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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Citrus forecast generally holds steady, USDA says

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by
oranges

The bad news in citrus: “Grapefruit production declined.” The good news: “Florida orange production remained steady.” That’s the upshot of the latest forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, according to the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC). “The April report projects the state’s orange crop to stay at 67 million boxes for the 2016-17 season,” a Tuesday news release said. “The grapefruit crop was reduced by 800,000 boxes to 8.1 million.” The industry has been savaged by…

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Donald Trump takes aim at Dodd-Frank financial overhaul

in 2017/Top Headlines by

The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): 1:28 p.m. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will direct the Treasury secretary to review the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. It’s Trump’s first step at scaling back regulations on financial services. Trump has called the law a “disaster” and said it failed to address some of the causes of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The president has also signed a presidential memorandum related to retirement planning. The administration’s move…

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Outcry grows over delay in warning about Mosaic sinkhole, contamination

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Neighbors of a huge sinkhole sending cascades of contaminated water and fertilizer plant waste into Florida’s main drinking-water aquifer are fearful and fuming that it took weeks for them to be notified about the disaster. Many are still waiting anxiously for results from tests for radiation and toxic chemicals in their well water. Meanwhile, the Mosaic Co. – one of the world’s largest producers of phosphate and potash for fertilizer – acknowledged Wednesday that the contamination had spread to groundwater…

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Mosaic’s Walt Precourt: Our community, our responsibility

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Earlier this week, I addressed the Polk County Board of County Commissioners on the recent sinkhole and water loss incident at our New Wales production facility, and believe the updates and sentiments that I shared are pertinent to the entire west-central Florida community. The most important thing for the community to know is that on behalf of Mosaic, I would like to express our sincere regret that the sinkhole and associated loss of water on our property have caused concerns…

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Florida uses EPA water system grants to gird infrastructure

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

With a burgeoning population and aging water systems, Florida will need $16.5 billion in funding over the next 20 years just to maintain its existing drinking water infrastructure, according to estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In most places across the country, the promise of clean, cheap, readily available water has been taken for granted, but that has begun to change. Farm runoff has polluted municipal water sources, and the aging underground networks of pipes that carry water to…

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Today on Context Florida: Healthcare budgets, guns, testing and agricultural workers

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by

Today on Context Florida: Maybe it is fondness for suspense that Gov. Scott and GOP House members have strung Floridians along about the future of Florida’s healthcare system, says Daniel Tilson. Only one third of the way through the legislative session, and the Senate and House have drawn up radically conflicting budgets based on healthcare appropriations or lack thereof, while the lives of 800,000 uninsured Floridians hang in the balance. Guns on campus are on the Florida legislative fast track, notes…

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John Wood says ‘God gave us CO2’ to Dems questioning his bill

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State Rep. John Wood told House subcommittee members on Thursday that he doesn’t consider carbon dioxide to be a pollutant and if they think it is, “then everybody zip up their mouths and don’t exhale the rest of the meeting.” Wood, a Republican from Winter Haven, was answering questions on his bill that would require legislative ratification of a possible future plan by the state to reduce carbon emission from power plants in response to proposed federal rules. State Rep. Dwight Dudley of St.…

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