Florida lawmakers consider COVID rules for businesses despite legal hurdles

Florida legislators will convene a week-long special session Monday to pass new regulations on businesses that require employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19. The proposals do not ban vaccination requirements but will impose five new exemptions for employees who don’t want a vaccination, all but one of which mirrors a federal rule. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Florida Trend Exclusive

Florida Icon: Former farmer of the year Lynetta Usher Griner

The logging executive and cattle rrrancher tells us: "Agriculture has got to have a seat at the table when you’re talking about climate change. I’m co-chair with Jim Strickland of the Florida Climate Smart Agriculture Group. It’s a group of producers who are talking about what we can do to address climate change and still stay in business." [Source: Florida Trend]

Enterprise Florida Shifts Authority Amid Opening

With Enterprise Florida operating without a president or interim president, Marc Adler, the business-recruitment agency’s deputy secretary of commerce, was given authority Friday to sign contracts. The Enterprise Florida Executive Committee in a conference call temporarily gave Adler authority that had been restricted to the president. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Some Disney executives are already making the move to Florida from California

Walt Disney World announced in July its plans to relocate 2,000 of its employees from California to Lake Nona and realtors in Central Florida say some Disney employees are already moving to the Sunshine State. In a letter to employees, Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, said the move would allow creative and business teams to be better integrated. The company already has a theme park resort, Walt Disney World, that is the size of the city of San Francisco, located outside Orlando, Florida. [Source: Click Orlando]

Is Biscayne Bay fished out? Not exactly, but it’s nearing the ‘point of no return’  

There was a time when Biscayne Bay was one of the country’s finest fishing grounds. Too much polluted fresh water being released into the bay, along with too many recreational boats and too much fishing pressure has wiped out acres and acres of fish habitat, and threatens to wipe out some fish species from the bay. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Orlando hotels are filling up fast for the holidays, but bookings still lag 2019 [Orlando Sentinel]
As the holiday season gets under way, Orlando hotels are finding more reasons to be merry this year as bookings begin to look a lot like they did before COVID-19. “Travelers are excited to reconnect with family and cross destinations off their bucket list, and we have certainly seen that trend come to fruition when looking at bookings this year compared to last year,” Thomas Steinhauer, regional vice president and general manager for the Four Seasons Resort Orlando, wrote in an email.

› Law proposed in Florida would require background checks on maintenance workers at apartments [WWSB]
A Florida lawmaker wants to dig up your maintenance worker’s past. It’s called “Miya’s Law.” The bill would require your apartment complex, with 5 units or more, to give you 24 hours’ notice before coming to your apartment. Currently, complexes only need to give you 12 hours’ notice. It would also require property managers to do background checks on all employees that have access to apartments.

› New College of Florida wins grant to study Tampa Bay shark population [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The Tampa Bay Estuary Program and Restore America’s Estuaries have awarded a $165,111 grant to New College of Florida to fund shark research. The research, which will be conducted by New College associate professor Jayne Gardiner, will assess population trends for Tampa Bay shark species, addressing data gaps that currently hinder conservation and management efforts.

› Suarez says Miami residents will be getting Bitcoin ‘yield’ in digital wallets [Miami Herald]
Miami residents may soon be getting a Bitcoin “yield” thanks to the MiamiCoin project. In an interview with cryptocurrency news site Coindesk.com, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said he was planning to convert the millions of dollars in proceeds MiamiCoin has created into a Bitcoin “dividend.”

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Invasive armored catfish causing harm to Florida’s manatees [WBBH]
There is another invasive species causing problems in Florida. It’s a fish, with a suit of armor, known as Plecostomus, or “Pleco” or the Armored Catfish. Despite the fact that it only eats algae, it’s causing problems with one of Florida’s most at-risk species. Dozens of these fish can be seen clinging to the backs of manatees, feeding on the algae that grow on their backs.

› Ten years in, Give Miami Day goes from barely known to spreading millions to nonprofits [Miami Herald]
Give Miami Day, which changed the scope of philanthropy in Miami, from how big-pocket donors to the college kid on a budget gives, celebrates its 10th anniversary Thursday. Over the years, The Miami Foundation’s Give Miami Day ushered a transformational change in how people in Miami view giving and supporting their favorite nonprofits.

› Windfall of tourism tax revenue fuels major Manatee County projects [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Manatee County will use a windfall of tourism tax dollars to pay for major projects to expand the Bradenton Area Convention Center and enhance the Premier Sports Campus. Tourism has come roaring back in Florida this year, and it could just be the tip of the iceberg as international travel returns. Manatee County already has generated $22.78 million in tourism tax revenue as of the end of September.

› Spinoff keeps Jacksonville vision care under Johnson & Johnson [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Johnson & Johnson announced Nov. 12 it will spin off its consumer health products division into a separate public company, while its Jacksonville-based vision care business remains under Johnson & Johnson. The vision care business, which produces contact lenses under the Acuvue brand, is part of the company’s medical device division.