Florida leaders blame insurance crisis on lawsuits, but evidence is thin

Five years into the crisis, the evidence that lawsuits caused Floridians’ premiums to skyrocket and caused 13 insurers to go out of business hasn’t materialized. Litigation has yet to be found to be the cause of a single insurance company failure. Despite cracking down on litigation, premiums are still going up, and the industry now says they won’t go down in the foreseeable future because of factors, such as climate change, that are out of their control. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

See also:
» Insurance industry in Florida having good 2023 — so far
» Insurer of last resort in Florida could be your best option

Business Beat - Week of October 20th

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

More Californians are moving to Florida, less to Texas

The number of former Californians who became Texans dropped slightly last year, but some of that slack was picked up by Arizona and Florida, which saw their tallies of ex-Californians grow, according to new state-to-state migration figures released Thursday. In Florida, the number of former Californians went from more than 37,000 people in 2021 to more than 50,000 people in 2022. [Source: AP]

A cooler, wetter Florida winter could be coming this year despite the record heat so far

This winter’s El Niño is expected to be a strong one. That could mean higher temperatures globally, but in Florida, it’s likely to be the opposite — cooler and wetter. Every El Niño is different, however. The last time we had one predicted to be this strong, we were hit with the exceptionally cold winter of 2009-2010. The 2016 El Niño, also strong, only brought an average winter here. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

The private prison industry in Florida is now changing; the state is taking more control

When private prisons began operating nearly 30 years ago in Florida, they were one of the few systems in the nation to place oversight outside of the usual state corrections administration. Now, after a damning audit released a year ago showing failures in oversight, the Department of Corrections has taken over the oversight of seven private prisons. The move began this month following legislation passed in the spring and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. [Source: Florida Phoenix]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Some fear Pine Island will lose its Old Florida charm as post-Ian rebuilding takes hold [WGCU]
Many people on Pine Island still are re-building from the damage of Hurricane Ian. And they're also dealing with concerns that the island could lose its natural beauty and small community charm. The island is about the size of Manhattan. Yet this piece of Old Florida features palm tree farms and mango groves, instead of skyscrapers. The population is about 9,000 full-time residents. Ian caused catastrophic damage, and now long-time Pine Islanders like Margie Cooper worry that re-building could drastically change the place.

› Cheers to 10 years for Endeavor Miami: A look back and ahead [Refresh Miami]
By September of 2013, Endeavor Miami took shape, with its first managing director, Laura Maydón, and a local board co-chaired Adriana Cisneros and Daniel Echavarria. Four founding board members still serve to this day — Haggman, Ernest Bachrach, Maurice R. Ferre and Alberto Beeck. Now 10 years later, look how far the nonprofit organization that supports high-impact entrepreneurship has come.

› Recording studio in Gainesville up for prestigious design award [Gainesville Sun]
A Gainesville recording studio finds itself among others in New York, Los Angeles and Paris as a finalist for one of the music industry's most prestigious design honors. Jam Band Studio (JBS), which opened earlier this year along the banks of Colclough Pond off South Main Street, is among the six nominees in the Studio Design Project category as part of the 39th National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) TEC Awards.

› Celeb chefs return to Kennedy Space Center for Taste of Space [Orlando Sentinel]
Notable television chefs will be cooking up something special at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Nov. 3, when Taste of Space: Celebrity Chef Edition. The ticketed event ($175 per person) will be blasting off at The Deep Space Launch Complex, welcoming Duff Goldman (“Ace of Cakes,” “Kids Baking Championship”), Esther Choi (“Beat Bobby Flay,” “Chopped”), each of whom will be cooking up exciting dishes for guests to sample. Jon Ashton (“The Today Show,” “The Tonight Show”) returns to host.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Orlando Philharmonic names its first-ever woman leader [Orlando Business Journal]
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra has appointed its first-ever woman executive director. Karina Bharne, most recently the executive director of the Symphony Tacoma in Tacoma, Washington, was announced by the Orlando-based professional orchestra as its new leader on Oct. 19.

› Sarasota-Manatee banker named local lender for Georgia banking giant [Business Observer]
Ugur "Lucky" Durmaz, a commercial banking executive in the region for nearly a decade, has been named to a commercial lending leadership position in Bradenton for Georgia financial services giant Ameris Bank. Durmaz will report to Market President Bill Lutes, according to a statement. Ameris Bank, with more than $25.8 billion in assets, is a unit of Atlanta-based Ameris Bancorp.

› NASCAR weekend is back at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Here’s what to know [Miami Herald]
NASCAR returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend, and there are playoff implications on the line. Three races — one for each of NASCAR’s series (the Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Trucks Series) — will take place during two days at the South Florida track. What happens this weekend will play a key role in determining which drivers will stay in contention to win a championship in two weeks at Phoenix Raceway.

› Private jet company to expand, hire dozens at South Florida airport [South Florida Business Journal]
National Jets is expanding its hangar space and hiring dozens of employees at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. To meet customer demand, the company is building a new 170,000-square-foot hurricane-proof hangar space to protect aircraft from harsh weather. The fixed-base operator provides fueling, tie-down and parking, maintenance and other services for private jets.