The morning edition

The SS United States is slowly sinking off Destin to become the world's largest artificial reef

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Good Morning! On Nov. 12, 1996 — 30 years ago — Celebration, the new town the Walt Disney Company was building in Osceola County, marked Founders Day, the date its downtown was completed. The first family had moved in on June 18 of that year.

In This Issue: The SS United States is slowly sinking off Destin to become the world’s largest artificial reef, ULA’s Vulcan is cleared for a Friday launch from the Cape with 40 Amazon Leo satellites, and a cold front brings the coolest airmass of the fall so far Friday through the weekend. Plus: Notre Dame jumps to No. 5 and Miami slips to No. 7 in the playoff rankings.

Weather: Thursday stays mostly mild and mostly cloudy, with highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s and a chance of showers or thunderstorms mainly across South Florida. A strong cold front will move through Thursday night, bringing the coolest airmass of the fall so far Friday through the weekend, with wind chills in the 30s possible in the north and in the lower to mid 40s from Greater Orlando northward, and a chance of frost in parts of North Florida and inland areas north of I-10. The St. Johns River near Cocoa remains at major flood stage and is forecast to crest around 17.2 feet this weekend; moderate flooding is occurring above Lake Harney, the St. Johns at Astor remains at minor flood, and the Peace River at Arcadia remains at minor flood, expected to fall below flood stage late Friday morning. Minor flooding is forecast Friday near DeLand and Sanford. Never drive into flooded roads. (NWS)

Tropical: The National Hurricane Center does not expect any tropical cyclones to form in the Atlantic, Caribbean or Gulf over the next seven days. Hurricane season ends Nov. 30. (National Hurricane Center)

Rip Current Report: The rip current risk is high Thursday on Bay County beaches and on Gulf County’s west-facing and state park beaches, and moderate on Volusia through Martin County beaches, with surf around 2 feet, and on Walton and Franklin County beaches and Gulf County’s south-facing beaches. The risk is low from Nassau through St. Johns, in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade, from Pensacola through Okaloosa, and along the Gulf coast from Levy County to Collier County. (NWS)

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UPDATE: SS United States Sinking Under Way Off Okaloosa After Crews Fully Flood the Hull

Okaloosa County began the controlled sinking of the SS United States on Wednesday about 25 miles southwest of Destin–Fort Walton Beach; officials said all valves had been opened and the sinking process was underway shortly before 5 p.m. Eastern, and in a 5:47 p.m. update said the ship was fully flooded, and as of 7:30 p.m. it was still in the process of sinking, with no official word yet that it had reached the bottom.

The Associated Press reported that most of the ocean liner was still above the water at dusk even after workers flooded the hull, as the process stretched through the afternoon and into the evening despite predictions it could take less than an hour once flooded; federal environmental and explosives rules barred the county from using explosives, and the $13.5 million project calls for the ship to settle in about 180 feet of water with its top deck about 60 feet below the surface.

Florida Secures More Than $2.5 Billion in FEMA Aid for More Than 500 Disaster Recovery Projects

More than $2.5 billion in long-awaited federal disaster aid is headed to Florida communities for more than 500 recovery projects statewide — including school repairs, infrastructure restoration, debris removal and emergency response costs — with some reimbursements dating back to 2017, U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody’s office announced; the office did not say whether the money includes help for this month’s flooding or give a timeline for when communities will receive it.

The Floridian, reporting the package Wednesday, noted that it comes as the Panhandle recovers from Hurricane Isaias, which hit on Oct. 9, and that the Trump administration approved a major disaster declaration on Oct. 28 for 15 counties, from Escambia to Jefferson; Moody’s office also says her TRACK Act, now law, requires FEMA to give disaster survivors an online tracker for the status of their claims.

ULA’s Vulcan Rocket Is Cleared for a Friday Launch from Cape Canaveral With 40 Amazon Leo Satellites

United Launch Alliance, Amazon, the U.S. Space Force and the Federal Aviation Administration completed the Vulcan Leo 1 launch readiness review Wednesday morning, clearing the rocket for liftoff at 12:54 p.m. Eastern on Friday from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station; the roughly 215-foot Vulcan, flying with six solid rocket boosters, will carry 40 broadband satellites for Amazon’s Leo network on the first Amazon mission under ULA’s new dedicated processing lane.

Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters give a 90% chance of acceptable weather for the window that runs to 1:23 p.m., calling for scattered high clouds, northwesterly winds of 15 to 20 knots and a temperature near 69 degrees; Amazon’s initial constellation is expected to include more than 3,000 satellites.

