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Monday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida farmers continue to raise alarms as NAFTA rewrite nears passage
Democrats and Republicans came together last month to push an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement through the U.S. House, a rare instance of bipartisan agreement on major legislation. The new trade deal — known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA — was approved by 193 Democrats and 192 Republicans. Florida fruit and vegetable farmers worry they will continue to lose market share to their Mexican counterparts under the new trade deal. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Florida gas prices up because of higher crude oil prices
Gas prices are uncharacteristically high for the season. According to AAA, the Auto Club Group, Florida gas prices averaged $2.50 per gallon Friday, up 4 cents over the week. That’s about 30 cents more per gallon statewide than last year, AAA said. The increases come courtesy of hikes in crude oil prices, which spiked following an unexpectedly large drop in U.S. crude oil supplies. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
‘Flyover Florida’ faces economic struggles, supports Trump
Okeechobee County, the rural slice of Florida known for farming, fishing and voting Republican, has one of the state’s weakest economies. Its economic output contracted by 9.6% in 2018, ranking dead last among Florida’s 67 counties, according to statistics released in December by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Even so, no one expects voters in Okeechobee County or other reliably red rural areas to vote for anyone other than President Donald Trump in November. [Source: St. Augustine Record]
Investors sue Florida’s biggest marijuana company claiming stock fraud
Florida’s largest medical marijuana company is being sued by investors, who claim the company overstated corporate profits and misled them about the company’s plant-growing practices. The report, published Dec. 17, claims that after researching Trulieve’s manufacturing facilities using drones, it was found that the “vast majority” of the company’s cultivation facilities were “low-quality hoop houses” that were “prone to infestations and weather damage.” [Source: Miami Herald]
Number of homeless drops by almost 9 percent in Florida
About 28,300 people in Florida experienced homelessness on a single night in 2019, down 8.7 percent from the previous year, says a Dec. 20 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The decline extends a trend that has seen homelessness across the state fall by 40 percent since 2013. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Okaloosa plans to consider possible golf cart district
A large section of the unincorporated area of Wright soon might become golf cart-friendly. The Okaloosa County Commission on Tuesday could schedule a public hearing on Jan. 21 to consider an ordinance that would establish a new golf cart district.
› National headquarters eyes move to Boca Raton
A national headquarters company is considering a Boca Raton site for relocation, according to a Jan. 7 agenda item before the Palm Beach County Commission. The company, which was not disclosed for competitive reasons, would create 75 jobs with annual wages of $60,657.
› Naples nonprofit begins construction on $3 million restaurant, training facility
St. Matthews House, a homeless and substance abuse advocacy and support organization, is building a $3 million state-of-the-art restaurant, training facility and catering kitchen in Naples. Naples-based Connor & Gaskins Unlimited recently broke ground and started the foundations of the 8,000-square-foot facility, named LuLu’s Kitchen
› Golden parachutes for JEA executives under legal review
Contracts for dismissed JEA executives have an unusual benefit that entitles them to draw as much as one year of consulting fees, a golden parachute that other independent authorities don’t offer to their top leaders.
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