Monday's Afternoon Update
Florida seeks to end lawsuit after redistricting plan passes
As a new round of legal battling begins about congressional redistricting, the state is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit that has urged judges to draw new district lines. Attorneys for Secretary of State Laurel Lee filed a motion Friday that said the federal lawsuit, which was filed March 11, is moot. The motion came shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a congressional redistricting plan that lawmakers passed last week in a special legislative session. More from the News Service of Florida.
‘Rollercoaster ride continues’: Florida gas prices gradually move lower after 10 cent jump
Florida gas prices are gradually moving lower after rising 10 cents last week. Florida’s state average rose from $4.01 to $4.11 per gallon. Drivers are now paying an average price of $4.10 per gallon, according to AAA. “The rollercoaster ride at the pump continues,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA - The Auto Club Group. More from the WJXT.
Condo insurers flee Florida or jack up prices post-Surfside
Even before legislative proposals to reform condo safety post-Surfside died on the doorstep of the Florida House last month, a reaction was brewing in the marketplace. But the failure by lawmakers in Tallahassee to respond to the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South that killed 98 people last June has further inflamed an exodus of insurers no longer willing to underwrite policies in an increasingly risky Florida condo marketplace, according to interviews with industry experts, analysts, academics and attorneys. More from the Miami Herald.
Tampa Bay transit agency opts for all-electric buses on regional route
If a regional rapid bus system ever starts rolling between Wesley Chapel and St. Petersburg, it’ll be electric. That’s electric as in no diesel fuel. The governing board of the Tampa Bay Regional Transit Authority, known commonly by the acronym TBARTA, agreed Friday to use electric buses on the proposed transit system that is not expected to be operational until 2030. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Delray Beach’s public golf course needs $10 million in renovations. The city may give 6 acres to a developer to fund it.
Closing in on its 100-year anniversary, Delray Beach’s public golf course is in “desperate need for help” and drastically requires a face-lift, city commissioners say. Renovating it, though, carries a hefty price tag — to the tune of $10 million to fix a variety of issues plaguing the 18-hole course on Atlantic Avenue just west of Interstate 95. Because of that steep price, Delray Beach is looking for a developer to fund the repairs. In exchange, the city is willing to give up 6 acres of the course bordering Atlantic Avenue for a future mixed-use development. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Out of the Box
Rare giant ‘corpse flower’ blooms at Rollins College
It smells like something died in Rollins College, although no one is racing to open a window as elation permeates through the school greenhouse over the blossoming corpse flower — an event not often seen... or smelled. The Amorphophallus titanum, also known as a corpse flower, is blossoming over at Rollins College, which is a stage in its life the plant undergoes once during unpredictable spans of time from a few years to over a decade, according to the U.S. Botanic Garden.
» More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Profile
USF anthropologist unearths the past, one identity at a time
Erin Kimmerle is an associate professor at the University of South Florida and a nationally-known forensic anthropologist. She is also the director of the Florida Institute of Forensic Anthropology and Applied Science, working to solve cold cases and identify unidentified remains. In 2014 she found unmarked graves of juvenile inmates who died at Dozier School for Boys, a notorious former reform school in Marianna where boys were brutally beaten. She recently released the results of a 2-year study verifying the existence of unmarked cemeteries in Hillsborough County.
» Read more from the Tampa Bay Times.