UF Researchers Identify a Florida ‘Dark Magic Mushroom’ That Is Both Psychedelic and Toxic

A University of Florida-led team says Galerina indica, a tiny brown mushroom collected in the Southeast, is the first mushroom known to make both deadly amatoxins and psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in “magic” mushrooms; the findings were published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology, and the team also found a previously unknown Galerina species that makes only psilocybin — with lead author Andrew Kunik warning, “Do not eat this mushroom!”

UF/IFAS says Kunik, then an undergraduate in professor Matthew E. Smith’s lab, spotted the mushroom while documenting fungi at the Ordway-Swisher Biological Station after its flesh stained blue when handled; Smith, Florida’s state mycologist, said he regularly consults with Florida Poison Control, ER doctors and veterinarians on suspected mushroom ingestions, and that the species is hard to tell apart from hundreds of other little brown mushrooms, even for trained experts.

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❖ Miami-Dade — Terra Unveils Living Bayfront Plan for the Shuttered Miami Seaquarium: Virginia Key, Miami: Terra has unveiled its master plan for Living Bayfront at the former Miami Seaquarium at 4400 Rickenbacker Causeway, calling for an 83,000-square-foot aquarium, a 118,000-square-foot marine research and education center, a public marina, waterfront dining and the restoration of two historic structures, Florida YIMBY reports. Terra, led by CEO David Martin, was selected through the former operator’s bankruptcy proceedings to redevelop the county-owned site, which opened in 1955 and closed in 2025.

❖ Tampa Bay — Tampa General and Lifepoint Plan a 40-Bed Rehab Hospital in Spring Hill: Spring Hill: Tampa General Hospital and Lifepoint Rehabilitation plan a 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital near TGH Spring Hill, expected to open in the second half of 2028 pending approvals, Tampa Bay Business & Wealth reports.

❖ Orlando — Michelin Chef Alex Atala to Curate $400M Morada Orlando on I-Drive: Orlando: Brazilian chef Alex Atala, whose D.O.M. in São Paulo has held two Michelin stars for 12 years, will curate Morada Orlando, a $400 million luxury residential and hospitality development on International Drive with 240 residences priced from $1 million and about 6,500 square feet of dining and retail, Orlando Weekly reports. MakeSpace by Glasstone Group is developing the project with Park Square Homes and Kimaya, with an opening targeted for 2030.

❖ Jacksonville — Jacksonville Zoo Reopens River Access With a New Six-Slip Dock: Jacksonville: The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens opens a new six-slip dock on the Trout River on Friday, restoring boat access for the first time since Hurricane Irma closed the old dock in 2017, Action News Jax reports. The project adds the 760-foot Largura Family Walkway to Land of the Tiger, lined with 64 native trees; docking is free, but boaters still need a zoo ticket.

❖ Broward — Viral Smash-Burger Spot Skinny Louie Sets Las Olas Opening: Fort Lauderdale: Miami smash-burger chain Skinny Louie opens its long-awaited location at 401 E. Las Olas Blvd. on Friday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m., giving 100 free cheeseburgers to the first customers, Miami New Times reports.

❖ Palm Beach — Allen Morris Co. and Savanna Plan a 315-Unit Rental Tower in West Palm Beach: West Palm Beach: Allen Morris Co. and New York-based Savanna are partnering on an Oppenheim Architecture-designed tower at 1830 North Dixie Highway with about 315 rental residences and more than 7,000 square feet of commercial space, set to break ground in the second half of 2027, Florida YIMBY reports. The site is one of four large development properties Savanna owns nearby.

❖ Gulf Coast — Waterkeeper Moves to Sue Nokomis Scrapyard Over Polluted Runoff: Nokomis: Suncoast Waterkeeper has filed notice of intent to sue All Scrap Nokomis under the Clean Water Act, saying iron in the yard’s stormwater ran more than 10 times the federal benchmark and drained toward Dona Bay and Roberts Bay, Suncoast Searchlight reports.

❖ North Florida — Transformation Church Closes Its Gulf Breeze Campus After 10 Months: Gulf Breeze: Transformation Church is closing the Gulf Breeze campus it opened Jan. 18 at 3141 Gulf Breeze Parkway and folding its roughly 200 congregants into its main campus at 6675 Pine Forest Road in Pensacola, Navarre Press reports. The site sold for $1,140,000 to Funplex Entertainment, senior pastor Brad Livingston said.

