Property tax reductions aren’t dead yet.
Although the Florida legislature ended its regular session without addressing property tax reforms, the issue isn’t dead yet. Lawmakers in Tallahassee will reconvene on April 20 to finish two other pieces of business: passing the state budget and drawing a new congressional map. They may also address the elimination of homestead property taxes. They’ll need to pass a bill by May in order to get it on the November ballot. It will then go to voters and will require a 60% supermajority to make it into the Florida constitution. Local elected officials in Brevard County have signaled uneasiness around how government services will be funded if such a referendum were to pass.
Feds call Florida a Medicaid fraud hotspot.
The Trump administration on Tuesday widened its efforts to stamp out Medicaid fraud. The head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, Dr. Mehmet Oz, wrote that Florida “has been a hotspot for health care fraud for years” and called on state leaders to stop it.
Meanwhile, proposed new Medicaid and SNAP work requirements for Florida residents are dead for now. The Florida House and Senate couldn’t agree on restrictions during their regular session.
Dave & Busters may come to Viera.
The restaurant and arcade giant Dave & Busters may be coming to Viera. The company has paid nearly $4 million for a site nearby the Avenue Viera. Permits have been filed with the county and the project has cleared some early reviews. No construction schedule has been released.
SLS rocket rolls to the pad tonight.
NASA plans the slow roll of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly building to the launch pad for today. The 12 hour journey is slated to begin at 8PM this evening. The Artemis II mission to the moon and back is scheduled for April 1st.
Floating sargassum is headed our way.
Those giant patches of floating algae called sargassum that originate in the Atlantic Ocean, then head west on currents toward Florida and the Caribbean, are getting bigger every year. Tom Bayles, WGCU’s senior environmental reporter, has the story:
Massive piles of sargassum the size of which has not been seen before, are floating towards the U.S. right now, sure to coat the beaches of Florida’s East Coast, the Keys, and various Caribbean islands. The long band of sargassum heading west from the south Atlantic is called the Great Sargassum Belt, and right now there is more of it heading this way than ever before.
All totaled, there is nine-point-five million metric tons of it this year – record amounts
Researchers at the University of South Florida’s Sargassum Watch System warn the huge mats of the brown and banana-colored algae are growing even larger this month.
Massive sargassum blooms are either wonderful or awful depending on what type of creature you are. In open water, the huge mats have endless nooks and crannies for small fish, crabs, and sea turtles to grow and be protected.
But once the sargassum hits Caribbean island beaches, it piles up, day after day, and to clear beaches for tourists later in the day it is back-breaking work, often with hand tools at dawn. If left on the shoreline, sargassum decomposes, attracts insects, and smells like rotten eggs as it emits hydrogen sulfide.
Fix a Leak Week.
The City of Melbourne is calling it “Fix a Leak Week.” It’s an effort to reduce unnecessary water usage. The city suggests you check a recent water bill, and if your family of four used more than 12,000 gallons, you may have a water leak. The average home wastes nearly 10,000 gallons of water a year from easy-to-fix household leaks.
Brevard Zoo ranks high.
Our Brevard Zoo has earned a spot among the nation’s top zoos for the seventh year in a row. WFIT’s Terri Wright tells us more.
In this year’s annual USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, Brevard Zoo rose to No. 5 from sixth place last year and also ranked No. 4 for Best Zoo Membership. Home to more than 700 animals, the zoo features open-air habitats where visitors can explore South American jungles from elevated canopy walkways, or kayak through exhibits modeled after an African savanna and a Florida wetland.
Brevard Zoo also offers camps, conservation programs and special after-hours events that provide behind-the-scenes access and hands-on learning experiences.
