About a million Floridians are getting kicked off Medicaid, here's how that could affect the state

About 1 million Floridians will soon lose Medicaid coverage in April due to the end of the Public Health Emergency’s continuous enrollment provision. In December, President Joe Biden signed into law the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which brought an end to the Public Health Emergency provision that required states to provide continuous Medicaid without removing individuals. Continuous Medicaid enrollment began as people lost their jobs due to COVID-19 regulations at the start of the pandemic with many of those jobs being in the restaurant and hospitality industries. [Source: WMFE]

Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida Icon: Jawole Willa Jo Zollar

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar is an FSU dance professor and founder of Urban Bush Women dance company. She tells us: "I’ve always been a curious person. I want to hear other sides. Early in its work, the Urban Bush Women, we did a lot of work in rural white communities, and we were in fellowship with those communities. They were different than us, but we were able to talk, and it was OK." [Source: Florida Trend]

DeSantis’ Reedy Creek bill passes committee, with tax benefits intact

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to take over Disney’s special taxing district passed its first committee on Wednesday, but not before Democrats questioned why the company wasn’t hit harder. The company will lose control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special favor given to Walt Disney World by the state in the 1960s. Instead of Disney choosing the five members of the board, which acts as a county government, the five will be chosen by DeSantis. But the new improvement district will still have the same tax benefits it had before, such as the ability to issue tax-exempt bonds and other measures that have saved the company millions of dollars. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

$20 million raised for Florida marijuana legalization initiative targeting 2024 ballot

In Florida, a campaign supporting a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana, Smart and Safe Florida, has raised $20 million. Funding is from Trulieve Cannabis Corp., a marijuana business that operates in several states, including Florida. The campaign is collecting signatures to place the initiative on the ballot for Nov. 5, 2024. The initiative would legalize marijuana for adults 21 years old and older. Individuals would be allowed to possess up to three ounces of marijuana (about 85 grams), with up to five grams in the form of concentrate. [Source: The Center Square]

Guide to 2023 Florida State Fair’s weird food, fun rides, cute animals

As the first state fair in the country in the calendar year, the Florida State Fair feels an obligation to add more than the typical assortment of rides, games, agricultural exhibits and events. The birthplace of the doughnut burger has a reputation to live up to with its weird food. “Year after year, the Florida State Fair looks forward to introducing new and exciting food and beverage items to fairgoers,” said Chery Flood, executive director of the Florida State Fair. “Our state fair is the first to open across the country each year, so we are thrilled to set the standard with our unique and talented vendors.” [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› How a secretive couple used fame and fortune to put Florida’s Diplomat Hotel on the map [Miami Herald]
Miami Beach had the Fontainebleau in the hotel heyday of South Florida. But a 30-minute drive north brought you to the Diplomat in Hollywood, opened in 1958 and soon filled with famous entertainers singing in its nightclubs. Sinatra. Minnelli. Sammy Davis Jr. They all brought the glam to Hollywood, Florida. The hotel also had its own celebrities: the owners.

› Is Tampa’s Italian Club looking for 1,200 missing bodies? [Tampa Bay Times]
Ground-penetrating radar is used for a variety of reasons, such as searching for underground utility lines and septic tanks. It is also used to locate graves, which is why a man rolling ground penetrating radar across a piece of East Tampa land caught the attention of a passing Tampa Bay Times reporter on Tuesday. The sliver of property is owned by the Italian Club and abuts their cemetery parking lot, which old maps and federal documents point to as the location of College Hill Cemetery.

› New Jaguars sports training facility on target to open in time for 2023 Training Camp [Florida Times-Union]
A year after construction began, work is well underway on Miller Electric Center — the new sports performance center for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 125,000-square-foot sports performance center will house all of the team's football staff and football operations including locker rooms, training and medical facilities, office space and a draft room. The team expects to begin using the facility this summer and Jaguars fans will be able to watch open 2023 Training Camp practices in late July from the new grandstands, a Jaguars spokesperson said.

› Indigo Bluegrass BBQ event benefits Florida snake conservation [Orlando Sentinel]
An event in Eustis aims to celebrate and fund wildlife conservation efforts centered on the threatened eastern indigo snake. Indigo Bluegrass BBQ welcomes the public to the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation on Feb. 11 for a day of twangy tunes and enjoyable eats. The center is owned and managed by the Central Florida Zoo and helps breed the threatened species to increase wild populations.

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› Tiger Woods’ PopStroke putting course announces Tampa opening date [Tampa Bay Times]
Golf superstar Tiger Woods will announce on his social media accounts that opening day for his newest golf entertainment center, PopStroke, is Feb. 17 in the Wesley Chapel area. Woods has opened a chain of the high-concept putting courses, with dining and playgrounds, co-owned with Wall Street veteran Greg Bartoli. It will open next week at noon near Cypress Creek Town Center.

› Delray Beach officials review golf course redevelopment proposals. This is the top-rated plan. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Delray Beach’s city-owned golf course will soon receive a massive makeover, but commissioners have differing opinions on how they want the 148-acre property to be redeveloped. On Tuesday, city officials reviewed six proposals that would all add significant housing to the prime piece of real estate along Atlantic Avenue and just west of Interstate 95. The aging course needs at least $10 million in upgrades, so the city is soliciting bids to fund the repairs. In exchange, Delray Beach will sell a portion of the land for redevelopment.

› Will Disney, Universal affordable housing projects lead the way for more? [Orlando Sentinel]
As Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando help build affordable apartments for employees and the public, questions remain about who is going to get to live there and what other local businesses, if any, will follow suit. The developments on land owned by the theme park companies are being constructed and managed by outside organizations but don’t have opening dates yet. Disney and Universal say the 2,300 combined units will have capped rents, making them accessible to low-wage service workers who make up most of their workforces.

› What to know about the debate over the St. Armands Circle winter festival [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
St. Armands residents and business owners are at odds over whether a holiday festival should continue on the key. A new festival took place on St. Armands Circle from mid-November to early January that featured Christmas lights, a carousel, musical performances and other activities. The festival's creators say the event brought more families to the key and provided Sarasota residents with a holiday celebration closer to their homes than the festivities at University Town Center and Lakewood Ranch.