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❖ Board of Governors Will Consider a Carve-Out for Some Undocumented State-College Transfers — On Friday, the State University System Board of Governors will meet at Florida International University in Miami and consider admitting undocumented students to the state’s public universities if they were enrolled in a state college before spring 2027, two months after a September rule that would bar anyone “who is present in the United States unlawfully” from university enrollment beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year. Current Florida law already guarantees graduates of the state’s 28 public colleges admission to one of the state’s 12 public universities under the Statewide Articulation Agreement, also known as the 2+2 program.

❖ Veterans Affairs Asks Lawmakers for $16.6 Million in Nursing-Home Repairs and $6.6 Million for Staffing — The Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, led by Executive Director James “Hammer” Hartsell, is asking the Legislature for extra funding in the coming year, including nearly $16.6 million for emergency repairs and maintenance at its nine locations and $6.6 million to meet required nursing-home staffing levels. The agency runs eight nursing homes and one assisted living facility, with a current budget of nearly $241 million and roughly 1,100 beds, and said the budget request will also be used by Gov.-elect Byron Donalds when he submits his recommendations.

❖ UPDATE: Delray Beach Mayor Seeks Private Sponsors After City Drops 2027 St. Patrick’s Parade — Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney is looking for private sponsors and organizers to keep the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade going after the city said it will not host the parade or the Pride Festival in 2027 because of a new Florida law. He said potential sponsors and an event organizer have expressed interest, but no one has committed to paying for it or running it; the parade tradition dates back to 1968, and the city and its fire department began hosting the event in 2019. A private plan has yet to be confirmed for either event.

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❖ Jacksonville Council Approves Compromise Incentives for Downtown Publix High-Rise in 11-to-8 Vote — The Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday approved, in an 11-to-8 vote, a compromise incentive package for Gateway Jax’s Publix-anchored Pearl Square high-rise after questioning a $28.25 million cash completion grant following Amendment 3. The revised grant pulls $4 million from the Shipyard West Park project, $4 million from a proposed Riverfront Plaza restaurant, $7 million from a grant already approved for another Gateway Pearl Square tower, $4 million from the Downtown Investment Authority, and $9 million from the city’s general fund, payable 36 months after construction starts. A separate REV grant would refund up to $28.25 million in property taxes over 17 years. No taxpayer money goes to Publix. A Gateway subsidiary will build the $147.95 million, 15-story tower, with about 260 apartments and a roughly 31,000-square-foot Publix lease.

❖ UPDATE: Palm Beach County Approves $250,000 in Jet-Crash Business Grants, Up to $5,000 Each — Palm Beach County commissioners on Tuesday approved a $250,000 “Military Trail Business Interruption” grant program for businesses and nonprofits hurt by the jet crash along South Military Trail. Eligible applicants can receive a one-time grant of up to $5,000, first come, first served; applications open Thursday on the Department of Housing and Economic Development website. Eddie Rivera, owner of Senor Lechon, said the Puerto Rican restaurant had been closed a week and two days and cited a figure of about $70,000 to $80,000 in losses, saying other nearby businesses had also been hit. He plans to apply Thursday and use any award to help his 15 employees, and said $5,000 would only partly cover the gap. The restaurant is set to reopen Thursday.

❖ Duke Energy Proposes 4 Solar Sites, Citing $1 Billion in Customer Savings — Duke Energy Florida has proposed four new solar sites in Orange and Sumter counties that the company says could save customers an estimated $1 billion in fuel costs over the sites’ operating lifetimes, mainly by reducing the use of natural gas, oil and other fuels. The sites would add 300 megawatts, with construction expected to begin in 2027 and service tentatively scheduled by June 2028, pending Florida Public Service Commission approval. They are Nova, Bull Creek and Wewahootee in Orange County and Hogeye in Sumter County. Duke said each site can avoid about $250 million in fuel costs over roughly 30 years. The release does not say how much these four projects would save an individual customer each month.

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Georgia Takes CFP No. 1 as Notre Dame Jumps to No. 5, Miami Falls to No. 7

Georgia moved into the No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff selection committee rankings announced Tuesday, unseating Miami after the Hurricanes’ first loss of the season at Notre Dame. The Bulldogs (8-1) moved up one place. Undefeated Utah is No. 2, Alabama (7-2) moved up two spots to No. 3, and undefeated UCLA jumped four spots to No. 4. Notre Dame (8-1) leaped six spots from No. 11 to No. 5. “They looked like the Notre Dame team that should be ranked No. 5. They were up 24-3 and dominating that game,” CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek said on ESPN’s rankings release show. Texas is No. 6, and Miami (8-1) dropped six spots to No. 7, placing the top ACC team behind multiple two-loss SEC teams. Tennessee jumped five spots to No. 8, Indiana fell five spots to No. 9 despite an open date, and BYU is No. 10. If these rankings were used for the 12-team bracket, Georgia, Utah, Alabama and UCLA would receive first-round byes, and the first-round games would be Boise State at Notre Dame, Kentucky at Texas, BYU at Miami and Indiana at Tennessee. Nine SEC teams made the top 25; Florida dropped out after its loss to Oklahoma. The committee’s final rankings will be announced Dec. 6. Despite the loss, ESPN wrote that Miami should still be in good shape to make the field and will be favored in its final three games against Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College.

