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Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Good Morning! On September 1, 1880, Southern Bell Telephone Company opened Pensacola’s first telephone exchange on the northeast corner of Government Street and Palafox — 31 telephones on a Panhandle corner that now holds Seville Tower. A 1964 City of Pensacola / Telephone Pioneers marker calls it the first exchange in Florida with exclusive operating rights inside a municipality; Jacksonville’s Southern Bell exchange had already opened May 24 with 34 subscribers, so this is Pensacola’s first ring, not the state’s.
On September 1, 1976, President Gerald Ford signed the authorization to transfer Key West’s Fort Zachary Taylor to the State of Florida. The United States deeded the property on October 7; the brick fort opened as Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park on July 4, 1985 — still the southernmost state park in the continental United States.
In This Issue: FDOT pulls Flock cameras off state roads in 30 days, Florida’s Super Speeder law hits 4,964 citations, and Messi retires from Argentina while staying with Inter Miami. |
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Tallahassee ⛈️ 93°/74° | Jacksonville ⛈️ 90°/76° | Gainesville ⛈️ 89°/74° | Orlando ⛈️ 91°/76° | Tampa ⛈️ 91°/75° | Fort Myers ⛈️ 91°/77° | Miami ⛈️ 88°/82° | West Palm Beach ⛈️ 86°/82° | Key West ⛈️ 90°/83° | Pensacola 🌤️ 90°/77° | Daytona Beach ⛈️ 86°/76°
High pressure north of Florida keeps an east-to-northeast flow Tuesday, with the sea breeze shoving storms inland by afternoon. Coverage is highest Gainesville and Orlando through Miami and West Palm Beach (about 70–80%), scattered around Tampa Bay and Fort Myers (about 50–60%), and lower across Jacksonville, Daytona, and the Keys (about 30–50%). Tallahassee stays mostly sunny until a late 30% chance south of I-10. Highs mid-to-upper 80s at the Atlantic beaches to the low 90s inland; heat index around 100–106. Patchy fog possible around Gainesville early.
No Florida tropical watches or warnings Tuesday (National Hurricane Center). Tropical Storm Edouard is over the northern Gulf about 140 miles southeast of Cameron, Louisiana, with 40 mph winds, moving west-northwest toward the Upper Texas / southwestern Louisiana coast Tuesday — not a Florida land threat. The 8:00 p.m. EDT Monday Tropical Weather Outlook says no additional tropical cyclone formation is expected in the next 7 days. Rip-current risk Tuesday: moderate NE Florida, Volusia/Daytona, Space Coast / east-central Atlantic, Treasure Coast, and the eastern Panhandle (Walton’s overnight High expires 1:00 a.m. CDT Tuesday, then moderate); low west-central/SW Gulf (Tampa Bay through Fort Myers/Collier) and Palm Beach / Broward / Miami-Dade; low Pensacola–Destin. |
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Florida Orders License Plate Readers Off State Roads in 30 Days
The Florida Department of Transportation on Monday revoked every existing permit for automated license plate readers on State Highway System rights-of-way and told local agencies they have 30 days to take the cameras down or FDOT will pull them. Assistant Secretary Will Watts’ memo cites an “exponential increase” in deployments plus reports of misuse, data-privacy problems, and “surveillance schemes,” and it stops new approvals on state roads.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said his office will comply and is also dropping license-plate readers throughout Duval County effective immediately. Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood shut his readers down countywide the same day; ClickOrlando reports Jefferson County and Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey moving the same way. The order does not cover private property or most city and county roads — Florida Politics puts the statewide Flock-style network at nearly 7,500 readers, with about 100 agencies on Flock.
Florida’s Super Speeder Law Hits 4,964 Citations
Florida Highway Patrol told News 6 that as of Aug. 24, troopers have written 4,964 citations — including arrests — under the Super Speeder law (HB 351) that took effect July 1, 2025. The statute makes “dangerous excessive speeding” a crime when a driver is at least 50 mph over the posted limit or hits 100 mph in a way that threatens people or property.
A first conviction can mean up to 30 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both; a later conviction can mean up to 90 days, $1,000, or both, and a repeat inside five years can cost a license for 180 days to a year. FOX 13, using a similar FHP dump, put statewide Super Speeder arrests above 4,800 since July 2025 and noted the 100 mph trigger applies anywhere in Florida.
