SHARE:
Monday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Tampa Bay has dodged Florida’s catastrophic hurricanes, but for how much longer?
It’s been over a century since a major hurricane (category 3 or greater) has made landfall in the Tampa Bay Area. That was the 1921 Tampa Bay Hurricane. And while the area has been hit by multiple damaging storms since then, Tampa Bay has somehow avoided the big one. But the Director of the National Hurricane Center, Ken Graham, said that our luck is bound to run out at some point and we need to be prepared for that eventuality.
› Manatee County water taxi plan hits a snag, but effort to create ferry system continues
An effort to create a water taxi system to ferry tourists and workers from Bradenton and Palmetto to Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key hit a speed bump when Manatee County's request for proposals from potential operators came back unanswered. The water taxi is envisioned as a way to address heavy traffic between Anna Maria Island and the mainland by creating an alternative mode of transportation for the many service workers employed on the island and for tourists who are staying in Bradenton or Palmetto hotels.
› FPL Continues to Face High Fuel Costs
Florida Power & Light on Friday became the second utility to notify state regulators that it continues to face higher-than-expected costs for natural gas. But FPL, in a filing at the state Public Service Commission, said it would not seek what is known as a “mid-course correction,” which could have led to passing along the increased costs to customers in the coming months.
› Popular Florida sea turtle center losing entire medical staff as water quality issues continue
Problems continue to plague the popular Loggerhead Marinelife Center in South Florida with reports its entire medical staff will be gone by May. After water quality issues remain a concern for the rehabilitation center and attraction in Juno Beach, the center once again has no sea turtles on site, according to a report from WPTV. The center has been a working hospital that takes in all species of sea turtles for more than 30 years.
In case you missed it:
