Florida News That Impacts You – March 25th, 2024
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Governor DeSantis signed 25 bills into law on Friday. Among the new laws... The Local Regulation of Nonconforming and Unsafe Structures bill which will streamline the path for the demolition of coastal buildings that aren’t up to the current code. Exemptions for historic buildings in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach were included in the legislation. The Employment bill is now law which loosens work restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds during the school year. The legislation will also allow those 15 and under to work over 15 hrs. a week during summer recess. The DNA Samples from Inmates bill is also law. The new law mandates DNA samples be taken and stored in a database from all inmates.
- Governor DeSantis awarded a $9.5 million grant through Florida’s Coral Reef Restoration and Recovery Initiative. The grant money will be used to work on coral reef restoration efforts for a 350 mile stretch of Florida’s coastline from the St. Lucie Inlet through the Dry Tortugas.
- As election data was finalized over the weekend from last week’s elections it was determined that Palm Beach County led the state in voter turnout in last week’s Presidential Preference Primary and Uniform Municipal elections with a total of 112,698 voters having voted. Palm Beach County is the third most populous county in the state.
- Warm and windy today with highs in the upper 70’s, which is typical for this date. Wind gusts will be in the mid 20’s throughout the day. Tuesday's high is expected to be in the low 80’s.
- Gas prices dropped a bit over the weekend. The average price statewide for regular unleaded is currently $3.50 per gallon. In Palm Beach County the average price is $3.71 per gallon, in Martin the average is $3.59 and in Indian River County the average is $3.55 per gallon.