FEMA cancels plans ahead of hurricane season.
Less than two weeks before the start of hurricane season, the head of FEMA rescinded the agency’s strategic plan. That’s the document that guides agency priorities when responding to disasters. A new plan has yet to be put into place. In a memo sent to FEMA employees on Wednesday, the acting FEMA administrator wrote, “The Strategic Plan is hereby rescinded. It contained goals and objectives that bear no connection to FEMA accomplishing its mission.”
Meanwhile, Gov. DeSantis says he’s not that worried about turmoil within FEMA, because FEMA isn’t really all that important. DeSantis thinks that state and local governments are strong enough to handle what comes.
Former state emergency management director and current US Representative Jared Moskowitz said FEMA can’t be eliminated - it’s Florida’s lifeline after disaster strikes. But Moskowitz wants to remove FEMA as part of the Department of Homeland Security and make it an independent agency.
Speed bumps being removed in Cocoa Beach.
Speed bumps along A1A in Cocoa Beach are being removed after city leaders said they never wanted them in the first place. The speed bumps were in place for just weeks after they sparked backlash from residents and city officials. The Florida Department of Transportation is responsible for safety improvements on A1A. The Department said the speed bumps were actually “raised crosswalks” and were the result of years of collaboration between the agency, the city, and residents. The cost of removing the bumps isn’t clear.
DeSantis signs more bills into law.
Gov. DeSantis signed multiple bills into law yesterday, including one that will allow child care center employees to undergo training to carry guns. It’s part of the school guardian program. Other new laws will provide harsher penalties for false reporting of a crime, and gives police officers discretion over whether they should immediately arrest someone in a hospital, nursing home, or assisted living facility. These bills were among 60 that the Florida legislature sent to DeSantis last week for his signature.
New aerospace company may come to the Cape.
Space Florida is talking with an unknown company to invest $247 million in a major development near Kennedy Space Center. The company claims it will create 1,000 jobs in aerospace manufacturing, research and development. Space Florida will consider the proposal next week. Brevard County's fast-growing aerospace-aviation sector nearly doubled in employment from 2017 to 2023, employing nearly 15,000 workers.
World’s largest cruise ship prepares for Port Canaveral.
What will become the largest cruise ship in the world is set to begin sailing from Port Canaveral in August. But first Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas has to complete a series of sea trials. The ship has been under construction in Finland since 2023, but Monday it sailed out of the shipyard. Eleven days of open-ocean trials must be successfully completed before the Star of the Seas is handed over to Royal Caribbean for a transatlantic sailing to Port Canaveral.
