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Why Florida's freeze is still costing you at the grocery store - Severe winter freezes in Florida and issues in Mexico caused a sharp increase in tomato prices, a phenomenon some call "Tomatoflation." The national average price for fresh tomatoes hit a record high of $2.689 a pound in April, up nearly 40% from the previous year. Florida's tomato industry suffered an estimated $164 million in losses due to the freezes, impacting a significant portion of its crops. [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]
H-1B limbo - Florida's Board of Governors voted 17-2 to halt new H-1B visa hires at the state's 12 public universities until January 2027, following federal pressure and a new $100,000 application fee. Existing visa holders are untouched, but faculty warn the pause could shrink hiring pools and hamper research. [Source: Florida Trend]
National Hurricane Center tracking tropics. Florida heat, rain expected -Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are tracking three tropical waves, one each in the eastern Atlantic, central Atlantic, and eastern Caribbean, but none of them are expected to pose a threat to Florida or the United States for now. No tropical cyclone activity is expected for at least the next week, as we approach the Fourth of July holiday. [Source: Florida Times-Union]
What Florida is sending in a time capsule 250 years into the future - Among the artifacts in a time capsule that will be dug up 250 years from now is a coin representing Gov. Ron DeSantis and a notecard from the Florida speaker of the House. To commemorate America’s 250th birthday, a national nonpartisan organization called America250 asked each state and American territory for items that “reflect the people, places, ideas, and innovations shaping the United States at 250 years.” The capsule, a 900-pound cylinder built by a team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, was sealed earlier this month. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Can you outrun Alzheimer's? This Florida couple thinks so - The 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle Suzette Gregg’s piecing together in her Florida home is no mere pastime — this is part of her prescription for warding off nothing short of a deadly fate her DNA warns of. Tests have shown Gregg, 68, carries a double copy of the gene with the highest risk that genes can indicate for developing Alzheimer’s disease. She is part of a growing number of people who are searching for some way outside conventional medicine to outrun this disease that officially doesn’t leave any survivors. [Source: Florida Times-Union]
Disabled veterans say St. Petersburg VA is discriminating with back-to-work policy [Tampa Bay Times] - Tampa Bay employees at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs say they’re being forced to make an impossible choice: follow return-to-office mandates against their doctor’s guidance, even if it means enduring debilitating pain, or lose their jobs. Nearly two dozen workers, several of them veterans, told the Tampa Bay Times that the federal agency is discriminating against them by disregarding their disabilities, many of which were caused by their military service.
Sarasota archaeology firm marks 50 years preserving Florida's past [Sarasota Herald-Tribune] - Archaeological Consultants Inc., founded in Sarasota in 1976 by archaeologist Marion Almy, is celebrating its 50th anniversary as Florida’s longest-serving cultural resource management company. From projects with NASA to statewide transportation infrastructure and local development, the firm has played a pivotal role in helping Florida move forward with a deeper understanding of the state's heritage and buried history.
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