The total number of first-time claims filed in Florida since the start of the coronavirus emergency totals 1.6 million in a civilian labor force of 10.5 million, placing the state’s unemployment rate at over 15 percent.
Local Business
Facing Bankruptcy, Flagler County Chamber of Commerce Prepares to Dissolve, Ending 60-Year Run
The Flagler County Chamber of Commerce board is meeting this afternoon to dissolve the 60-year-old organization as the coronavirus crisis tipped it into bankruptcy. The move follows several years of struggles, downsizing, and layoffs as recent as early February, before the crisis struck.
Flagler Beach and County Reopen Beaches 24 Hours Sunday Morning, Maintaining Limits on Activities
Flagler County and Flagler Beach have agreed to reopen all 18 miles of beach in the county 24 hours starting Sunday at 7 a.m., while maintaining restrictions only on certain activities on the beach: “for leisure, no, for exercise, yes,” as Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney put it this afternoon.
“We’re Not Opening Up The County,” Commission Chairman Cautions as Beaches Partially Reopen
The Flagler County Commission and Flagler Beach reopened their beaches partially starting Wednesday, but officials’ cautions against a premature, broader reopening are not all on the same page.
Flagler County Will Sell Moldy Sears Building at $170,000 Loss and Indemnify Realtor in Settlement
The county will sell the building for $1 million, and will settle out of court with one of the three parties it threatened to sue–Realtor Margaret Sheehan-Jones–following the debacle of the original purchase a year ago.
Florida Task Force Looks for Answers on Reviving Economy and Making Testing More Widespread
The push to get businesses back open comes as public-health experts have warned social distancing restrictions should not be lifted until the numbers of new infections have slowed or stopped and there is widespread immunity.
5.2 Million More Initial Claims Push Unemployment Rate Past 13%, Nearing Great Depression Figures
In Florida, the last four weeks of claims totals 652,000 which, combined with 291,000 unemployed Floridians before the crisis–a five-decade low–approaches 1 million unemployed, placing the state’s current unemployment rate at around 9 percent and doubling Flagler’s unemployment rolls, past 4,000.
Luxury Pet Grooming Spa Opens in Palm Coast
Shawn Crosby is pleased to announce that he has opened Bubble Pup Grooming Spa, a luxury pet spa, in Palm Coast along with his mother and father – David Crosby and Vicky Crosby, and sister Ashton Shoemaker.
Florida Food Stamps Recipients Cleared to Order Online
Low-income people in the state’s major food-assistance program will be able to make online grocery purchases to help protect them from the spread of COVID-19.
How Do We Exit The Shutdown? Hire An Army Of Public Health Workers
The pandemic has exposed massive cracks in the foundations of the U.S. public health system. Getting the country back to normal, experts say, will require a major investment in Public Health 101: training a corps of workers who can track people with the virus and prevent them from passing it to others.