NORTH FLORIDA TORNADOES Three tornadoes converged over Tallahassee and Leon County in the early morning of Friday, May 3rd as people headed to work and school. Two people died as a result, and roughly 100,000 residents lost power (including JEJ & Associates staff). Recovery has been steady following the storms. Leon County offered the Targeted Emergency Assistance Microgrant (TEAM) program to impacted residents and distributed funds from the county’s catastrophe fund. Florida Commerce activated the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program to assist small businesses impacted by the tornadoes. Farm Share and Second Harvest of the Big Bend have been distributing food to residents
STARLINER LAUNCH The manned Boeing Starliner capsule and United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket successfully reached orbit on June 5th. It was originally scheduled to launch on June 1st but was scrubbed with less than four minutes to go. That was the third scrub for the manned project. This is a test launch to the international space station, which will allow Boeing and ULA to compete with SpaceX.
SPACE FORCE HQ Patrick Space Force Base, located on Cape Canaveral, will serve as the permanent headquarters for the U.S. Space Force Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM). After moving to the Cape last year, the Space Force was required to conduct an environmental review to determine if the site was adequate. With the review complete, and no identifiable problems, STARCOM officially has a home.
TOURISM According to VISIT FLORIDA, over 140.6 million visitors came to Florida in 2023, up 2.3 percent from 2022. Domestic visitors accounted for 129.1 million of those, with 3.2 million Canadians and 8.3 million overseas visitors.
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES Current U.S. President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump will be debating on June 27th on CNN. A second debate, hosted by ABC, is scheduled for September 10th.