Osceola Warns of $79 Million Hit if Amendment 3 Passes
Osceola County commissioners and staff, in a Monday workshop, said Amendment 3 on the November ballot could cost the county about $79 million in property-tax revenue by 2028, with Chairman Brandon Arrington telling WESH roads, senior services, and veteran services would shrink. The county has already frozen hiring and paused about $12 million in capital work while it builds a fiscal 2027 budget.
Staff sketched further cuts if the amendment passes: $40.3 million from infrastructure and transportation, $5.7 million from public safety, $5.1 million from economic diversification, $4.6 million from housing, $4.3 million from county government, $2.1 million from environmental programs, and $485,000 from health care. Arrington said public safety is about 70% of the budget and that school resource officers and fire stations could come up; he wants a voter survey on which services to protect.
Palm Bay Woman Killed on I-95 After Alligator Sets Off Crash
FHP says a 20-year-old Palm Bay woman died just before midnight Sunday near mile marker 214 on southbound I-95 after a 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-350 hit an alligator, a 2004 Toyota Tacoma behind it lost control and overturned, and an unknown vehicle struck the ejected driver and fled. The Mercedes driver, a 58-year-old man from Canada, was not hurt. |
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➤ Miami-Dade / Goulds: Miami-Dade’s school board approved a 99-year ground lease with Atlantic Pacific Communities for 364 income-restricted apartments on about 10 acres of the Arthur & Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts campus near South Dixie Highway and SW 216th Street; the district gets $12.7 million and keeps the K-12 campus on the remaining 18-plus acres. Teachers and district employees get first shot at the units (households at 60% to 80% of area median income); construction is sketched for November 2029, finish late 2031.
➤ Tampa Bay / South Tampa: Tampa’s South Howard Flood Relief project is at 60% design: a box culvert along South Howard and Swann meant to drain Parkland Estates and Palma Ceia Pines in a storm of about 5.2 inches over eight hours. FOX 13 puts the city estimate above $100 million (2022 sketch was $64.5 million); Mobility Director Brandon Campbell said council is looking at a final vote around Sept. 17, with construction late 2026 and about three years of phased work. Linda Misner, who has run Body by Design more than 30 years with six employees, told FOX 13 she is not sure the shop survives.
➤ Orlando / Winter Garden: The proposed I AM Children’s Museum in Winter Garden is in the final recommendation stage for Orange County tourist-tax money: a $40 million project seeking $20 million in TDT, about 35,000 square feet indoors and out, nearly two miles of Discovery Trails, a projected 250,000 visitors a year and about $45 million in local economic activity. Founder Sara Meyer’s 8 Waves nonprofit is behind it; WESH says no funding has been awarded yet, groundbreaking is sketched for 2027, opening by 2030.
➤ Jacksonville: Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday at Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Cecil Center announced $7 million in Job Growth money for the college’s Cecil Training Institute next to Cecil Commerce Center, on top of $5 million the city put up last year to buy a former charter-school building. President John Avendano told Jacksonville Today the move lets welding and HVAC double off the Downtown campus by early 2028 and could train 1,000 workers a year plus 1,250 high-school students; the same package sends up to $5 million to a rocket-motor test stand at Cecil Spaceport.
➤ Palm Beach / West Palm Beach: The West Palm Beach City Commission on Monday unanimously approved plans for an 18-story, 400-room Curio-branded hotel at 900 S. Rosemary Ave. in CityPlace, on a lot used for overflow parking for about 10 years. CBS12 says the building is sketched at 204 feet, with a two-story meeting space and a 7,300-square-foot restaurant, next to the Palm Beach County Convention Center; residents flagged traffic and outdoor noise.
➤ North Florida / Putnam: North Florida Land Trust and partners closed an 816.46-acre conservation easement on family-owned Meetinghouse Groves near Crescent City for $2.67 million, split between the state’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program and the Putnam Land Conservancy, with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in the broker mix. The citrus tract sits in the Ocala-to-Osceola wildlife corridor next to land NFLT already holds near Lake Margaret and Silver Lake.
➤ Ormond Beach / Daytona: FDOT is rebuilding the I-95 / U.S. 1 interchange at Exit 273 in Ormond Beach — a $130 million job that broke ground in April 2026, with three new bridges, reconfigured loops, a diverging-diamond layout, U.S. 1 widened to six lanes near Destination Daytona, and a shared-use path. Finish is sketched for 2029.
