Florida Tech plans more student housing.
Florida Tech plans to build a six-story student housing complex, boosting today's scarce campus housing supply by 27%. Rick Glasby has details:
The 555 bed facility will be located at the northeast corner of Babcock Street and University Boulevard. On Dec. 19, the Melbourne Planning and Zoning Board unanimously recommended approval of a site plan for the student housing complex. The majority of apartment-style units will be four-bedroom, two-bathroom suites with full kitchens.
There’s also the potential for a pedestrian crossover leading over Babcock Street from the second floor of the student housing building. The Florida Department of Transportation would have to issue permitting for the elevated walkway.
New Florida law banning sleeping, camping in public now allows people to sue municipalities
A new provision of a recently passed law banning sleeping in public goes into effect today. The provision allows residents, business owners, or the Attorney General to report municipalities for non-compliance… A civil lawsuit can be filed if jurisdictions fail to resolve the violation within five days.
While this isn’t often seen in Florida law, State Rep. Chase Tramont, a Republican representing parts of Brevard and Volusia counties, this is a way to hold municipalities accountable for homelessness sprawl.
“The prime responsibility of any government is to protect its residents. But when you're allowing homeless camps to run rampant throughout the city, you're impacting the safety of the residents and businesses. So, it's not saying that people cannot be homeless. It's just that your homelessness cannot intrude on people who are trying to make a living and raise their families.”
Opponents of the measure say this is the wrong way to go about solving the issue of homelessness, which, according to the most recent federal count, has more than doubled in Central Florida over the past year.
Eric Gray’s Christian Service Center for the Homeless in Orlando is at capacity…and his staff helped more than 1,200 adults and children this year-- a 62% hike from 2023. For Gray, the need for funding is greater than ever before.
“You compare 60,000 foreign refugees to 631,000 homeless adults, and in my mind, that reclassifies homelessness in the United States, not as a problem we've had all along, but as a domestic refugee crisis on a size and scope of which we have not seen, including the time during the Great Depression.”
One concern for advocates like Gray is that provisions of the new law could lead to municipalities arresting unsheltered people to maintain compliance …which, he, could normalize the criminalization of homelessness.
Ideas for New Year's resolutions: Habits to boost brain health
Are you making some New Year's resolutions? If so, the Alzheimer's Association wants you to consider the good habits that boost brain health.
The medical journal The Lancet cites increasing evidence that tackling 14 modifiable risk factors would delay or prevent nearly half of dementia cases. The risk factors include things like obesity, unmanaged diabetes, high blood pressure, and mental and physical inactivity.
So the Alzheimer's Association is promoting “10 Healthy Habits for Your Brain.”
Here's Jody Streussnig with the association in Polk County.
“ No matter where you are in your life it is never too early or too late to start healthy habits for your brain. “
Among the healthy habits are exercising, being smoke-free, eating right, sleeping well, and challenging your brain to do something hard or learn a new skill.
More: www.floridatoday.com
