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Monday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Governor's race in Florida expected to be wild
The field is set for Florida’s November 8 general election, and two political traditions — rancor and vitriol — are expected to gain strength in the race for governor. Historically, gubernatorial campaigns in Florida have been rowdy but Crist v. DeSantis has a feel of going beyond the normal rough-and-tumble. “There's a great cartoon that shows the Democrat and Republican the elephant and the donkey pointed the finger at the other. And I think that's where we're at right now,” said Susan MacManus, a retired political scientist from the University of South Florida. More from the WUWF.
Gas prices across Florida are at a 7-month low
Gas prices across Florida are now at a seven-month low. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gas dropped to $3.45 a gallon on Sunday. That's down 9 cents from the previous week, and 17 cents over the last two weeks following a brief 9-cent rise in late August. It's also a $1.44 less than they were in mid-June, when prices hit record highs. Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA, says prices could continue to fall over the next week. More from WUSF.
National Guard heading to Florida prisons to help understaffed Department of Corrections
The Joint Legislative Budget Commission voted Friday to approve sending Florida National Guard members — at least temporarily — to state prisons to address significant understaffing. Even before Friday’s vote, several House Democrats and others called the plan a short-term band-aid to solve a crisis. The state plan sets aside more than $31 million to “assist the FDC at facilities for nine months or until the FDC determines it no longer needs National Guard assistance.” More from the Florida Times-Union.
Librarians to launch study on Florida’s farmworker populations
The Florida Department of Health estimates that between 150,000 to 200,000 farmworkers pick crops in Florida fields annually. Very little academic research has been carried out to document the lives and needs of these workers. Now, a $136,126 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to the University of Miami Libraries and the University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries could make a difference. More from the Library Journal.
Florida tops 80,000 covid-19 deaths
Passing another grim milestone, more than 80,000 Florida residents have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic started in early 2020. The state Department of Health released a report Friday that said at least 80,386 residents had died of COVID-19 as of Thursday. That total was up from 79,573 in a report released Aug. 26 and up from 78,559 in a report released Aug. 12. More from the News Service of Florida.
Out of the Box
BellaBots robot waiters are here to take your orders
A Pensacola restaurant has found a futuristic way to overcome staffing shortages that continue to challenge the nation’s restaurants. Eurasian Bistro’s solution? Robot waiters. Owner Paul Nguyen says his BellaBots — 4-foot-high, black-and-white robots with feline facial features — are programmed to perform table-to-table food service, deliver drinks, interact with diners, display facial expressions and issue warnings, such as “be careful” when diners reach for a hot plate.
» More from Florida Trend.
Profile
This Florida teen is making a business out of rebuilding old-school auto tech
Carburetors may represent old-school tech in the automotive world, but don’t tell Riley Schlick, a high school senior in Florida who rebuilds them for a tidy profit. Send your tired, dirty, mucked-up carburetor to Schlick and she’ll return it to you clean, shiny, and ready for duty once again. She has operated her Bradenton-based business, Riley’s Rebuilds, for three years now, and a steady stream of carburetors has crossed her path.
» Read more from Popular Science.
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