Cocoa Beach hikes fees to operate vacation rentals.
Cocoa Beach has nearly tripled the fees to operate a short-term vacation rental, making it the highest such cost of any municipality in Brevard County. The beachside city had found itself overwhelmed by vacation rentals. City officials, at one point, estimating that one in every five single-family homes might be in use as a vacation rental. The Cocoa Beach City Council took action this week. Now vacation-rental operators must pay $2,500 for the application and then an annual cost of $1,500 per year for single-family homes. Fines were also hiked for violating the city's rules around short-term rentals, including instituting a $1,000 daily fee for every day a rental operates without a permit. Cocoa Beach Mayor Keith Capizzi was the lone opposing vote. He said the registration fees were "exorbitant" while acknowledging funding was needed for enforcement and that fines for violations should go up. The city's rules don't cover condo units, allowing condo associations to regulate the use of their properties.
Nearly 1,000 employees impacted by closure of Rockledge Hospital.
The decision to close the Orlando Health Rockledge Hospital on April 22 will affect 940 employees. That figure is nearly 100 employees higher than officials of the hospital said it had when Orlando Health acquired it four months ago. Orlando Health told employees that the Rockledge hospital is in such poor condition that it would not be cost-effective to renovate, so the hospital would close, then be torn down. Orlando Health said it would guarantee positions for team members who are in good standing and are open to taking jobs at other Orlando Health facilities.
Federal budget cuts hit Florida’s national parks.
Federal budgets cuts are having an impact on Florida’s national parks. Recent executive orders have led to job losses at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore. These areas rely heavily on seasonal and temporary employees, and the timing of these cuts—right before their busiest season—could have serious consequences. The Association of National Park Rangers says federal cuts impacted the Everglades with at least 12 people being laid off. One at Cypress National Preserve and at least three at Biscayne National Park will also lose jobs. And Crystal River National Refuge north of Tampa lost a quarter of its staff.
To the moon!
Lunar landers and a lunar orbiter began their journey to the moon yesterday afternoon. Two spacecraft from Intuitive Machines are due to touchdown on the lunar surface a week from today. NASA’s lunar orbiter, a rideshare partner on the Falcon 9 launch, will take four months to get into an orbit around the moon. Once their it will collect data on water on the moon. And a spacecraft from AstroForge also rode the Falcon 9 yesterday. The probe is headed toward an asteroid to see if mining its metals is feasible.
But wait. That’s not all. The Blue Ghost lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace is currently winning the race to the moon. Blue Ghost was launched from Kennedy Space Center last month. It’s due to touch down on the lunar surface this Sunday.
Advance Auto Parts closing some stores nationwide.
Advance Auto Parts is joining other retailers, like Big Lots and Red Lobster, in closing some stores nationwide. There are about 8 Advance Auto Parts locations in Brevard County. No word on which, if any of them, are affected.
