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☆ I moved to Florida for cheaper housing and lower taxes, plus I'm avoiding downsides like traffic and crowds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tony Stanol moved to Sarasota, Florida from California and prefers the East Coast oasis. They sold their 3,500-square-foot home in Calabasas for $1.2 million, according to Stanol, and have been renting a 2,400-square-foot home in Sarasota, Florida for nine years. I'm from New Jersey, worked in New York for most of my career, and raised a family in Connecticut. Once my two daughters had graduated and were out of the house, my wife and I were empty nesters in Calabasas. I've been renting in Florida for nine yearsWe sold our house in Calabasas for $1.2 million.

SARASOTA, Fla.—Christopher Rufo was set to start his first public event as a trustee at New College of Florida this week when campus administrators considered pulling the plug on the meetings with faculty and staff. Someone had sent an email threat against Jason “Eddie” Speir, another of the six trustees Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis named this month to shake up the 700-student state honors college. A staff member asked the men to leave the campus building. Mr. Rufo, a conservative activist known for his battles against critical-race theory, refused.

☆ People want to move to Florida's more affordable smaller towns, which some brokers predict will be more popular than cities like Miami this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Cities with small-town charm are seen as the places to be in Florida this year. Like many who were moving to the Sunshine State, it wasn't the big, expensive cities like Miami or Tampa that drew the Jones family. Small Southern cities within driving distance of major ones — and suburbs right outside big cities — were some of the most popular ZIP codes to move to in the past year, Opendoor data found. In short, areas like this have usurped big cities like Tampa and Miami as the places to be. But if people are moving to the area for peace and quiet, they might lose that in the future.

☆ House Speaker Kevin McCarthy finally won his battle against letting members vote remotely. It could cost him critical GOP votes when he needs it most.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Madison Hall | Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

As COVID-19 raged, the House of Representatives voted in 2020 to allow members to vote by proxy. New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has now ended it. With newfound control of the House, one of McCarthy's first moves was to eliminate proxy voting when finalizing the House rules package. Joined by 20 other GOP representatives, the lawsuit claimed the US Constitution only allowed for in-person voting and that proxy voting was unconstitutional. These trips are generally funded by the federal government, and proxy voting allowed members to vote while abroad on important business.

Big Olaf Creamery has been ordered to pay $4 million to the estate of Mary Billman, a 79-year-old Illinois woman whose death has been linked to a listeria outbreak traced to the Florida-based ice cream maker. Included in Judge William Jung’s ruling are $1 million Big Olaf will have to pay in punitive damages. Big Olaf Creamery in Siesta Key, Fla. Google Maps"Her pain and suffering and resulting death, and ultimate loss to her family and friends, cannot be understated," the suit said. A subsequent investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prompted a Dec. 9 warning letter finding Big Olaf in "serious violation" of U.S. health codes. A representative for Big Olaf could not be reached for comment.

☆ Florida man and Insider global editor-in-chief Nich Carlson wondered what the heck was going on in his home state. Sunshine State readers unloaded on him.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

They expressed polarizing opinions about the state's housing, taxes, weather, politics, and more. Rising housing costs and traffic, for instance, drew almost universal disdain, while opinions on the state's weather, politics, taxes, and overall cost of living were mixed and highly polarized. Insider's Global Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Carlson (left), who grew up in Tampa, at a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game in January 2022. The state's politics are unsurprisingly divisiveFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis at a press conference after Hurricane Ian passed through the Cape Coral area. Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesSome Floridians love the state's politics, some aren't fans, and some don't care all that much.

☆ Florida Rep. Greg Steube out of hospital after accident at home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

SARASOTA, Fla. — A U.S. congressman from Florida who was seriously injured in a tree-trimming accident in Sarasota said Saturday he has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at home. A separate tweet said then that he had spent the night in the ICU after sustaining several injuries that were serious but not life-threatening. Steube also thanked staffers at Sarasota Memorial Hospital on Saturday “for the excellent care” he received. Steube was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and just began his third term. He represents all of Sarasota and Charlotte counties and part of Lee County.

☆ Rep. Greg Steube Injured After Falling From Ladder at His Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Natalie Andrews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Florida Rep. Greg Steube, an Army veteran, has been in Congress since 2019. Florida GOP Rep. Greg Steube remained in a hospital on Thursday, after falling 25 feet from a ladder in an accident at his home the day before, his office said in a tweeted statement. Mr. Steube was knocked off the ladder while cutting tree limbs on his Sarasota property, his official Twitter account said.

