Ellis Road widening inching forward.
The long-awaited Ellis Road widening project is a step closer to construction. Work could begin as early as spring 2026. The widening of Ellis Road has been in development for over 20 years. But rising construction costs and limited grant funding, the widening project faced a $25 million funding gap. Now Brevard County, the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization, Florida Department of Transportation, and the cities of Melbourne and West Melbourne have formed a partnership with each contributing toward the remaining funding needed. Because of that partnership the project will be considered by the Florida Legislature during the spring 2025 budgeting process.
Two moon landers are on their way.
Two spacecraft are flying toward the moon today, after lifting off on a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center early this morning. The Blue Ghost lunar lander will take about 45 days to arrive. Once on the moon’s surface, 10 NASA science instruments will be activated. The other spacecraft, Japan’s Hakuto, will take four to five months to reach the moon.
New Glenn may launch early Thursday.
The debut flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket may happen early Thursday morning. The three hour launch window opens at 1AM tomorrow. The weather is 60% favorable, but heavy seas offshore may be a problem for the returning first stage. The heavy-lift New Glenn will compete with SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy for launch customers.
Citizens paid over $800 million in hurricane claims.
The state’s insurer of last resort has paid over $800 million in claims related to the 2024 hurricane season. That’s what Citizens Property Insurance CEO Tim Cerio told state senators on Tuesday. Still, 11% of claims filed for hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton are still open. And 44% were closed without customers receiving any payments. Of the over 35,000 claims closed without payment, Citizens denied over 10,000 and closed the rest for various reasons, including that people mistakenly filed with the wrong company. While nearly half of the people who opened claims after Milton received payment from Citizens, the payout rates for Debby and Helene claims were much lower because the damage was mostly caused by floods. Citizens customers are required to buy separate flood insurance. Additionally, Citizens plans to shed another 300,000 policies this year, continuing its efforts to reduce the number of people who depend on it. Citizens is a WFIT program sponsor.
IRS grants all Floridians a tax extension.
If you have a Florida address on file with the IRS, you have automatically been granted an extension for filing your personal income taxes. Yes, this applies to Brevard County residents. The new deadline is May 1st. The extension was granted due to Hurricane Milton.
Florida bill would ban students without documents from some universities.
Florida state lawmaker, Randy Fine of Brevard, has filed a bill in Tallahassee that would ban some public colleges and universities from admitting immigrants who are in the country without legal permission. Representatives for Florida’s public college and university systems did not immediately respond to questions on how many students could be affected by Fine’s bill. The proposal would mark a significant policy shift in the state, which is home to an estimated 1.2 million immigrants living in the U.S. without permission.
