Homeowner insurance costs fell in 2024.
Homeowner insurance costs fell by 0.7% between the third and fourth quarters of 2024. That marks the first drop since the state began releasing quarterly tracking reports. The decline in costs of multiperil insurance for owners of single-family houses appears to be in part the result of declining rates that insurance officials in Florida have been touting for the past several months. Single-family home premiums averaged about $3,600. Florida’s insurance commissioner said that since January of 2024, 17 companies filed for rate decreases and 34 requested no changes or no increases. Average premiums paid by condo associations in the fourth quarter fell for the second straight time — by 2.5%. Still, those decreases followed a cumulative increase of 103%.
Combining beach renourishment projects saves $ 20 million.
The federal government is funding beach renourishment projects in Brevard County to mitigate impacts of storm surge and erosion. By using more efficient procedures and combining previously separate projects, taxpayers are saving about $20 million on what initially had been pegged as $150 million in work. The savings will be used to help pay for future Corps of Engineers shore protection and dredging projects along the Space Coast. Officials highlight the economic benefits of the projects, including tourism revenue and property value increases.
Postal workers rally in Melbourne.
Postal workers from across the Space Coast rallied on Sunday at the downtown Melbourne Post Office. It was part of a nationwide movement to save the U.S. Postal Service. The protest was against ongoing efforts to privatize and restructure the USPS, an independent agency of the executive branch that operates like a business.
Philip Morris helped kill Florida’s pot amendment.
Last fall, Gov. Ron DeSantis was raising money to defeat a ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana. In the closing weeks of the anti-pot campaign, DeSantis took half a billion dollars from Philip Morris, the tobacco company. The $500,000 contribution made Philip Morris one of the top contributors to the committee opposing recreational marijuana. Now it appears the DeSantis administration has returned the favor. Florida has issued a legal ruling that Philip Morris’ brand of heated tobacco products are not subject to state cigarette and tobacco taxes.
Private astronauts to fly the end of this month.
A SpaceX mission headed by a Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur and three of his friends is targeting the end of March for a crewed launch to polar orbit. A Falcon 9 is slated to lift off Monday, March 31 from Kennedy Space Center with the private astronauts.
NASA’s lunar program has long-touted the Artemis mission as landing the first woman and first person of color on the moon. That verbiage is now missing from the NASA website. The change comes as the Trump administration has used executive orders to remove diversity, equity and inclusion pages from all federal websites. Instead the goal of the Artemis III mission is to send the first humans to explore the lunar south pole.
Tipping plummets in Central Florida.
The central Florida region is among the worst for tipping among the 50 metro areas measured for gratuities. The Orlando Business Journal reports that tipping is down in our area, with restaurant workers averaging just $5.69 in hourly tips. That’s down 46% from January 2020. The wage data comes from payroll company ADP.
