High gas prices and affordability
(00:00) Gas prices across the U.S. have risen by more than a dollar per gallon, on average, since the start of the war in Iran.
But it's not just the steep prices at pumps that has been fueling the higher cost of living in Florida.
Florida TaxWatch, a non-partisan research group, found that Florida's inflation rate was below 2% a year during the 2010s and surged to nearly 6% per year in the 2020s.
Guest:
- Gabriella Paul, reporter at WUSF.
Property tax ballot push
(20:50) The effort to cut or eliminate property taxes in Florida has been a top priority for Governor Ron DeSantis but so far there is no official plan.
The governor has teased a special session to get enough lawmakers on the same page to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot for voters to decide the fate of local property taxes.
Now, a member of the Florida House is planning to launch a campaign to collect enough signatures on a petition that would get rid of all property taxes on all properties in Florida.
If that effort collects enough signatures, it could be on the ballot in 2028.
Guests:
- Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, member of the Florida House of Representatives (R-District 24).
- Samantha Putterman, Florida government reporter at PolitiFact.
Environmental news
(37:26) This week, a federal appeals court heard arguments over whether the immigration detention facility Alligator Alcatraz should be shut down as the lawsuit continues.
Conservation groups this week sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect endangered Florida panthers from a new development within the panthers' occupied breeding habitat in Collier County. Three panthers have been killed so far this year in the county.
But there's good news for wildlife on the other side of the peninsula. A teenage manatee named Melby is back in the wild after he was released this week in Melbourne. He was rescued from a storm drain two months ago.
A Kemp's ridley turtle named Amelie has been released into the wild after receiving care at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach. The center collaborated with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute to track Amelie's recovery and return.
There's an effort to help Florida's struggling coral reefs by introducing them to Caribbean king crabs.
Florida's orange growers got some good news this week. The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave a slight increase in its forecast for the current growing season for oranges, grapefruit, lemons and other specialty fruits.
As the 2026 Hurricane Season approaches, we are beginning to get some predictions. Forecasters at Colorado State University are expecting 13 named storms to form, with six becoming hurricanes and two reaching major hurricane status.
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