Frankie Muniz Released From Hospital After Daytona Practice Crash

Actor and race car driver Frankie Muniz has been released from a hospital after a practice-lap crash at Daytona International Speedway. The 40-year-old was practicing for the Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic, a benefit race set for Wednesday night on Daytona’s road course. “I am disappointed I won’t be able to take part in Ford’s Proud to Honor event tonight,” Muniz said in a statement. “I was looking forward to honoring the service of our veterans and racing against these other amazing drivers.” He said he was a “little sore,” but the Mustang he was driving did its job to protect him, and he thanked Ford Racing, Daytona International Speedway, hospital staff and people who reached out. Muniz and NASCAR driver Austin Cindric were set to represent Team Air Force in an exhibition that benefits six nonprofits that support military and veteran communities through the Proud to Honor Fund. A dozen Ford Racing drivers were split into six teams to race in Mustang Dark Horse cars. In 2024, Muniz ran 38 races each in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts and trucks series. He has participated in 117 trucks series races over the last three years, with one top-10 finish at Daytona in 2025.

Lightning Recall Sam O’Reilly, Who Could Make His NHL Debut at Buffalo

The Tampa Bay Lightning recalled 20-year-old forward Sam O’Reilly from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on Tuesday, and the club said he could make his NHL debut Wednesday when Tampa Bay visits the Buffalo Sabres. O’Reilly, a 6-foot-2, 198-pound center, scored 198 points in 177 career OHL games and won back-to-back Memorial Cup titles. Last season he became just the fourth player in OHL history to be named regular-season MVP, playoff MVP and Memorial Cup MVP in the same season. In 12 AHL games with Syracuse this season he has two goals and four points, including one game-winning goal. The Lightning acquired him from the Edmonton Oilers in a July 2025 trade; he is a former first-round pick and was one of the later cuts from Tampa Bay’s roster this preseason. Assistant coach Dan Hinote said O’Reilly “is used in a lot of good situations down in the minors” and that “this will be a great test to see where he’s at.” O’Reilly said it is “obviously a dream come true” and that his mother, Betty Rody, planned to be at KeyBank Center on Wednesday. “Whenever the moment comes, it comes, and I’ve just gotta be ready for it,” he said.

Scoreboard

Tampa Bay Lightning 8, Buffalo Sabres 3 — FINAL

Orlando Magic 123, Utah Jazz 108 — FINAL

Schedule (all times ET)

Thu Nov 12 — Memphis at USF, 8pm EST — ESPN

Thu Nov 12 — Lightning at Blue Jackets, 7pm EST — ESPN+

Thu Nov 12 — Red Wings at Panthers, 7:30pm EST — ESPN+

Fri Nov 13 — Florida State at Pittsburgh, 7pm EST — ESPN

Fri Nov 13 — North Alabama at Miami (men’s basketball), 5pm EST — ACC Network

Fri Nov 13 — Merrimack at Florida (men’s basketball), 7pm EST — SEC Network

Sat Nov 14 — Duke at Miami, 12pm EST — ABC

Sat Nov 14 — Arizona State at UCF, 3:30pm EST — ESPN2

Sat Nov 14 — Florida at Kentucky, 6:15pm EST — ESPN

Sat Nov 14 — Pistons at Heat, 8pm EST — NBA TV

Sat Nov 14 — Panthers at Blues, 7pm EST — Scripps Sports

Sat Nov 14 — Red Wings at Lightning, 7pm EST — ESPN+

Sun Nov 15 — Dolphins at Colts, 1pm EST — CBS

Sun Nov 15 — Jaguars at Titans, 1pm EST — Fox

Sun Nov 15 — Panthers at Stars, 8pm EST — NHL Net

More Scores: NFL | NBA | NHL | NCAAF

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Florida’s average for regular is $3.74 a gallon, AAA says, a four-month low, down about 3 cents from yesterday ($3.77) and about 9 cents below a week ago ($3.84). That’s about 20 cents under the national average of $3.94. West Palm Beach–Boca Raton is the most expensive metro at about $3.93; Panama City is the cheapest at about $3.44.

