Florida News – Highlights from around the state – April 14th
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Florida’s gas prices have reached a record low price, adjusted for inflation, of $1.85 per gallon. Approximately 60 cents per gallon is comprised of taxes, meaning we’re only paying about $1.20 per gallon for the actual product.
- Crime in Florida declined by 4.6%, or 26,128 crimes, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Uniform Crime Report.Total reported crimes in Florida has declined every year since 2008 and overall arrests are at a 49-year low.
- Governor DeSantis has directed the National Guard to deploy to nursing homes across the state for preemptive inspections of nursing homes and elderly care facilities. Patients and staff will randomly be checked for COVID-19. Ten teams of four guardsmen will be deployed statewide for the spot checks starting in south Florida.
- Florida’s OJ industry has been getting a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a nationwide push to boost immunity in addition to record grocery shopping sales. According to the Florida Department of Citrus, sales of Florida orange juice grew 9.8% from mid-February to mid-March. Additional reporting shows potential growth of 28% in the most recent weeks.
- Florida Department of Economic Opportunity records show the state has spent nearly $120 million to address the failures of the state’s unemployment website and to process claims. The state has contracted with Pegasystems on a new website replacing the previous vendor Deloitte Consulting and hired TeleForce along with United Data Technologies to handle overflow phone calls from the state’s system after only 2% of calls to the DEO were successfully completed during the most recent three weeks.Demand for DEO services is 6,800%higher than a year ago.