Investors see opportunity to cash in on Florida’s insurance crisis

When Floridians go to shop around for a new homeowners insurance policy next year, they could find several new companies offering coverage. Including one company backed by a current state senator. Lured by the nation’s highest premiums and new laws making it harder to sue insurance companies, investors see an opportunity in Florida’s broken insurance market. Current and former state officials and other observers said they are receiving regular inquiries from potential investors looking to make a profit. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the  Miami Herald.

Florida gas prices falling again after last week’s 10-cent jump

After a 10-cent jump, Florida gas prices are falling again. Gas prices started at $3.22 per gallon before increasing to $3.32 last Wednesday, according to a press release from AAA – The Auto Club Group. The increase was in response to a rise in crude oil prices two weeks ago. Crude oil prices fell last week, which brought the state average down to $3.29 per gallon this past Sunday.More from the  Orlando Sentinel and NorthEscambia.com.

Florida is booming and burning more trash. Residents say it’s making them sick.

Like many booming metros, Tampa is finding that more people equals more garbage. In response, officials there are leaning into an approach popular in Florida: Set it on fire. “All areas that are experiencing growth are going to find issues of capacity” for managing waste, said Jack Mariano, the commissioner of Pasco County, just north of Tampa’s Hillsborough County. “Everybody’s facing: Where are we gonna put the trash?” [Source: NBC News]

This Florida town full of mediums has been luring believers, the curious and the skeptical for more than a century

Just when you think you finally know Florida, it goes ahead and throws a town full of mediums into the mix. Roughly 50 miles from Orlando’s theme parks, Cassadaga is a bucolic Central Florida enclave where the streets are tunneled with oak trees draped in Spanish moss, and brightly-painted Victorian-style homes are decorated with stained glass sunflowers, peace signs and statues of angels. [Source: CNN Travel]

South Florida’s rise as a global business hub

Even before the pandemic, South Florida was a known global brand. Decades ago, it earned the title “gateway to the Americas” for U.S. and international companies looking to do business throughout the hemisphere. More recently, its allure rose as an outpost for similar companies seeking entry into the U.S. or global markets. [Source: South Florida Business Journal]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Publix assistant managers sue, claiming they worked unpaid overtime [Orlando Sentinel]
Three former Publix assistant department managers are suing the Lakeland-based grocery store giant in federal court claiming they were forced to work unpaid overtime. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the Middle District of Florida, was brought by staff members who worked at stores in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. They are suing on behalf of themselves and “all others similarly situated.”

› Jacksonville University touts $175 million fundraising campaign for 'bold' new future [Florida Times-Union]
Jacksonville University is undertaking the largest fundraising campaign in its 90-year history, a $175 million effort to help students tackle widening career fields such as health care and cybersecurity and global issues such as climate change and deadly pathogens. The campaign, called FUTURE. MADE., will fund new colleges, curricula, degrees, faculty and buildings "to create a lasting impact on future generations of students who will themselves shape a stronger future for the region and the world," according to JU.

› Tampa Bay Palestinian business owners brace for what’s next [Tampa Bay Times]
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, most of them civilians, and over 200 hostages were seized in the initial Hamas assault on Oct. 7. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza reported that 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 minors, have died. From 6,600 miles away, the conflict is felt intensely among Palestinian American business owners. Amid concern and uncertainty, they said they worry about what’s to come in a political environment that they describe as growing less tolerant of their small numbers in Florida and dismissive of their homeland in Gaza.

› Testing of Air Force all-electric plane set to start at Florida base [Stars and Stripes]
The Air Force is to begin testing an all-electric manned aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, as the U.S. military looks for ways to reduce its carbon footprint. An Alia airplane arrived Thursday at Eglin’s Duke Field ahead of months of experimental work by the 413th Flight Test Squadron, the Air Force said in a statement. The first test is scheduled for Nov. 7, the statement said.

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› St. Pete cultural landmark launches fundraising campaign [Business Observer]
The Palladium theater at St. Petersburg College unveiled its $10 million renovation campaign — "Strengthen. Elevate. Inspire." — during a 25th anniversary celebration on Wednesday. Addressing the growing needs of Tampa Bay, the expansion will include a fully renovated mainstage theater and stage-door cabaret, according to theater officials. Groundbreaking is projected to begin in the summer of 2025 and be completed for the building's 100th anniversary in 2026.

› Mayo Clinic in Florida seeks almost $5 million addition at patient tower [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Mayo Clinic in Florida submitted a permit application to continue its expansion with a potential three-floor north addition to the patient tower and additional building modifications between the tower and the hospital. The city is reviewing the construction of a shell building addition of about 45,000 square feet, comprising a potential expanded ground floor at the emergency department entrance on the north side of the tower and two floors on top of that.

› Disney says DeSantis-appointed district is dragging feet in lawsuit [AP]
Walt Disney World’s governing district made up of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointees is dragging its feet in providing requested documents to Disney in a lawsuit over who has design and construction powers over the company’s sprawling theme park resort in central Florida, Disney said in court papers.

› Laura Jane Grace receives Gainesville's Key to the City [Gainesville Sun]
Hundreds of music fans and LGBTQ supporters gathered outside City Hall in Gainesville Friday where city leaders presented the rare and prestigious Key to the City award to punk rock icon and trans rights activist Laura Jane Grace. She is the first rockstar to receive the award since Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, both who cut their teeth locally before exploding onto the music scene on an international level.