Florida News that impacts you – August 25th
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- The Florida Education Association won its lawsuit against the state attempting to prevent classroom education statewide during the pandemic indefinitely. Leon County Judge Charles Dodson ruled that local school districts, not the state, have the discretion to decide when it’s safe to return to the classroom and that the state’s order would have to be funded to provide for safety protocols to be constitutional.
- The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is considering a ban of iguanas being brought into Florida or sold in the state amid a growing crisis with spiking iguana populations. While the FWC has categorized iguanas as an invasive species which should be removed, there hasn’t been a specific ban on them being brought into the state or being sold as pets. Like most invasive species in Florida, populations of species were commonly introduced into the wild by owners who no longer can or want to care for them. A similar ban is also being discussed for Tegus.
- New COVID-19 cases reported by the Florida Department Health on Monday, were the fewest since June 15th. The weekly moving average remains the lowest since June 24th. Florida’s positivity rate was 5.1% on Monday.
- Florida’s housing market had a huge July with sales of single-family homes rising nearly 12% year over year and condos/town homes seeing a 6.5% increase according to the Florida Realtor’s Association. On back of the strong sales prices rose by greater than 10% over July of 2019.