Special election will determine who replaces Randy Fine.
A special election has been scheduled to fill a Florida Senate seat in Brevard County that will become vacant when Randy Fine resigns on March 31st. Fine will be running for a seat in the US Congress. A special primary election for Fine's current Florida Senate seat will be April 1, with the general election on June 10. Under this schedule, the 19th District, which includes Brevard County, would be without a state senator for more than half of the 2025 legislative session. Republican Debbie Mayfield and Democrat Vance Ahrens have indicated they are interested in running for Fine's Senate seat.
School start times may not change.
Two years ago, Florida lawmakers dictated the start times for public middle and high schools in the state. They passed a law prohibiting middle schools from starting instruction before 8AM and high schools before 8:30AM, although compliance is not expected until 2026. But now new proposed legislation may hand the decision on school start times back to local school boards. The later start times might have required a district to purchase extra buses, hire more bus drivers, or change sports schedules, all of which would cost money. The Florida legislature will consider giving control back to local boards when it meets in March.
Brevard school board changes public comment policy.
A temporary restraining order was issued less than two hours before Tuesday's Brevard school board meeting, ordering the board to stop implementing the current public comment policy. A federal judge in Orlando issued the restraining order in support of a Moms for Liberty-led lawsuit. The judge ordered the school board not to enforce what he called an 'unconstitutional prohibition' on comments. Board member Megan Wright said the lawsuit put them "between a rock and a hard spot" on what to do, saying it takes time to revise a policy.
Space Perspective may get evicted.
Florida Today reported recently that space tourism company Space Perspective had fallen behind in its rent at the Titusville airport. Now the high-altitude balloon manufacturing facility has been issued an eviction notice. Space Perspective CEO Michael Savage said about 75% of workers have been furloughed, and the company is looking for new investors to fund more test flights and scale employment back up.
Record-breaking snowfall in Florida.
Initial reports from the Florida panhandle indicate that a record for the greatest snowfall in the state has been broken. It didn’t take much. The previous record was set in 1954 - four inches. And the coldest temperature ever recorded in Florida history, -2 degrees. We won’t be experiencing that this year, but temperatures are forecast to drop into the 30’s this Friday night in Brevard County.
Space Coast bird festival is underway.
Hundreds of birders are converging on the Indian River Lagoon region this week as the 26th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival gets underway. Flamingos are the featured bird at this year’s festival - many hope to see the flock of pink flamingos that hurricanes swept our way in 2023. The event is headquartered at the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral.
