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Monday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
› Wynwood Plaza development set to anchor part of Miami’s thriving arts neighborhood
Wynwood Plaza, an ambitious real estate development that’s going to bring life back to a Wynwood property after the Rubell Art Museum left in 2019, officially got underway Thursday. When completed in a couple of years, the $450 million project will be the largest development in the Wynwood Arts District. An office tower, apartment building, retail and restaurant space with outdoor dining will be included in the project covering 1 million square feet.
› Cannabis legalization bill including homegrow provision filed in Florida Senate
A Democratic Senator from Kissimmee has filed a bill that could legalize recreational marijuana. Sen. Victor Torres‘ SB 1576 would make adult use cannabis legal for those at least 21 years of age, establishing a so-called “Division of Cannabis Management” in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to regulate the herb, including in concentrated and other derivative forms.
› What’s that smell in the Florida Keys? It’s coming from Cuba, weather forecasters say
We’ve all smelled smoke in the South Florida air. Usually it’s from the burning Everglades or a brush fire in the neighborhood. But the hazy skies and burning smell Friday in the Florida Keys had a different source — one 90 miles away. Whipping winds sent in smoke from sugarcane fields of Cuba, according to the National Weather Service in Key West.
› Brevard may put moratorium on lagoon tourism grants so money can go to fixing beaches
The Brevard County Commission will vote Tuesday on whether to place a moratorium on a special grant program designed to help the Indian River Lagoon. The $1 million-a-year "Tourism + Indian River Lagoon Grant Program" is funded by revenue from the county's 5% tourist development tax on hotel rooms and other short-term rentals. A quarter of the tax money goes into a fund that is used primarily for beach renourishment, though some is also used for such things as the lagoon grants.
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