Florida's Latest News

Miami voters will decide on major makeover for Knight Center and downtown Hyatt

Miami voters will decide in November on the future of the 40-year-old James L. Knight Center complex and Hyatt Regency downtown, a slice of publicly owned property that could undergo a massive redevelopment.

Late Thursday, city commissioners voted to place a question on the Nov. 8 ballot over whether the city should extend a long-term lease on the four acres where the complex sits for 99 years and allow developers to do a $1.5 billion overhaul of the site at 400 SW Second Ave. near the mouth of the Miami River.

Hyatt Hotels Corp., Gencom and Arquitectonica have proposed a privately funded plan to replace the convention center complex, completed in 1982, with a three-tower structure that would include 615 hotel rooms, 1,500 market-rate apartments, meeting space and a public riverfront promenade.

Gov. DeSantis reappoints three to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Three familiar faces with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) are returning for another term as Commissioners. Gov. Ron DeSantis recently reappointed Steven Hudson, Gary Lester and Gary Nicklaus to the Commission.

A Ft. Lauderdale native, Hudson received his first appointment to the panel by DeSantis in July 2019. He’s the President and CEO of Hudson Capital Group and serves on the executive committees of The Marine Research Hub and The Humane Society of Broward County. 

Lester came to the Commission through an appointment by Gov. Rick Scott in January 2018. An ordained Presbyterian minister and Oxford resident, Lester serves as The Villages’ Vice President for Community Relations and President of The Villages Charter Schools. 

Florida to get $70 million in transportation resilience money this year

Florida will get $70 million this fiscal year to address the effects of climate change on transportation infrastructure and evacuation routes as part of a new federal program.

In all, the program could send $364 million to the state for such projects over five years.

The Federal Highway Administration on Friday announced the funding, as it outlined the $7.3 billion Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation, or PROTECT, program.

Money for the program is coming from a federal infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in November.

In a news release, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the program is designed to “help communities protect their transportation infrastructure from extreme weather and improve routes that first responders and firefighters need during disasters.”

Space Coast’s first double launch day targeting Aug. 4

Over 30 launches have blasted off from the Atlantic coast of Florida in 2022, but later this week, those on the Space Coast may get to see a glimpse of the future.

Missions carried by both United Launch Alliance (ULA) and SpaceX are targeting liftoff on Thursday, August 4, setting up the first double header from an increasingly busy spaceport.

First, ULA will launch the sixth and final Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO 6) spacecraft on behalf of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) sometime between 6:29 a.m. and 7:09 a.m. EDT. That Atlas V launch will be followed roughly 12 hours later by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter around 7 p.m.