➤ Palm Bay / Space Coast: The Monday Job Growth list includes $3.5 million for the City of Palm Bay to run wastewater to Phoenix Business Park, unlocking 960,000 square feet of future industrial and commercial space aimed at aerospace, defense, semiconductors, logistics, and energy. |
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David Jolly’s campaign dropped a new ad Monday attacking Byron Donalds as “Data center Donalds,” built around Donalds saying Florida is “wide open” with “pristine” land still available; Florida Politics notes University of North Florida polling that 68% of Florida voters oppose a data center in their area, and Donalds’ campaign answered the same day that “local control comes first” and that no center gets built without paying its own way.
Rep. David Borrero launched a bid to succeed Bryan Ávila in Senate District 39 under the line “America First, Florida always,” overlapping the House seat Borrero kept in 2024 by 35 points and won without opposition this cycle (Florida Politics homepage #1 Monday).
Former Sen. Annette Taddeo, the Democratic nominee for CFO after clearing the Aug. 18 Primary with nearly 66% of the vote, accepted the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce’s Community Impact Award at the group’s 50th anniversary gala in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood — the first Latin American honoree in the award’s history, her campaign said — and now faces Republican CFO Blaise Ingoglia on Nov. 3. |
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Publix listed a new 48,000-square-foot store for 2411 Ocoee Apopka Road in The Shoppes at East Shore, Apopka, opening Sept. 24, with a drive-thru pharmacy and a liquor store; News 6 said the chain’s upcoming-openings page also shows two new Kentucky stores.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday awarded nearly $15.3 million in Florida Job Growth grants aimed at defense, aerospace, and maritime employers, including $3.5 million for Palm Bay wastewater that unlocks 960,000 square feet at Phoenix Business Park, $3 million for a 4,000-square-foot maritime fabrication lab at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, $2 million for a commercial-driving program at Polk State College in Bartow, and $7,009,168.52 for FSCJ’s Cecil Training Institute.
Tampa SoHo businesses are pushing back on the South Howard flood job as Florida Politics puts a $92.7 million Kimmins guaranteed-maximum-price contract in front of council; SoHo Business Alliance owners told the briefing they fear multi-year closures on the Avenue will not leave shops standing. |
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Orlando Pride Part Ways With Coach Seb Hines
The Orlando Pride on Monday parted ways with head coach Seb Hines, effective immediately, and named assistant Yolanda Thomas interim after a 2026 season that has the club 12th in NWSL, five points out of the last playoff spot with eight games left. WESH notes a 2–1 home loss to the Utah Royals over the weekend and a 5–8 mark over the last 13; Hines is in the final year of a deal with a 2027 club option after the 2024 Shield-and-Championship double.
The club said goalkeeper coach Paul Crichton is also leaving; Thomas has been on staff since 2023 and ran two U-23 U.S. youth camps in 2025. Next match is Sunday, Sept. 6, vs. the Houston Dash.
Bucs Add Easton Stick to Practice Squad
Tampa Bay filled 16 of 17 practice-squad spots Monday, using one on veteran QB Easton Stick after the Indianapolis Colts terminated him as a vested veteran Sunday. Baker Mayfield and Jalon Daniels stay on the 53; the Bucs re-signed 15 of their own cuts once they cleared waivers and still have one open practice-squad slot. Stick was a 2019 Chargers fifth-round pick out of North Dakota State: six games, four starts, 111-of-174 for 1,129 yards, three touchdowns, one interception.
NBC Sports notes Stick is the only Monday practice-squad addition who was not in Bucs camp; he was with Atlanta in 2025 under current Bucs coaches Zac Robinson and T.J. Yates.
Messi Retires From Argentina, Stays With Inter Miami
Lionel Messi said Monday he is retiring from Argentina’s national team after 207 appearances and 125 goals, six weeks after Argentina’s 1–0 extra-time World Cup final loss to Spain. Deadline reports he is 39 and will keep playing for Inter Miami, where his deal runs through the 2028 season at $75 million a year; Saturday’s 7–1 vs. Montréal (four Messi goals) is context only — that box already ran.
Yahoo/Sporting News matches the Monday Instagram note and the Inter Miami through-2028 club stay.
