County Commission oks grants to arts and sporting events.
At this week’s meeting, the Brevard County Commission approved 42 grants to local arts, cultural, and sporting events. The more than half a million dollars in funding comes from Brevard’s tourist tax. Eighteen grants totaling $325,000 were given to arts and cultural organizations. And nearly $248,000 were earmarked for sports events. If your favorite organization missed out, there’s still a chance. Each of the five county commissioners will receive $20,000 each to allocate as they choose to organizations that applied to the program, but weren’t selected.
Millions more are coming…
Millions more people are calling Florida home, and that number is only expected to grow. According to the Demographic Estimating Conference, the population of Florida is expected to surpass 24 million by 2027. Researchers predict that over the next 14 years, the population will swell to nearly 27 million. On average, that amounts to roughly 650 new residents per day. Thanks to this growth, economic forecasts predict higher wages and a boost to industries like construction, hospitality and education. On the flip side, the cost of living is also expected to rise further.
Second detention facility to open in Florida.
Florida’s second immigration detention facility will be located at an empty state prison, about 50 miles north of Gainesville. It will accommodate over 1,300 detainees. The DeSantis administration is calling the facility “Deportation Depot.” Florida hopes to recoup the costs from the federal government.
Oyster harvesting to re-start in Apalachicola Bay.
More than a decade after the oyster industry collapsed in Northwest Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, state wildlife officials Thursday gave preliminary approval to reopen some oyster reefs for harvesting. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission supported a month-long opening in January 2026 after people in the industry said they’ve waited five years to restart their businesses and can’t wait for the new season to begin in fall of 2026. Apalachicola Bay has long been known for its oysters, once supplying more than 90 percent of Florida’s oysters and 10 percent of the oysters sold nationally.
Royal Caribbean needs a godmother.
Royal Caribbean is looking for a new godmother for its giant new ship, Star of the Seas. It’s a traditional maritime ceremony of bestowing safekeeping onto the ship, its crew and its passengers. Diane Ross was scheduled for that role. But the 81-year-old Motown legend cancelled her planned appearance for the August 20th event at Port Canaveral.
Erin likely to turn to the north.
Megan Borowski of the Florida Public Radio emergency network is keeping an eye on Erin for us:
“Erin should begin to recurve to the north early next week. But there’s still a question as to how close the storm nears the Bahamas before that turn begins- we’ll have a better idea of that later this weekend. For now, we aren’t expecting Erin to arrive to our state but do keep in mind that even if a storm remains hundreds of miles offshore, we can still experience impacts. I expect dangerous rip currents and increasing wave heights off the Atlantic coast during the middle of next week.”
