Florida News that impacts you – June 3rd
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Florida’s largest teacher’s union, the Florida Education Association offered the state Department of Education a 17- page outline of what they’d like to see included in school reopening plans for the 2020 - 2021 school year. The plans included staggered school schedules, a suspension of practice drills and implementation of social distancing guidelines. Florida’s Department of Education has yet to announce reopening plans.
- Visit Florida’s first quarter report showed the inevitable. A significant decline in tourism to start the year. After record tourism year after year over the prior decade, the earliest days of the pandemic led to a 10.7% decline in tourism in the first quarter. This despite the pandemic only impacting tourism for about three weeks in March.
- Florida’s officially in play for the Republican National Convention after President Trump’s announcement that the GOP was forced to find a new location due to North Carolina’s coronavirus related restrictions. North Carolina’s Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, hasn’t provided guidance as to whether he’d allow the convention to take place as planned. Governor DeSantis has already stated Florida would welcome the convention and Jacksonville’s mayor Lenny Curry,has already made a play for it to take place in his city.
- Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity has extended the deadline for unemployment recipients to check in with the state until June 13th. Ordinarily check-ins are required every two weeks to maintain benefits, however with the state still struggling to process all claims those requirements have been waived since April.
- Tampa’s Big Cat Rescue has been granted ownership of Joe Exotic’s Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. A federal judge ordered the 16-acre property be surrendered to Big Cat Rescue within 120 days.