Scoreboard
Mets 3, Rays 2 (FINAL) Nationals 6, Marlins 3 (FINAL)
Schedule
Tue Sep 1 — Mets at Rays, Tropicana Field, 6:40 p.m. ET Tue Sep 1 — Marlins at Kansas City Royals, Kauffman Stadium, 6:40 p.m. ET |
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Florida regular averaged $3.8781 a gallon Monday, according to AAA — down about 2 cents from Sunday ($3.8947) but up 3 cents from a week ago ($3.8467), and still 20 cents under the national $4.0807. West Palm Beach–Boca Raton is the dearest named metro at $4.0538; Panama City is cheapest at $3.6868 (Pensacola $3.6960). Statewide is $3.88, not $4. |
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Sterling Meadows homeowner Robert Scott and neighbors in Sanford trapped and moved 25 Muscovy ducks to a private farm about an hour away after the HOA had announced a biologist-backed euthanasia plan; ClickOrlando says the board then paused the cull and promised to keep working with residents on an FWC-consistent fix. Scott told News 6 the farm has a fenced pond and that “we all pretty much take care of one another here.”
Nancy Grace Cordero turned 4 on Aug. 30, the same day NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center; her father, Miguel Cordero, told Spectrum News 13 a KSC email about the name and date landed on her birthday, and the family had watched an Artemis liftoff from their Winter Park yard. They plan to keep a memory box from the trip for her to open later.
Kim Spurlock started special-needs programming at First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland 13 years ago; Bay News 9’s Monday “HERO” piece says the church now runs weekly Wednesday “Shine On” gatherings for young people 14 and up plus volunteers.
Joke of the Day A Florida pickleball court is not a hobby. It is rush hour with paddles. |
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Florida Almanac
Moon: Waning Gibbous, 81% illuminated (timeanddate, lunar noon Tuesday Sep 1, Tallahassee). Full Moon was 12:18 a.m. EDT Friday Aug 28. Next Last Quarter: Sep 4.
Sunrise / Sunset (Tuesday Sep 1; Tallahassee EDT): 7:13 a.m. / 7:59 p.m. (Miami 7:01 a.m. / 7:40 p.m.; Key West 7:08 a.m. / 7:45 p.m.; Pensacola CDT 6:26 a.m. / 7:11 p.m.)
Gardening Early September is fall-garden start-up. North Florida can set strawberries and start cool-season crops (broccoli, carrots, cabbage, collards) plus color (ageratum, celosia, zinnia, wax begonia); herbs from plants include basil, mint, rosemary, Mexican tarragon. Some municipalities still ban lawn fertilizer June–September. North Florida’s last lawn fertilizer of the year is around mid-to-late September. (UF/IFAS North Florida Gardening Calendar)
Coastal / Red Tide (FWC): FWC written statewide update August 28, 2026 (next report Sep 4): Karenia brevis in 13 East Coast samples; bloom (>100,000 cells/L) in one Nassau County sample; Duval and St. Johns background to low. Not observed in Southwest or Northwest Florida. No red-tide fish kills or respiratory-irritation reports past week. |
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Florida by the Numbers
12.92 million boxes of Florida oranges in the USDA’s July 10, 2026, final 2025–26 all-orange forecast — up 6 percent from the April forecast of 12.2 million boxes (4.77 million non-Valencia and 8.15 million Valencia). |
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Today’s Poll
FDOT just ordered automated license-plate readers off Florida’s state roads within 30 days. Should they stay off?
Yesterday’s Results
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope launched Sunday from Kennedy. Did you catch it?
Yes, live or near live 48% · Caught highlights later 32% · Missed it 20% |
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Florida Lottery
CASH POP Evening — Mon Aug 31 — 4 CASH POP Late Night — Mon Aug 31 — 10 PICK 2 Evening — Mon Aug 31 — 3-8 Fireball 6 PICK 3 Evening — Mon Aug 31 — 0-2-5 Fireball 6 PICK 4 Evening — Mon Aug 31 — 7-3-9-5 Fireball 6 PICK 5 Evening — Mon Aug 31 — 7-8-9-3-0 Fireball 6 Fantasy 5 Evening — Mon Aug 31 — 6-7-28-32-35 Powerball — Mon Aug 31 — 11-17-25-37-49 Powerball 10 Power Play 2x Florida Lotto — Sat Aug 29 — 2-18-20-22-43-52 Jackpot Triple Play — Fri Aug 28 — 5-11-15-22-30-43 Mega Millions — Fri Aug 28 — 8-17-29-42-55 Mega Ball 2
Florida Lottery winning numbers |
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