‘A silent surge’: While the newest omicron subvariant drives up COVID cases in Florida, effects are mild

A subvariant of omicron is spreading rapidly in Florida, and health experts say it will likely become the dominant strain of the virus in the state before the summer. The subvariant, named B.A.2.12.1, is a new mutation of the omicron COVID-19 variant — and even more contagious. Some experts believe it may be the most contagious strain thus far. The subvariant was first detected in New York last month, and made up 42% of all new cases in the Southeast region of United States for the week ending May 7. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Business Beat - Week of May 13th

Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.

Amazon seeks to hire disabled workers in Florida to help fill warehouse job openings

As it seeks to fill job openings in Florida, Amazon is reaching out to employment agencies for workers with disabilities and accommodating the environment they need to thrive. Amazon’s Florida officials see hiring persons with disabilities as a way to fill some of the tens of thousands of jobs the e-commerce giant is creating in the Sunshine State, at a time when a tight labor market is already squeezing many businesses. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Consumer inflation, mainly gas and home prices, keeps pounding South Floridians

Consumer prices in South Florida shot up 9.6% during the 12 months ending in April, outpacing the U.S. consumer inflation rate of 8.3% — still hovering around a 40-year nationwide high. Led by lofty energy (mainly gas prices at the pump) and housing costs, the inflation mark last month for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area was a slight drop from the 9.8% most recent reading in February, according to a bimonthly report released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [Source: Miami Herald]

‘We’re setting new records in Florida and not in a good way.’ Why is gas going up again?

What goes up must ... go up again? Sorry, the law of gravity will eventually apply to the cost of a gallon of gas in Florida, but on Thursday, May 12, the cost went up again to a new record daily average of $4.40 per gallon, according to AAA. Florida was at $4.38 in mid-March, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Mark Jenkins, AAA’s spokesman. The county with the highest cost for a gallon gas in Florida? Palm Beach at $4.53, topping Jefferson County’s $4.50 and Monroe’s $4.49. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Tampa’s First Citrus Bank merging with Michigan credit union in $100M deal [Tampa Bay Times]
Tampa’s First Citrus Bank is merging with a Michigan credit union in an all-cash deal worth more than $100 million. DFCU Financial, a credit union based in Dearborn, Mich. with nearly 30 locations, will take over First Citrus Bank’s six sites in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, marking its entry into the Florida marketplace. All six branches will stay open under the DFCU Financial banner.

› Orange Bar association elects all women officers for 1st time [Orlando Sentinel]
For the first time in its 89-year history, the Orange County Bar Association elected this week four female officers to lead the organization of more than 3,000 judges, attorneys and legal professionals. Through unopposed nomination, Karen Persis will serve as OCBA’s president for the 2022-2023 term, the association said in a news release. Amber Davis was elected as president-elect, and Arti Ajit Hirani and Keshara D. Cowans will serve as treasurer and secretary, respectively.

› New proposal could keep Ultra Music Festival in downtown Miami through 2027 [Miami Herald]
Ultra Music Festival could stay in Bayfront Park through at least 2027 under a renegotiated deal with the city agency that manages Miami’s downtown waterfront parks. The terms of the agreement that allows organizers to stage the annual three-day electronic music festival in downtown Miami remain largely the same, though the city would raise Ultra’s fees each year by a higher percentage than before.

› Bicoastal law firm expands to downtown Sarasota [Business Observer]
Bicoastal comprehensive services law firm Ball Janik LLP is expanding on the Gulf Coast. The firm’s fourth office opened in Sarasota right off of Main Street in the Center Pointe Office Building. Salvatore Scro will lead the office in the role of special counsel. The Lakewood Ranch-based attorney joins partners Phillip Joseph, James Prichard, Evan Small, Kelly Corcoran and Brian Crevasse.

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› A heated fight over plan to leave the Broward Sheriff’s Office: Town’s projected cost soars to $5 million amid turmoil [South Florda Sun-Sentinel]
The cost for Pembroke Park to have its own police department is more than double initial projections, according to a new consultant report. The long-awaited report, intended to spell out what the tiny town needs to break free from its Sheriff’s Office contract, shows the town has underestimated both how much money it would take, and how many cops on the street would be needed to staff it.

› Lakewood Ranch accounts for a quarter of all new home construction in Sarasota-Manatee [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Lakewood Ranch has never had construction start on more homes in a 12-month period than the year ending this spring, with the developer of the master-planned community reporting 2,638 housing starts through March. That was a 55% increase over the comparable period a year earlier and represented one-fourth of all housing starts in Sarasota and Manatee counties, Lakewood Ranch said in a news release.

› Lawyers in suit over Surfside collapse reveal staggering legal settlement: $997 million [Miami Herald]
In a surprisingly swift resolution of the Champlain Towers South class-action lawsuit, relatives of the victims and survivors of the Surfside condo collapse have reached a settlement that will pay them nearly $1 billion, a state court judge was told Wednesday.

› CEO resigns from Clearwater auto loan company Nicholas Financial [Tampa Bay Times]
The president and CEO of Clearwater subprime auto loan company Nicholas Financial has resigned. Douglas Marohn informed the publicly traded company’s board of his resignation on May 6, and it took effect three days later. He also stepped down from the company’s board. Stepping in as interim CEO is Michael Rost, Nicholas Financial’s vice president of branch operations, who has been with the company for more than 20 years.