Brevard approves funding for Brightline station.
Brevard County gave the green light Tuesday to put millions of dollars toward a Brightline railroad station in Cocoa. The county commission approved a $5 million reimbursable capital facilities grant in Tuesday night's meeting. The city of Cocoa will also invest $5 million in the project, and Brightline will invest a significant amount including the land the station will be on. Don’t pack you bags quite yet. The project is still dependent on a federal grant. Brightline is applying for that funding this month. If the federal grant comes in this year, it would take about three years to design and build the station.
ULA rocket delays Boeing Starliner launch until next week.
A pair of NASA astronauts were ready to go, but a single valve caused a scrub of their ride on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. You can’t blame Boeing for this delay - the suspect valve is located on the ULA rocket. The Atlas V is being rolled back into the facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station so the liquid oxygen valve can be replaced. The next opportunity to launch to the space station won’t be for at least another week, May 17th at the earliest.
In other space news, Billionaire Jared Issacman, who flew to space once with SpaceX already, is set for launch No. 2 in early summer. This mission will feature the first commercial space walk as Issacman and another crew member exit the Dragon capsule for a walk-about.
Florida sues Washington over gender-affirming care.
Florida Republican State Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit Monday against new Biden administration regulations defending access to transgender care. The state is asking a court to throw out the rules for common medical treatments for transgender and gender non-conforming people. They are set to go into effect July 5th. The rules go against Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers.
No plans for a special legislative session in Florida.
Gov. DeSantis said yesterday he has no plans to bring state legislators back to Tallahassee for a special legislative session. There was speculation that a special session might address immigration and abortion issues. The 2024 legislative session ended March 8, but the Florida Legislature has still not sent all approved bills to the governor for consideration, including the massive 2024-25 state budget.
New Royal Caribbean ship heads out for sea trials.
The newest Royal Caribbean cruise ship headed out for sea trials yesterday in France. The Utopia of the Seas is set to become the world’s second largest cruise ship when it takes over three- and four-day sailings out of Port Canaveral this July.
Sales-tax holidays signed into law.
Florida is once again giving back some of the tax money it collects to residents. As usual, the annual “sales tax holidays” are going into effect — periods during which sales tax isn’t levied on certain types of spending, such as storm prep and school supplies. New this year: A one-year elimination of the tax on residential property and flood insurance premiums.
For more information www.floridatoday.com
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