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❖ Pensacola’s Akira Griffin Leaves the Hospital After 184 Days on ECMO: Akira Griffin, 20, moved Wednesday from Baptist Hospital in Pensacola to inpatient rehabilitation after 184 days on ECMO advanced life support, which she needed after an illness caused lung failure; the average ECMO treatment period is about 11 days. Around 110 doctors, nurses, therapists and support staff cared for her during her seven-month hospitalization, and many of them lined the halls Wednesday to show their support. ECMO specialist Caitlin Nichols called it the hospital’s longest run, and her mother, Shamika Griffin, says the goal is to bring her home by Christmas.

❖ Frank Orilio, 104, Drums for a Veterans Day Crowd in Fort Lauderdale: World War II veteran Frank Orilio was honored Wednesday at a Veterans Day celebration at Mission Barbecue in Fort Lauderdale, where he played big band-era hits and guests sang “Happy Birthday” for his 104th birthday this week. Orilio says he has been playing drums for 95 years; he served in the infantry and the Air Corps in Germany and France, then played drums professionally at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Today he lectures at colleges and elementary schools about the war.

❖ 28 Atlantic Community High Students Train to Be Certified 911 Dispatchers: At Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach, 28 students are training to become certified 911 dispatchers, practicing on simulators with mock emergency calls. Seniors Victoria Simpson and Liliana Munoz take turns fielding calls and writing tough scenarios for each other, and teacher Michael Byrd says it is the same course an adult would take. Students test for certification at the end of the school year and, if they pass, could start working as dispatchers right away.

❖ Brevard Zoo Giraffes Get a New Menu From County Parks: A new agreement between Brevard County and the Brevard Zoo will let the zoo selectively prune and collect approved “browse” — leaves, shrubs and twigs — from county parks and Environmentally Endangered Lands to feed its giraffes and other animals. The approved list includes willow, wax myrtle, grapevine and the invasive Brazilian pepper, a preferred browse source. A zoo representative said the giraffes eat about 40 pieces of browse a day, and staff now travel off-site four to five days a week to collect it; the idea began with a request focused on Wickham Park.

❖ Baby Bear “Ding-Dong Ditches” a Naples Home at 2 a.m.: Rachel Werthem of the Riverstone at Naples community was surprised when her doorbell rang at 2 a.m. and she found a baby bear playing with it; the cub, which had wandered from its mother, licked and sniffed the doorbell. It was not her first bear sighting — three weeks earlier she saw a black bear walk across her backyard — and she said she isn’t worried. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reminds residents to cut back on outdoor garbage as hibernation season nears, since black bears search for food nearly 20 hours a day.

❖ Jacksonville YMCA’s Dawn Patrol Turns 50: Members of the First Coast YMCA gathered Wednesday at the Winston Family YMCA in Jacksonville to mark 50 years of Dawn Patrol, an early-morning fitness-and-fellowship group that is the longest continuously running workout class at any YMCA in North Florida. It began in 1976, when members started meeting at 6 a.m. to walk together before a group class; longtime members Wayne Durban, John Anderson, Tom Welchans and Bill Klima shared memories at the celebration.

Today’s Quote

“In Florida, a November Thursday starts when the kitchen window is already lit and somebody has already put the kettle on.”

— original / Front Porch

Florida Almanac

Moon: Waxing crescent, 11% lit.

Sunrise / Sunset: Orlando sunrise 6:46 a.m., sunset 5:33 p.m. EST, 10h 47m of daylight. Times are Eastern Standard (Pensacola and the western Panhandle are on Central time); times vary across the state.

Gardening Notes: Arugula is a spicy, pungent Mediterranean green for Florida’s cool season, UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says: sow seed in the fall and harvest the serrated leaves in about six weeks, when plants are 8 to 10 inches tall, cutting individual leaves as needed. High heat makes the plants flower and the leaves turn bitter, so sow a new row every two to three weeks from fall through spring for a steady harvest.

Coastal / Red Tide: FWC’s Nov. 6 report finds red tide at bloom levels in six samples from Gulf County, with lower levels elsewhere in Northwest Florida and a single background sample in Pinellas County; none on the East Coast. Next update: Nov. 13.

Florida by the Numbers

23,379,261: Florida’s population as of April 1, 2025, according to the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research. That’s up 1,841,074, or about 8.5%, from the April 1, 2020, census count of 21,538,187.