☆ GOP Rep. Steube sustains 'several injuries' after accident on his property
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., sustained "several injuries" Wednesday after he was involved in an accident at his property, his office said. The severity of the injuries and how they occurred were not immediately clear. "Congressman Steube was involved in an accident on his property late this afternoon and has sustained several injuries," his office tweeted. NBC News has asked Steube's office for details. Rep. Vern Buchanan, who represents the 16th District, tweeted that it was "horrible" to hear for Steube's accident and that he wished his fellow Republican a speedy recovery.

☆ GOP Rep. Greg Steube sustains 'several serious injuries' after falling 25 feet off a ladder, his office says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Representative Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, listens during a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Rep. Greg Steube is "making progress" but remained hospitalized Thursday with "several serious injuries" he sustained after a 25-foot fall off a ladder at his Florida home, his office said. Steube's injuries "are still under assessment but not life threatening at this time," his office said. A third-term congressman from Florida's 17th Congressional District, Steube had recently been named to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. "Our family's prayers go out to Congressman Steube this morning," tweeted Joe Scarborough, a former Florida Republican congressman turned MSNBC morning host and frequent GOP critic.

☆ Pickleball popularity explodes, with more than 36 million playing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Jessica Golden | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The latest numbers unveiled in the 2023 APP Pickleball Participation report, via a study conducted by YouGov, shows that 14% of Americans played pickleball at least once in that 12-month period. The real dillAcross the country, tennis courts and being replaced, and pickleball courts are moving in as other investors are shoring up big money. Since 2022, Life Time has constructed indoor and outdoor pickleball courts at a rate of five new permanent courts each week. "Pickleball participation [at Life Time] in a given month has risen from about 16,000 people to like 160,000. Major League Pickleball and the Professional Pickleball Association took notice and they have partnered with Life Time to host multiple tournaments across the country this year.

☆ Florida GOP to hold no-confidence vote in RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The Florida GOP plans to hold a no-confidence vote in Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel next month, a crucial test of the embattled leader’s strength just days before her own re-election. He issued the petition in response to Republican Party of Florida Chairman Joe Gruters sending out a letter Tuesday endorsing McDaniel. The messy race for national chair reflects broader troubles in the Republican Party. The two candidates vying to succeed Gruters as Republican Party of Florida chair, Leon County Chair Evan Power and Sarasota County Chair Christian Ziegler, both told NBC News they support Dhillon. "This is about who is best to be RNC chair, and that's Ronna."

☆ School Boards With New Conservative Majorities Make Changes, Including Firing Superintendents
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Ben Chapman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The new school board in Sarasota, Fla., moved to fire Superintendent Brennan Asplen during its first meeting. Conservatives who won school board elections with campaigns vowing to change what students learn about race, sex and gender—or who opposed Covid protocols—have acted swiftly since November, replacing superintendents and overhauling policies at their first public meetings. Conservative activists and organizations made a concerted effort to win control of local school boards in many parts of the U.S. during the midterm elections, citing issues such as declining academic performance, increased disciplinary problems among students, masking policies and the teaching of critical race theory and other topics that provoke debate.

☆ Nearly 25% of U.S. homebuyers want to move — this state is the top destination
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Mike Winters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Nearly 25% of the property search queries on online real estate brokerage Redfin.com are for cities where the person doesn't live, according to the company's most recent data. Out of 100 metro areas examined during the three months ended in October, the following 10 cities had the highest net inflow of property searches on Redfin's website. Net inflow is the number of people looking to move into a city minus the number of people looking to leave. To measure the share of homebuyers looking to relocate from one metro to another, a person browsing Redfin for properties in another city counts as a migrant. The net inflow rankings were compiled based on the total number of migrants.

☆ 2 dead, including child, and 1 missing after plane crashes in Gulf of Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Two people are dead, including a child, and one person is missing after a plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend, police in Venice, Florida, said. The FAA said in a statement that the plane had departed the Venice Municipal Airport at around 7:30 p.m. Saturday and was believed to have had three people onboard. Search and rescue efforts on Sunday after a plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. Venice Police DepartmentHours later, at around 2 p.m. the wreckage of the missing Piper Cherokee was located around 1/3 of a mile west offshore, directly west of the Venice Municipal Airport, police said. Police did not share the identity of the missing person, or of the female and child found dead.

☆ Florida is running out of homes people can actually afford
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She worries she won't be able to find an affordable home in Florida if hers can't be repaired. But with housing inventory levels falling in Florida and demand rising, she is having a difficult time finding a permanent home she can afford. Conditions continue to worsen as natural disasters destroy its limited supply of existing inventory and builders slow down their production of affordable housing. That will make it harder for residents like Ulrich, who plans to remain in Florida, to find safe and affordable housing. Ray says the pullback in affordable inventory has exacerbated the crisis, especially as transplants move into the market.

