Brevard commissioners to consider AI tax breaks.
At tomorrow’s Brevard County Commission meeting, commissioners will discuss denying property tax breaks to future AI data centers. Concerns have been raised that AI data centers create few jobs despite their large investment and infrastructure impact. Commissioners will also consider a plan to pursue more than $66 million in state funding for sewer projects in the South Beaches. Brevard County faces almost $800 million in projects needed to meet new rules to cleanse sewage and tap water within the next several years. And while these projects are necessary to meet requirements mandated by state and federal governments and the courts, it is up to the county to pay for them.
Astronauts do moon fly-by.
NASA astronauts are flying around the moon right now. The seven-hour flyby is expected to wrap up before 10PM tonight. The last spacecraft to carry humans to the moon, NASA's Apollo 17, was more than 53 years ago. Today’s Artemis II crew expects to see lunar geologic features never glimpsed live by human eyes before while their Orion spacecraft passes about 4,000 miles above the moon's rock-strewn surface. NASA officials say that distance is so great that the moon's size will resemble a basketball held at arm's length. This 10-day test flight is a critical step in NASA's plan to establish a permanent presence on the moon and eventually travel to Mars.
Trump wants to slash NASA budget (again).
The Trump administration has released its budget request for fiscal year 2027. According to documents released Friday by NASA, Trump once again wants to chop billions of dollars from NASA, including its science missions. Trump’s version of NASA, though, is all in on Artemis with the “exploration” budget that would fund a return of astronauts to the moon to climb nearly a billion. Last year congress ultimately ignored the administration’s proposed budget, and kept NASA funding about the same.
Trump also wants a large increase for the US Space Force. Funding for the Space Force would climb to $71 billion, up from about $40 billion.
Uthmeier won’t enforce separation of church and state.
Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier has found more state laws that he’s declining to enforce, this time involving state financial support for religion. The First Amendment erects a barrier of separation between church and state, but Uthmeier asserts that doesn’t apply to the states. One law he’s against prevents students attending religious schools from getting scholarships to private, nonprofit colleges. The other is a ban on state dollars funding religious charter schools. Uthmeier says those state laws will not be enforced by his office.
Another prediction for hurricane season.
One of the world’s leading hurricane researchers is forecasting a relatively quiet 2026 Atlantic season. WFIT’s Terri Wright has details.
Dr. Andy Hazelton, a University of Miami scientist who develops NOAA’s high-resolution hurricane forecast models, said El Niño conditions typically generate upper-level winds over the Atlantic that can inhibit tropical development. He noted that sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are also cooler than during the highly active seasons of recent years. Still, he cautioned that a quieter outlook does not mean residents should let their guard down. The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1.
