Florida pays python hunters to clear the Everglades. Ten years later, is it working?

A decade ago, Florida came up with a unique way to tackle the problem of invasive BUrmese pythons. It sponsored a week-long hunt for the pythons, drawing in would-be reptile slayers from around the world hoping for a chance at the cash prize. The original python challenge a decade ago netted a mere 68 pythons. This year, around a thousand registrants captured and killed 209 pythons. [Source: Miami Herald]

Florida unemployment rate holds steady at 2.7% in August

Florida’s unemployment rate stayed at 2.7% in August for a second consecutive month. An estimated 303,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed in August, 8,000 more than in July, while the labor force grew by 41,000 to 11.12 million, the state Department of Commerce’s report said Friday. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Citizens says Idalia costs won’t trigger surcharges for its policyholders

Claims from policyholders of state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. from Hurricane Idalia will fall short of the $420 million that would trigger assessments for all Citizens customers, the company said this week. But there’s still a lot of hurricane season left. Citizens has received about 2,000 claims from victims of Idalia, which hit the Big Bend region on Aug. 30, Craig Sakraida, the company’s vice president of non-litigated claims, told the company’s Claims Committee on Tuesday. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Native Floridians tend to stay here, report says

About 73% of Floridians stay here, making it the sixth stickiest state. Texas, where 82% of residents stay, held the top spot. North Carolina, Georgia, California and Utah followed. A higher rate of stickiness signals a healthy economy and job growth, the report says, which were also factors in why Florida saw such a population boom during the height of the pandemic. [Source: Axios]

How a utility’s silent spending to control energy policy might determine abortion rights in Florida

Over the past five years, the largest power company in the U.S. quietly financed groups working to restrict Floridians’ ability to change laws independent of the legislature. Now, the changes to state law spurred in part by Florida Power & Light’s successful attempts to control energy policy are throwing up roadblocks for reproductive rights advocates fighting to overturn the state’s 15-week abortion ban. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Opioid overdoses fall in Central Florida for first time in years [Orlando Sentinel]
Tuesday morning in the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, Andrae Bailey held up a small plastic bag containing a few teaspoons of a crystalline substance. “If this was actual fentanyl, this would be enough of the drug to kill an entire elementary school, middle school and high school,” said Bailey, founder and CEO of Project Opioid, during a press conference sharing the findings of a new report from the Orlando-based nonprofit.

› Meet the team behind Only In Dade, the social media account that has Miami hooked [Miami Herald]
It’s just another day in Miami as you scroll through Only In Dade, a social media account on Instagram and Facebook that shares the highlights (and lowlights) of life in Miami: the chaos of traffic, the road rage, and the daily weirdness and wildness that can only be witnessed in the streets of our crazy town.

› Another tech firm relocates to Tampa Bay as West Coast costs rise [Business Observer]
As California keeps its taxes high and adds regulations, many businesses are fleeing not just to Texas and Arizona but also to Florida. Lynx Automation is the latest California business to take sanctuary in Florida. Finding talent in Tampa Bay, which does not have Lynx Automation too worried. The company plans to hire about 50 new people.

› Tiny home community for homeless veterans could be in the works in Manatee County [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
A tiny home community for homeless veterans could be in the works in Manatee County, where local officials continue to balance a desire to address homelessness in the community with concern about potential adverse impacts. Officials in Manatee County and the city have discussed concern about growing homelessness issues near downtown Bradenton — an area where they want to encourage more vertical development and investment — and have voiced intentions to consider an overnight camping ban.

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› Former College Park CVS to become philanthropic wine and liquor store [Orlando Sentinel]
Since starting his wine and spirits business less than a year ago, Ray Horal often has to pinch himself to make sure he’s not dreaming. He’s been blown away by the amount of support he’s received from the community for a unique retail concept that focuses on philanthropy. “In the last four to six months, opportunities have really come to us,” Horal told GrowthSpotter from his headquarters in Maitland.

› Virtual Florida Civil Rights Museum making history in the state — and nation [Tallahassee Democrat]
After a decade-long effort, Tallahassee natives are making history by launching the first Florida Civil Rights Museum in the state — also being highlighted as the first all-virtual civil rights museum in the nation. With the digital museum launching Friday, its first exhibit, called “They Made a Difference,” will feature 30 pioneers who led the fight for civil rights for all Floridians.

› Tampa’s Straz Center expansion facing delays [Tampa Bay Times]
Less than three weeks before a deadline, the Straz Center has secured a two-month extension to fulfill its contractual requirements with the city for its multimillion-dollar expansion. Tampa’s downtown Community Redevelopment Area committed $25 million in 2021 for the waterfront, art mecca’s $100 million renovation, which includes new event and outdoor spaces and a rooftop terrace overlooking the Riverwalk.

› Gainesville City Commission votes to ban open containers 24/7, planning new 'entertainment districts' [Gainesville Sun]
Drinking alcohol publicly outdoors is one step closer to once again being banned in Gainesville. The City Commission voted 4-3 Thursday to revert Gainesville’s open container laws to what they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2021, an almost-total ban. The commission did stipulate, however, in another motion that passed 6-1, its desire to later create “entertainment districts” around the city that may have different laws for drinking on city streets.