor, Kriseman says his choice of the two remaining finalist proposals is imminent.