Florida car insurance premiums could skyrocket due to tariffs
Florida car owners already pay some of the highest insurance premiums in the nation. Last year’s storms threatened to push prices even higher. Now experts are warning that tariffs could make the situation far worse. In 2024, Floridians paid an average of almost $3,200 annually for car insurance. Without tariffs, average yearly premiums were slated to rise to almost $3,500. With a tranche of tariffs targeting steel and aluminum, foreign cars and car parts, Floridians could be paying an average of almost $4,000 per year in 2026 — an increase of almost 25%. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida Icon: Joe Lopano
Th Retired CEO of Tampa International Airport tells us: "(Driving a taxi) was a great job. I love talking to people. Sometimes people say to you ‘I don’t want to talk.’ OK, I won’t say anything. But if you can start up a conversation, you’re driving some of the most interesting people around in the back of your car. Guy could be a millionaire, it doesn’t matter. He just needs a ride, and you can talk about anything, and that’s the part I loved the most." [Source: Florida Trend]
E-Verify requirement may extend to all Florida businesses as bill advances
The Florida House Commerce Committee on April 7 overwhelmingly approved a bill that would require small businesses to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of newly hired workers, readying the measure to go to the full House. The proposal (HB 955) would expand a current requirement that Florida businesses with 25 or more employees use E-Verify to determine if people are eligible to work. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Apply by Friday for Florida’s new home storm protection program
The deadline to apply for the state’s new storm protection project for homes is Friday, April 11. Elevate Florida is a new, one-time program funded by FEMA that pays a minimum of 75% of the costs to elevate, rebuild or harden against wind and structure damage by storms. It is different from the Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program (FMA) in that residents can cut through layers of bureaucracy and finish their projects in 18 months or less instead of the typical three-year wait through FMA. [Source: Citrus County Chronicle]
'Potentially busy wildfire season ahead' as driest months arrive in Florida
Despite recent rain, there are more than 50 wildfires burning across Florida and this could be a "potentially busy wildfire season," according to Wilton Simpson, Florida commissioner of agriculture. Florida’s peak wildfire season typically occurs during April, May, and June, Simpson said in a news release. "Since January, over 1,000 wildfires have burned over 51,000 acres in Florida." [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› It’s been 6 months since hurricanes Helene and Milton. How is Tampa Bay doing?
In the wake of the 2024 hurricane season, thousands of Tampa Bay homes were damaged or destroyed, innumerable residents displaced and more than two dozen people killed. Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck 13 days apart. Six months after Milton, the second of those monster hurricanes, thrashed Florida’s Gulf Coast, much of the region is still in the throes of recovery. But gauging that progress is a tricky task.
› Fort Lauderdale won’t claw back money from police union bosses’ big pay raises
Against the advice of their own city auditor, Fort Lauderdale commissioners agreed not to claw back money from out-of-the-ordinary pay increases given to two police union bosses last year. The raises, given in January 2024, never got the required commission approval. They came to light eight months later, taking the entire commission by surprise and sparking a debate about whether the city should recover the money.
› EVOS to close all Tampa Bay locations after 31 years
After more than three decades of pioneering healthy fast food, EVOS Holdings has announced the closure of its three remaining locations in St. Petersburg, South Tampa and Carrollwood. The decision marks the end of a 31-year journey that aimed to redefine fast food for diners across Tampa Bay.
› Disney tests luggage transport service for resort guests
Disney is testing a luggage transport service that allows some resort guests to have their bags sent directly from their hotel to their plane when they fly home from Orlando International Airport. The service is being offered on a limited basis, but theme park enthusiasts are wondering if it could pave the way for the return of Disney’s Magical Express, a fleet of buses that shuttled guests and bags between the airport and resorts.
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› The full Florida House will consider a bill to curb oil drilling near the Apalachicola River
The House State Affairs Committee Tuesday unanimously approved a proposal that seeks to protect Northwest Florida’s Apalachicola River by requiring some environmentally sensitive areas to be shielded from oil and gas drilling. The Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay are the focus of the bill, after the Department of Environmental Protection last year issued a draft permit for the Louisiana-based Clearwater Land & Minerals Fla. to drill an exploratory well in Calhoun County.
› Jacksonville University competing in NASA’s 2025 Human Lander Challenge
Jacksonville University said April 8 it is the only university in the country with two student teams selected as finalists in NASA’s 2025 Human Lander Challenge, a national competition driving the future of space exploration. Focused on developing solutions for storing and transferring cryogenic fuel in space, the competition supports NASA’s Artemis program, which is preparing to send astronauts to the moon and eventually to Mars.
› Fort Myers Beach approves food truck park
Fort Myers Beach is set to welcome a new food truck park despite facing significant opposition. Fort Myers Beach Town Council unanimously voted to approve the project on Estero Boulevard near Chapel Street that was home to residences and small enclosed restaurants before Hurricane Ian.
› Affordable housing hobbled by parking-space rules to get relief from Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County commissioners are trying to make it easier for affordable-housing projects to be built by relaxing parking rules that currently call for 1.75 spaces per unit. “If we don’t do anything, these projects will die,” County Commissioner Gregg Weiss said in a newsletter this year to his West Palm Beach-area constituents, noting the need for affordable housing in the county.