Florida Trend Exclusive
Space: A new mission boosts Florida's economy
Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: The Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. The Orion spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and travel thousands of miles beyond the moon, farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown. At least 130 Florida companies and an array of university researchers across the state have a role in Artemis. [Source: Florida Trend]
See also:
» Space: The private sector
» Space research
Business Beat - Week of August 26th
Get top news-to-know with Florida Trend's headline-focused video newsbrief, hosted by digital content specialist Aimée Alexander.
Florida weekly jobless claims remain low
With Florida’s unemployment rate in July matching a pre-pandemic level of 2.7 percent, the number of first-time jobless claims in Florida last week remained low. The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday estimated that 5,520 initial claims were filed in Florida during the week that ended Aug. 20, down from a revised count of 6,074 claims during the week that ended Aug. 13. Florida has averaged 5,933 claims over the past four weeks. [Source: News Service of Florida]
NCCI recommends 8.4% cut in Florida workers’ comp rates for 2023
The National Council on Compensation Insurance is recommending an average 8.4% cut in workers’ compensation rates for the Florida voluntary market – the seventh straight reduction and double the size of the decrease for this year. The recommendation, which will be reviewed by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, was based on Florida insurers’ favorable experience and trends in 2019 and 2020, as of the end of 2021, the NCCI said in a summary of its filing. [Source: Insurance Journal]
Florida launches SunPass Savings program for frequent commuters
Florida is launching a new toll discount program for people who use SunPass at state DOT tolls. The program called SunPass Savings is for people who use Florida’s Turnpike System and toll facilities owned by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). In Southwest Florida, only Alligator Alley is included in the program. This program will begin September 1, 2022, and will run for six months, and is estimated to provide $38 million in relief to SunPass commuters. More from WINK News and WJXT.
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Most cruise lines open up to unvaccinated while Disney dips its toes
As more cruise lines begin to see an increase in demand, just who can sail amid waning COVID-19 restrictions is opening up as well with Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian soon to no longer limit cruises based on vaccination status. Vaccine requirements remain in place for sailings that travel to Canada or Bermuda.
› Property insurer to exit Florida market
United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. will exit Florida’s troubled homeowners’ insurance market, forcing customers to find new coverage as their policies come up for renewal, the insurer’s parent company announced Thursday. The St. Petersburg-based United Insurance Holdings Corp. said it has filed plans to withdraw from what are known as personal-lines markets in Florida, Texas and Louisiana. It also will file a withdrawal plan in New York.
› Winter Park holds firm on short-term vacation rental rules
Winter Park commissioners decided against loosening the city’s restrictions on vacation rentals, opting to maintain its ban on stays shorter than a month. The city’s rules date back decades and were first designed to prevent homes and apartments from becoming timeshares. But as platforms like Airbnb and VRBO gained in popularity, cities and counties across the state have enacted rules of their own.
› These pizza pop-ups upped Miami’s game during the pandemic. They’re here to stay
On the other side of the pandemic, there is pizza. Square pizza, sourdough pizza, naturally leavened pizza, New York style pizza. The disruption of shuttered restaurants brought Miami a bounty of pies. They came from chefs who were suddenly laid off or empty restaurants rethinking fine dining. They found a city full of diners looking for comfort in red sauce.
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› FPL funds secretly paid for a spoiler candidate in a 2018 Florida race
The former CEO of political consulting firm Matrix used funds from Florida Power & Light to back a political unknown to try to unseat Daniella Levine Cava from the Miami-Dade County Commission in 2018, records show.
› Coastal commuter rail has long been planned for South Florida. Will Broward lawmakers push it forward?
Interstate 95 wasn’t built all at once. And a proposed commuter rail line that would run through Broward County along the Florida East Coast Railway won’t materialize quickly, either. State and local planners remain unable to decide whether trains would pass over or under the New River in Fort Lauderdale.
› First Coast Comedy hosting improv shows every weekend
First Coast Comedy opened earlier this summer but whether you've been to a show yet or not, you'll never laugh the same way twice. “We do shows where there’s no plan its entirely based on audience suggestions it's very audience interactive," Owner, Alex Grindeland said. Grindeland and his crew put on improv-only comedy shows every Friday and Saturday starting with the 'Main Event' at 7:30 p.m. with the 'Blue Show' to follow.
› The BASH music festival bringing 38 acts, an expected 12,000 people to Depot Park
The BASH has gotten even bigger. Organizers of the free music festival in Gainesville’s Depot Park have announced their full lineup. Thirty-eight musical acts will be performing Nov. 5 and 6 on two stages in the park, as well as on a third, acoustic stage on the patio of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention. In addition to previously announced headliners Mavis Staples and Drive-By Truckers, additional national acts including Larkin Poe and Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown have been added to the lineup.