Refunds due from prepaid college tuition program.
More than $130 million in refunds remain for Florida Prepaid College Plan families. Since tuition for in-state higher education in Florida hasn’t gone up for years, Tallahassee is issuing refunds. $850 million has been paid out so far, but about 40,000 families haven’t yet claimed theirs. Florida public universities have charged the same tuition and fees since 2014, but the prepaid plans had assumed higher costs. Visit MyFloridaPrepaid.com to see if you’re due money back.
SpaceX may launch this evening.
SpaceX may send two Galileo satellites to orbit for the European Space Agency this evening. But the 45th Weather Squadron predicts only a 40% chance of favorable conditions. The launch window is open from 6:40 to 7:01PM Tuesday. Galileo is a global navigation system, created by the European Union.
Gas prices drop to less than $3.
The price of gasoline has dropped to less than $3 a gallon in Brevard. A quick check of GasBuddy.com shows prices as low as $2.86 a gallon at area stations. Nationally the average price of regular was $3.20 a gallon. Key contributors are low gas demand and the plunging cost of oil.
Home listing prices drop in Brevard, but sales prices rise.
The median home in Brevard County listed for $390,000 in August. That’s down over $8,000 from the previous month. That’s on homes that are listed for sale, not sales prices. August saw homes sell for higher than July, with a median price of $350,000. But they sat on the market for over two months before changing hands. Throughout the United States, the median home price was $430,000.
What is the impact of school vouchers on the Florida budget?
The shift from public schools to private, charter, or homeschools in Florida in recent years has caused financial strain for traditional public school systems. A Florida Senate analysis showed a nearly 47% increase in scholarship recipients each of the last two years. Florida House Democrats are calling for the state to make public school voucher data public. Since the state dropped financial eligibility requirements to receive a voucher, they want to know more demographic information about students awarded scholarships. And the lawmakers asked to make public the number of new private schools that applied to accept scholarships.
Fentanyl remains deadliest drug in Florida.
The number of Floridians who died from drugs last year decreased across the state, but one synthetic drug was noticeably on the rise. And the deadliest drug is still fentanyl. The Florida Medical Examiner’s Commission reports that the deaths caused by synthetic cathinones increased by over 100% last year. Cathinones are man-made stimulants that have effects similar to cocaine, meth or ecstasy. But fentanyl is still the deadliest drug in Florida. More than 2,500 Floridians died from fentanyl in the first half of 2023.
Party like Prince on Norwegian Cruise Lines
Cruisers will be able to party like it’s 1999 at sea next year. A stage show based on musical icon Prince is coming to the new Norwegian cruise ship, Aqua, when it begins sailing from Port Canaveral. Aqua will begin seven-night sailings of Caribbean itineraries from Port Canaveral beginning in April 2025.
