Tuesday's Afternoon Update
Hotly debated solar changes move forward
Florida lawmakers continued to move forward with key changes in rules for rooftop solar energy, drawing heavy opposition from the solar industry and environmental groups. The issue, which has sparked a noisy fight throughout this year’s legislative session, deals with an otherwise wonky concept known as net metering. That involves the interplay between utilities and rooftop solar owners, including credits that utilities provide for electricity generated by rooftop solar systems. More from the News Service of Florida.
'Commercial follows rooftops': How residential boom poises Pensacola for business growth
As the pandemic caused an abrupt change in working styles, with many companies opting to operate remotely either temporarily or indefinitely, there was a fear commercial real estate — office space in particular — would suffer, but Pensacola brokers say while there has been a shift in that market, that hasn't been the case. More from the Pensacola News Journal.
Rural communities in Florida get infrastructure money
Three communities in rural North Florida received nearly $11 million in infrastructure grants on Monday. "We've seen when we do certain things like provide some foundational infrastructure, a lot of times you're able to see opportunities develop,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said while announcing the grants during a news conference outside Grumpy's Diner on Main in Madison. More from the News Service of Florida.
Did buyers reach their limit? House prices fall in Miami-Dade for the first time in months
It would seem the sky’s the limit when it comes to pricing for South Florida’s high-rise living with sales prices reaching new heights in January. House hunters, however, are catching some relief — as prices steadied or dipped for the first time in months. Median sales prices increased for condos for the fifth month in a row in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to new housing data from the Miami Association of Realtors. More from the Miami Herald.
Orlando forms RISE job training initiative with American Rescue Plan funds
Orlando officials signed off on using a portion of the city’s American Rescue Plan dollars on opening a job training and employment office, focused on those unemployed or underemployed due to COVID-19. The new office, called the RISE Employment & Training Program, will provide customized training to residents including services like a social worker and case manager. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Out of the Box
For NASA engineering team at Kennedy, failure leads to success
To build an Artemis Base Camp on the Moon, astronauts will need materials that won’t fail under extreme conditions. An engineering team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida helps develop solutions to this and other problems by studying things that don’t work. “Researchers here have been working with Lunar regolith simulant to find ways to build structures on the Moon – we call them Moon bricks,” said Jeff Sampson, acting chief of the Materials Laboratories Branch.
» More from NASA.
Business Profile
One event-dependent entrepreneur’s secret to overcoming the pandemic? Perpetual motion.
If anyone was going to be nervous about events shutting down during the pandemic, it was going to be Rainer Scheer, founder of Florida Furniture Rental, otherwise known as Chilllounge Night. The Sarasota-based company was founded in 2008, and as the name of the company suggests, it kind of relies on events to happen. But instead of waiting around, Scheer and his wife Patricia Filomeno, owner of Ink Graphics Media and Drone Videography Florida, based on Anna Maria Island, got to work.
» Read more from the Business Observer.