☆ Gabby Petito’s family awarded $3M in wrongful death lawsuit against Brian Laundrie's parents
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Juliette Arcodia | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A Florida judge awarded Gabby Petito’s family $3 million after they filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the parents of Brian Laundrie, who they believe killed the 22-year-old last year. "The Petito family lost their daughter, and they were also denied the opportunity to confront her killer. No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie," said Patrick Reilly, an attorney for Petito's family. Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie. Petito's family also filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Moab police, saying the department’s alleged negligence and failure to issue a domestic violence citation led to her death.

[1/2] A sign is seen during Gabby Petito's memorial service in Holbrook, New York, U.S., September 26, 2021. "The Petito family lost their daughter, and they were also denied the opportunity to confront her killer," Patrick Reilly, a lawyer for Petito's parents, said in a statement. "No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie." Any money recovered will go to the Gabby Petito Foundation, a nonprofit formed after her death that helps organizations that support locating missing persons and aids victims of domestic violence, Reilly said. A separate lawsuit that Petito's parents filed against Laundrie's parents, alleging their son told them of Petito's slaying before her body was discovered, remains pending.

☆ Michael Flynn ordered to testify in Trump election interference probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury, has said that the special grand jury’s investigation is a criminal proceeding. Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as an aide to Meadows, is expected to appear before the special grand jury Wednesday. Wood told The Associated Press that he testified before the special grand jury last week. The special grand jury operates in secret with witness testimony closed to the public. Special grand juries in Georgia are generally used to investigate complex cases with many witnesses.

☆ Home prices were rising almost everywhere in the US this summer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

In case you needed more evidence of how much home prices have skyrocketed: Even as the housing market was cooling over the summer, prices still rose in 98% of US markets, according to a new report. From July through September, home prices increased in 181 out of 185 cities tracked by the National Association of Realtors. But the gains had slowed substantially as mortgage rates rose during that time. “Much lower buying capacity has slowed home price growth and the trend will continue until mortgage rates stop rising,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. Yun said that because of strong price growth and rising mortgage rates, the median income needed to buy a typical home rose to $88,300 in the third quarter.

☆ Hurricane warning is issued for parts of Florida's east coast as Tropical Storm Nicole expected to strengthen
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Mirna Alsharif | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kathryn-Prociv.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Nicole on Tuesday was upgraded to a tropical storm and is expected to strengthen, prompting a hurricane warning for parts of east central Florida and the southeast coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane conditions including strong winds, rainfall and storm surge are expected in the northwestern Bahamas and along Florida's east coast on Wednesday, with tropical storm conditions possible in Georgia along the east coast as well. "Dangerous storm surge" anywhere from 3 to 5 feet is also expected along Florida and Georgia's east coast from North Palm Beach to the Altamaha Sound including. The northwest Bahamas can also expect storm surge of 4 to 6 feet above normal tide along the coast. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Monday for 34 counties in the path of the storm, including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Orange and Sarasota counties.

☆ Nearly 25% of homebuyers want to escape big cities like Los Angeles and New York — here are the top 10 destinations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Mike Winters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

With mortgage costs rising, more homebuyers from large urban areas like New York City and San Francisco are seeking to relocate to relatively affordable cities like Phoenix, Miami or Las Vegas, a new analysis finds. Out of 100 metro areas examined during the third quarter, the following 10 cities had the highest net inflow of property searches on Redfin's website. Net inflow is measured as the number of people looking to move into a metro minus the number of people looking to leave. Tellingly, the highest number of searches for properties in these cities are from people in urban areas that have a relatively high cost of living, like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, the study says. Many people are looking to leave Los Angeles for places in the Southwest, like Las Vegas or Phoenix.

☆ Retirees hit hard by inflation say they have cut down on meals, entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Gabe Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNNSeniors on a fixed income have been hit particularly hard by inflation, with September prices up 8.2% from a year ago. The price hikes are even steeper in areas like Tampa, Florida, where the housing market has exploded. It’s hard,” Johnson said. The family would like to buy a home, but the draining price hikes and red-hot housing market are making that more difficult. As she weathers price hikes on food, gas, and personal items, she’s stopped buying puzzles, her favorite hobby.

☆ Real-estate investors rush to score deep discounts on Florida properties hammered by Hurricane Ian: 'If they were asking $1 million before the storm, I'll offer $750,000'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Real-estate investors are trying to take advantage of the down market by buying properties for less. They seem undeterred by high insurance costs, possibly falling home values, and ever-worse storms. The real-estate market in Florida just doesn't stop. "If they were asking $1 million before the storm, I'll offer $750,000," Lema told The Wall Street Journal. Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty ImagesStill, it seems many buyers are undeterred by or unaware of insurance costs, future home-value depreciation, and the risk of ever-stronger hurricanes and rising sea levels.

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