Things To Do In SW Florida

Business apparently is so good at Brightline, the Florida’s burgeoning high-speed railroad, that its discounted monthly passes designed to woo passengers are no longer needed.

The upscale train service, which serves a 235-mile segment between Miami and Orlando with four South Florida stations in between, has announced to the dismay of many customers that it intends to dispose of three passes aimed at incentivizing travelers. It plans to replace them with more expensive 10-ride passes for frequent travelers.

The move serves as a reminder to the public about what Brightline intended to be: A high-speed regional train line between Miami and Orlando, not the upscale commuter service that has become popular among South Florida riders during an interim build-out period. Brightline, whose trains started zipping along the Florida East Coast Railway corridor through West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami in 2018, inaugurated the second leg of its regional service to Orlando International Airport last September. And now is the time, company officials say, to focus on building ridership to Orlando. read more

Agriculture is the second-largest industry in Florida after tourism, and Central Florida has three of the state’s top 10 producing counties: Polk, Orange and Lake.

Although states such as Washington, Minnesota, California, Oregon, and Colorado have laws protecting those who toil in the heat, Florida lacks such standards for its 2 million outdoor workers. A law that takes effect on July 1 will kill any chance that cities and counties can respond to the problem.

Among other things, HB 433 prevents local governments from enacting heat protection requirements. Supporters say federal safety standards are sufficient and non-uniform local ordinances would burden employers.

The bill, backed by business groups and opposed by workers rights organizations, passed on the last day of the 2024 legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April.

The law’s passage was a “slap in the face” to farmworkers, said Jeannie Economos, who coordinates safety programs for the Farmworker Association of Florida. read more

Tourist-tax receipts broke the $40-million mark in March, an all-time, one-month record for Orange County’s revenue juggernaut.

Halfway through the fiscal year, the Tourist Development Tax — TDT for short — is a smidge behind last year’s best-ever pace, which brought in $359 million, but well ahead of Comptroller Phil Diamond’s conservative forecast for 2023-24, which predicted a year-over-year drop of about 7.5% and a total haul of $330 million.

If the strong performance continues, that would give the county more money than expected to spend on projects and programs. Already, the tourist tax is being tapped to pay for the latest Convention Center expansion, the Camping World Stadium renovation and the University of Central Florida’s football stadium tower.

“It’s nice to see it’s turning up,” Diamond said Monday. “But we’re only halfway through the [fiscal] year.”

Still, the signs are strong.

Through March, fiscal year 2023-24 has generated $194.2 million, just $28,900 less than the first half of 2022-23. Collections in March 2024 totaled $40.55 million, compared to the $38.9 million generated in March 2023, the previous best TDT month ever. read more