As new businesses open, others close amid inflation, supply chain issues

While new businesses open, it’s been hard for other businesses to stay afloat between supply chain issues and inflation. There are reports that show people aren’t eating at restaurants as much. Some popular small businesses are making waves, while others are downsizing due to supply chain and labor shortages. Businesses continue to open despite rising inflation, supply chain issues and a loss of revenue since the COVID-19 pandemic. [Source: WJXT]

Florida Trend Exclusive

Miami Beach filmmakers Rakontur build on fame after breakout Netflix hit Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami

As the setting for a coming-of-age story, it would be hard to top Miami of the 1980s and ’90s. Drug wars. Race riots. America’s murder capital. The Mariel boatlift. Miami Vice. Local kids Billy Corben, Alfred Spellman and David Cypkin had front-row seats for Miami as a byword. The three had another fascination — film. They saw no one telling the South Florida story in non-fiction films so they founded a company reflecting their own brash brand and called it Rakontur. They set their sights on Miami’s most brazen true stories, from its street fights and jai alai frontons to its sports scandals and its most notorious cocaine kingpins. [Source: Florida Trend]

COVID-19 update: As new omicron subvariant dominates in Florida, here are the latest statistics

As a new strain of COVID-19′s omicron variant dominates the virus in Florida, the state’s statistics are showing mixed signals, leaving uncertainty about what’s to come for the remainder of the summer. The number of Florida hospital patients who have COVID-19 is its highest since mid-February, at 4,172 as of Thursday. Epidemiologists say BA.5 may be the worst strain yet, mostly because is better at evading prior immunity than previous strains and increasing rapidly. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Who are all these other people running for governor of Florida?

This November, you may be surprised to see more names on the ballot for governor than you expect. There are eight other candidates who have qualified for the election for governor of Florida aside from incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis and major Democratic candidates Nikki Fried, commissioner of agriculture, and Charlie Crist, a St. Petersburg congressman and former governor. [Source: Miami Herald]

Proposed change to Florida prison policy could severely restrict visits

Visiting hours to prisoners in Florida are a crucial way they connect with loved ones, but a new rule being proposed by the Florida Department of Corrections could cut those hours in half. On Wednesday, FDC proposed a set of new modifications to its visiting procedures, including adopting a rotation schedule for prisoners that would limit visitation days to every other weekend at certain correctional institutions deemed necessary by the department. “This would be devastating to my family,” Catherine Hemperley said. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› As deaths rise, Broward may lose ‘quiet zone’ that silenced train horns [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
The blast of train horns may be coming back to Broward County — no longer reserved for emergencies only. They could return after federal regulators consider whether to eliminate a countywide “quiet zone” as a way to reduce deadly accidents along the Florida East Coast Railway, the corridor that runs through many downtowns across South Florida.

› Sarasota-based Big Olaf Creamery agrees to recall ice cream after listeria outbreak [Tampa Bay Times]
Sarasota-based ice cream maker Big Olaf Creamery agreed to recall its ice cream from store shelves after public health officials linked the company to a listeria outbreak, Fox 13 first reported Friday. Florida Department of Health Jeremy Redfern confirmed the recall Saturday, adding that the company has halted production of ice cream products until health officials complete their investigation.

› Millions in grant money head to UCF for space research [Orlando Sentinel]
An army of Knights are among the researchers charging their way into final frontier with innovative projects shaping the future of space travel. Perhaps it’s unsurprising due to the University of Central Florida’s history tied to the American space program. As need for more aerospace engineers rose, the “space university” opened its doors to education in 1968 — the same year the Apollo 8 mission took humans into the moon’s orbit. Since then, students and professors have taken full advantage of being only 35 miles from Kennedy Space Center collaborating with NASA, developing new technologies and techniques straight out of science fiction.

› Walmart offers grocery delivery to your fridge in South Florida [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Walmart has started offering to deliver groceries right into customers’ fridges across South Florida. The retail giant’s “InHome” delivery service began this week in parts of Florida, including across Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. InHome is available as an add-on to the Walmart+ membership program, which costs $12.95 a month, or $98 a year. And InHome is an extra $7 a month, or $40 per year.

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› Sarasota-based startup hires five [Business Observer]
With sales and production on the rise, Sarasota-based startup Omeza needed a few extra hands prompting the addition of five team members. With more than 13 years of experience, Nick Lapiana was named a key account manager. In the role, he’s responsible for product sales in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Richard Davis is the new director of quality management, bringing in 30 years of experience within quality and operations executive roles.

› An airport in Florida wants to build a luxury RV park on spare land, report says [Business Insider]
An airport in Florida is considering converting spare land into a luxury RV park to cater for wealthy visitors to the area and diversify its revenue streams. Ocala international airport has won approval from its local council to move forward with the proposal to create a luxury RV park. It is thought to be the first such development at an airport.

› No damage to Relativity Space rocket at Cape Canaveral from fire at launch site, CEO says [Orlando Sentinel]
New rocket company Relativity Space is gearing up for its first ever launch testing its Terran 1 rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and a fire spotted at the launch site prompted its CEO to reassure people the rocket was fine. Images posted of flames and smoke rising from Launch Complex 16 by media outlet Talk of Titusville on Twitter had Relativity cofounder and CEO Tim Ellis commenting the rocket was well, and the launch pad damage was minimal.

› Retailer Crate & Barrel expanding into Bradenton with warehouse [Business Observer]
Crate and Barrel is coming to Bradenton. Before you get too excited, the home furnishing and decor retailer isn’t opening a Manatee County store. What it’s done is rent about 30,000 square feet of warehouse space at the 301 Corporate Center on 24th Street East in Bradenton. The new warehouse location will team up with a Riverview warehouse, at 7936 Eagle Palm Dr., to cover the entire state.