March 28, 2024

Friday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 4/2/2021

Supreme Court gives Georgia win in water war with Florida

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously for Georgia on Thursday in its long-running dispute with Florida over water. The court rejected Florida’s claim that Georgia uses too much of the water that flows from the Atlanta suburbs to the Gulf of Mexico. Florida said that its neighbor’s overconsumption is to blame for the decimation of the state’s oyster industry. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the court that Florida failed to prove its case. [Source: AP]

Business BeatBusiness Beat - Week of April 2nd

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

New jobless assistance applications fall again in Florida — but unexpectedly climb for U.S.

New applications for jobless assistance fell in Florida for the third-straight week — but unexpectedly climbed for the rest of the U.S., signaling broader ongoing economic weakness as vaccine and reopening initiatives lurch to life. For the week ending March 27, new jobless assistance claims fell in Florida from 17,349 to 11,700 — another new pandemic low for the state. The number of continuing claims, or among those filing for unemployment for at least two-straight weeks, also fell in Florida — from 123,921 to 105,243. [Source: Miami Herald]

Commentary: Space success requires government, commercial elements

I have always appreciated the game of baseball as a true meritocracy. Particularly in today’s world of extreme analysis, what was once a somewhat subjective judgment of a player’s superior performance is now objectively reflected by myriad fine-tuned statistics. And yet, no matter how talented the numbers say a single player is, games are always won or lost by teams. Only through a team effort can success be achieved. This is a lesson as true for the space industry as it is on a baseball diamond. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Groups rush to get Florida farmworkers vaccinated

It's a race against time for nonprofits, organizations and officials who are trying to vaccinate thousands of farmworkers who were denied priority access in Florida but now have to travel north to harvest crops in other regions. Farmworker advocates are asking officials to quickly mobilize to areas such as Homestead, south of Miami, and Immokalee, east of Naples, and to be more lenient when requiring proof of residency now that the state has lowered the vaccine eligibility age. [Source: AP]

Floridians will see most flood insurance rate hikes in nation under Risk Rating 2.0

More than a million Floridians will see their flood insurance premium rise next year, FEMA said Thursday. The good news is, most will see raises less than $120 a year. The bad news is that homeowners will likely see raises like that for the foreseeable future. The National Flood Insurance Program, which underwrites most flood insurance policies in the U.S., is changing the way it calculates what each property has to pay. The new strategy, called Risk Rating 2.0, is meant to help pull the program out of its $20 billion debt and encourage people to live in safer, less flood-prone homes. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Anonymous code enforcement tips targeted by Florida legislators
Anonymous tips would no longer be justification to begin code-enforcement investigations in many cases, under a proposal advancing in the House and already approved by the Senate. The House Public Integrity & Elections Committee on March 29 backed a bill (HB 883) that would change county and municipal code-enforcement rules so that inspectors and enforcement officers would be blocked from initiating investigations unless people reporting alleged code violations provide their names and addresses.

Ride builder sues Universal Orlando, saying it’s owed $5 million for work on Jimmy Fallon attraction
Universal Studios’ Jimmy Fallon ride debuted in 2017, but behind the scenes, a fight over millions of dollars has gone on for years between the ride manufacturer originally hired to build the attraction and Universal, according to a new lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges Universal wanted to make changes late in the building process, which eventually led to a breakdown between Universal and DyMoRides, the manufacturer ultimately replaced with another company to finish the project.

› Jacksonville Community Council Inc. back in business
The Jacksonville Community Council Inc. is back in operation after a five-year hiatus. The nonprofit JCCI was established in 1974, with the initial mission to identify the priority issues to improve the quality of life in the community. Over the following 40 years, JCCI published 80 reports on issues such as education, city finances and mental health. The studies and implementations were led by volunteers and involved thousands of participants.

› Work to begin on Miami Beach’s tallest building
Terra, GFO Investments and New Valley plan to break ground this month on Five Park, a 48-story, roughly 280-unit tower at 500 Alton Road that will become the tallest building in Miami Beach at 519 feet upon completion in 2023. Construction will be made possible by the largest residential construction loan in South Florida to be funded since the pandemic struck, $345 million from Blackstone and Apollo.

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Bitter-to-swallow cocoa costs force chocolate shops to raise prices
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Central Floirda chocolate shops are left with a bitter taste as cocoa prices hit an all-time high earlier this week.

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