Progress Village’s solar progress

Progress Village, in Eastern Hillsborough County, is claiming the title of the first Black community in Florida to adopt a solar microgrid. A coalition of community leaders met yesterday at Simmon’s-Bowers Park to unveil the first phase of their program that aims to lessen the energy burden for frontline communities.

Municipal election timing

The Tampa city council is scheduled to discuss a plan today aimed at changing its municipal elections. The City spends about $700,000 to run them, but voter turnout remains poor. The most recent municipal election saw just a 13% turnout.

USF dementia research

Researchers at the University of South Florida have received a grant for clinical research into dementia prevention from the National Institutes of Health.

Bears in North Florida

A North Florida lawmaker is calling for a bear hunt. During a Franklin County legislative delegation meeting in Apalachicola, Port St. Joe Republican Rep. Jason Shoaf said that the bear problem in North Florida “is out of control”.

Citizens requests rate increase

Florida’s “insurer of last resort” is seeking a double-digit rate hike for Florida policyholders. Customers of Citizens Property Insurance would see their rates increase by 11.5% if approved by regulators.

Information from the Florida Public Media, News Service of Florida, and Associated Press was used in this report.

The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNF

The Scoop producer Corey Beltran
WMNF anchors Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton, Seán Kinane
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