10 things DeSantis wants from Florida lawmakers next year

Gov. Ron DeSantis recently released a $99.7 billion budget blueprint for the 2022 legislative session and has touted a series of other proposals from cryptocurrency projects to teacher bonuses. Here are 10 of DeSantis’ priorities — big and small — for the session, which will start Jan. 11 [Source: News Service of Florida]

State moves forward with vaccination jobless aid

Following passage of a new state law, the Department of Economic Opportunity moved forward Tuesday with a rule that would allow government workers to be eligible for unemployment benefits if they are let go from jobs for refusing to comply with coronavirus vaccination mandates. A notice of the rule, published in the Florida Administrative Register, said it “provides that claimants discharged from educational institutions and governmental entities will not be disqualified from benefits if the discharge is for refusing to comply with a COVID-19 vaccination mandate.” [Source: News Service of Florida]

Study shows expected peak of Florida's latest COVID-19 surge

A new study suggests that the latest COVID-19 surge in Florida will peak in February. Florida is currently undergoing a surge in coronavirus cases, likely driven by the new Omicron variant. The recent study, published by the University of Florida, goes over four different scenarios that could play out between December 2021 and February 2022. [Source: WOFL]

Canceled flights ease in South Florida, but what about New Year’s?

Traveler angst appeared to ease at South Florida’s international airports Monday as the airlines serving them finally regained control over a surge of COVID-driven delays and cancellations that marred the Christmas weekend. Nationally, flight cancellations stretched into Monday despite the operational improvements, with major U.S. airlines each canceling dozens of flights. According to FlightAware, an online tracking service, carriers canceled roughly 4,000 flights to, from or inside the U.S. since Friday. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Publix to launch paid parental leave in 2022

Both full- and part-time Publix workers will be eligible for paid parental leave if they welcome babies in 2022, Publix has told its employees. Publix will pay at least two weeks of an employee’s average hours upon the birth or adoption of a child and more depending on the employee’s length of service and whether the employee is full time or part time, salaried or hourly. [Source: Florida Politics]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› United in grief, bitter legal battles now divide Surfside collapse survivors and families [Miami Herald]
Anger infuses the unanswered questions of the disaster’s victims, who are trying to reconstruct interrupted lives and heal broken families. Who should get what from the sale of the land, insurance coverage and a class-action lawsuit? Who is at fault for the design and construction defects that led to the collapse, or delays of the building’s renovation project? How much will those found to be negligent have to pay?

› More permanent supportive housing for homeless people is on its way to Central Florida [Bay News 9]
Construction is expected to start soon on a 102-unit affordable housing development in Edgewood, designed specifically to support formerly homeless people and people with special needs. Once complete, Durham Place will make a small, albeit much-needed dent in Florida’s deficit of affordable housing units.

› What’s opening in 2022? Lots of shops and restaurants new to Tampa Bay [Tampa Bay Times]
It’s an exciting time for the shopping scene in Tampa Bay. The surge in demand for commercial real estate lately has been “shocking,” said Paul Rutledge, the Tampa senior vice president of commercial real estate firm JLL. Retailers from out of state are trying to set up shop here in Tampa. “Any good retailer that has the ability to open will open in Florida,” Rutledge said.

› Florida Theatre is No. 21 in the world [Jacksonville Daily Record]
The Florida Theatre had a much better 2021 than most venues of its size in terms of tickets sold. According to the Top 200 theater venues annual report released by concert industry trade magazine Pollstar, The 1,865-seat Florida Theatre in Downtown Jacksonville is No. 21 among theaters worldwide. The report shows 49,729 tickets sold and gross sales of $2,373,085.

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› Casa Culture offers space to grow for BIPOC organizations in Central Florida [Orlando Sentinel]
A Kissimmee school focused on performing arts and preserving the culture of Puerto Rico, the Bomba and Plena Tata Cepeda School, will hold more classes without a lot of extra overhead costs. The Center for Micro-Entrepreneurial Training plans live broadcasts of trainings and podcasts to support small-business owners.

› Canadian Forces Snowbirds to perform 'aerial ballet' as Titusville air show headliners [Florida Today]
Back in May 2018, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds made a rare Space Coast visit by soaring over Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during a practice flight between scheduled air shows. Now, the Snowbirds are training for a return trip to Brevard County — as the headliners of the Space Coast International Air Show on May 21 and 22 at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville.

› Tampa needle exchange saves lives by preventing overdoses, infections [Tampa Bay Times]
By 12:30 p.m., they’d run out of alcohol swabs. Cotton, too. For months, they’ve been out of the containers used to safely dispose of needles. That Monday in December, IDEA Exchange Tampa gathered near University Mall. It was the same procedure every Monday and Friday, when the needle exchange program sets up in the parking lot to offer clean needles to those in need. Since its launch in January 2021, the program has collected nearly 86,000 used syringes and distributed nearly 83,900 new, sterile syringes.

› Florida aerospace company faces class action lawsuit, court documents reveal [WFLA]
A Jacksonville-based aerospace company is facing a class action lawsuit for allegedly violating federal securities laws. The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 17, according to court documents. The case, filed by Jed Lemen, alleges that Jacksonville-based Redwire Corporation faced accounting issues in November 2021 and delayed releasing its third quarter earnings.