Brown tide is back in the IRL.
Brown tide, which lead to fish kills in 2016, is back in the Indian River Lagoon. The invasive algae is threatening the recovery of seagrass in the lagoon. Brown algae showed up recently in samples drawn from Mosquito Lagoon by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Algae is a basic building block of the food chain, but in excess it blocks sunlight to seagrass.
Arson at Aldi.
An unidentified man set fire to the Aldi supermarket that is under construction on East Eau Gallie Blvd. beachside. A worker called to report a man was inside the former Winn-Dixie site Sunday morning. Melbourne Fire Department crews contained the blaze. Police searched for the man for hours without success.
Disney puts Venezuelan workers on leave.
Almost four dozen Venezuelan workers who had temporary protected status have been put on leave by Disney. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to strip them of legal protections, and Disney wanted to make sure they were not in violation of the law. About two-thirds of the workers were in union jobs. The union contract for Walt Disney World service workers allows them to be reinstated without loss of seniority or benefits once they provide proper work authorization.
Locally, immigration enforcement efforts are causing fear and uncertainty among immigrant communities in Brevard County. For weeks now, law enforcement agents from Homeland Security, Florida Highway Patrol, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office have combed Central Florida to take custody of undocumented immigrants. In Brevard County, state and federal law enforcement agents have been reported carrying out traffic stops along Interstate 95, And they also have been reported going through the Sunrise Park mobile home park in Cocoa, where a number of immigrants have lived over the years.
Space News.
The FAA has given SpaceX a green light to launch Starship again from Texas. SpaceX wasted no time in scheduling the ninth flight test of the massive rocket for Tuesday. The launch window will open at 7:30 PM EDT.
In other space news, the Defense Department appears to be fed up with delays with ULA’s Vulcan rocket. The military official responsible for purchasing launches for national security missions told congress that the ULA Vulcan program has performed unsatisfactorily this past year. Major General Stephen Purdy said issues in the Vulcan program have lead to delays of the launch of four national security missions. The US military supported Vulcan with development contracts for the rocket and its engines that exceeded $1 billion. Vulcan was originally slated to fly in 2020. In April the military asked SpaceX to pick up the slack.
Judge weighs ballot initiative law.
Uncertainty about a new law targeting the state’s ballot-initiative process has led to a significant drop in people working to collect signatures for 2026 ballot measures. That’s what groups challenging the law told a federal judge on Thursday. Lawyers for the groups argue that the new law unconstitutionally “chills” political speech. Republican leaders have long argued that policy decisions should be made by the Legislature, not through amending the State Constitution.
