HISTORIC HOME DEMOLITION Plans are underway to demolish The Gladstone, a historic house located next to the Governor’s Mansion. The home, built in 1897, is located on Monroe Street in Tallahassee and is the last remaining Victorian on the street. The state purchased the property in June. During his tenure, Governor Rick Scott investigated purchasing the property to create a park.
JOB GROWTH GRANT FUND St. Petersburg College received $7.2 million through the Job Growth Grant Fund and the Workforce Development Capitalization Grant Program to establish the Semiconductor, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning Training for Technicians 4.0 lab. And, Miami-Dade County received $8 million through the Fund to support roadway infrastructure at Miami Freedom Park, which will create 1,800 jobs.
TOURISM Florida welcomed 34.2 million visitors during the second quarter of 2024 — another record! Of these visitors, 31.5 million are from the United States and 2 million are from overseas.
FLORIDA’S POPULATION Florida’s population passed 23 million this year. As of April, the state had 23,002,597 residents, up 359,000 residents from 2023. Almost ten percent of Florida’s population is over age 75, second only to Puerto Rico. Florida remains the third most populous state behind California (39.5 million) and Texas (30.5 million).
CHUY’S Orlando-based Darden Restaurant Groups acquired Tex-Mex chain Chuy’s on July 17th for approximately $605 million. Darden also owns the popular restaurants LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and more.
TEACHER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS Five finalists for the Florida Teacher of the Year awards each received $20,000 bonuses. The finalists were Samantha Nelson, Leon County; Jennifer Brown, Marion County; Jaime Suarez, Hernando County; Dr. Clayton Nylund, Hillsborough County; and Heather Stewart, Walton County. Jaime Suarez, a math teacher for grades 6th–8th, was named teacher of the year and received a $50,000 award.