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During a press conference on Monday, March 29, 2021, Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 72, which grants civil immunity to
corporations, hospitals, nursing homes, government entities,
schools, and churches from COVID-19-related lawsuits, except in
cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. Plaintiffs who
file suit in Florida alleging coronavirus-related injuries will
face robust legal hurdles. These plaintiffs must:
Provide a physician s affidavit
stating with reasonable certainty that the injury or death from
COVID-19 resulted from the defendant s actions;
Establish in court that the defendant
Presented by Floridians for Affordable Rx
Hello and welcome to Tuesday.
The daily rundown Between Sunday and Monday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 3,480 (nearly 0.2 percent), to 2,085,306; active hospitalizations increased by 123 (nearly 4.3 percent), to 2,988; deaths of Florida residents rose by 36 (0.1 percent), to 33,710; 6,357,049 Floridians have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Come as you are Greetings from Okaloosa County, smack in the heart of Florida’s 1st Congressional District a seat held by Rep. Matt Gaetz.
In bloom On Monday, Gaetz and his allies continued to mount a counteroffensive to the federal investigation into whether the 38-year-old congressman violated federal human trafficking laws and had an improper relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
More than 300 hundred homes and multiple businesses in the area around Piney Point have been evacuated.
A state of emergency has been declared by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
State and local officials are coordinating efforts.
Herald-Tribune journalists are covering the situation in Piney Point and possible impacts to the area, like we have for over 20 years. Local journalism like this is supported by our readers. If you re a subscriber we thank you. And if you d like to subscribe, please see our current offers here.
Last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved the pumping of wastewater into the Tampa Bay ecosystem from a retention pond at Piney Point – a former phosphate plant in Manatee County. A leak in the liner of the reservoir has caused a partial breach in one of the containment walls and officials hope that pumping more than 30 million gallons of wastewater out of the reservoir will relieve
TALLAHASSEE – With a plan to cut almost $300 million from affordable housing funds drawing widespread criticism, Republican leaders agreed Tuesday to steer more dollars into the program – but still cut it by more than half.
The move would put another $59 million into housing – bringing funding to $200 million for the coming year. But if lawmakers left the housing trust fund untouched, $423 million would be available next year to build and repair lower-cost housing and help Floridians buy homes.
Rising home prices and demand spurred by low interest rates have left millions of Floridians struggling. Studies show the demand for affordable housing is now four times its supply in the state.
SARASOTA, Fla. – Crews on Tuesday were continuing to pump wastewater from a retention pond into Tampa Bay to prevent a catastrophic breach that could send a massive wall of water into the surrounding area.
Last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved the pumping of industrial wastewater from a retention pond at Piney Point, a former phosphate plant, in response to the facility’s second leak in a decade. The wastewater is about as acidic as black coffee and contains elevated levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which can feed the algae that causes red tide.
After pumping more than 30 million gallons of wastewater each day into Tampa Bay, the amount of water in the Piney Point retention pond has dropped to under 300 million gallons, down from approximately 480 million gallons last week at this time.