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Corporate logos could soon start appearing at a state trail near you. Seven trails from one end of the state will be allowed to accept sponsorships under legislation signed by Governor Rick Scott. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the idea is sure to spark debate by trail users.

Thousands of people bike, skate or walk state trails everyday. So when we told this couple that corporate logos could soon be coming to their trail, we sparked a debate.

“If the last desperate attempt to keep them would be to put up signage, then I could live with a little bit of advertisement,” social worker Anthony McDonald said. “If the money is going back in there.”

“Yeah, but you start with a couple of signs and you end up with New York,” Catia Carvallo, a conference center director, said.

Seven trails, from Pensacola to Key West could soon be sporting corporate logos under legislation that took effect July first.

The law limits the signage to 16 square feet. That’s four feet by four feet, which is just a little bit bigger than this sign here.

Jim Wood with the Office of Greenways and Trails says how much the signage will bring in is still anybody’s guess.

“As we’ve tried to figure out what revenue this is going to generate, we’ve tried to look at other examples, and really, there’s nothing at a state level that we’re aware of in any other state in the U.S,” Wood said.

The money will be small in comparison to the parks overall budget.

“This is something that would possibly give us the ability to have a little more maintenance,” Wood said.

And if the idea proves successful, look for state lawmakers to expand the idea in the future…which will be guaranteed to spark more debates like this one.

“There’s a limit of what we would allow in there,” McDonald said.

“There’s never a limit,” Carvallo said. “Once you allow something, it’s like an open market there.”

In the meantime, the state is seeking sponsors compatible with the mission of the parks and trails.

Six of the seven trails selected for the pilot are in either North or Central Florida. the largest pilot will he the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage trail, spanning almost a hundred miles through the Florida Keys.

State officials say state law forbids them from talking about Sanford Shooter George Zimmerman’s concealed weapons permit. Information about concealed weapons was taken out of the public domain in 2006, so we don’t know who has a concealed weapon, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, we do know a lot of people are carrying weapons in Florida.

One in every 20 Floridians has a valid concealed weapons permit. Sanford shooter George Zimmerman still has his. State law is very specific about when the permits can be suspended or revoked.

“If you’re charged with a felony crime, and the department is notified, we can certainly move to have the license suspended,” Sterling Ivey with the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Once a conviction takes place, we can revoke that individual’s license.”

This past year, state lawmakers lowered the cost of a concealed permit by fifteen dollars. They now cost 70 dollars. Applicants must also pass a gun safety course. The Brady Project to prevent gun violence says concealed carry permits are too easy to get in Florida.

“You know, this man George Zimmerman, is a living example of that,” Brady Project President Dan Gross said. “This is a guy who had an arrest record, this is a guy who had a violent past. This is a guy who in numerous other states would never be offered a permit to carry a loaded, hidden, handgun.”

The NRA declined to appear on camera for this story. But they argue that statistics show only law abiding citizens get and keep a permit. State figures show 98 percent of all applicants receive a carry permit.

Since 1987, more than 2 million concealed weapons permits have been issued in Florida, and of those permits just three of every thousand have been revoked.

The Brady project counters that just one concealed permit in the wrong hands is an injustice.

In addition to lowering the license fee, lawmakers also reduced the renewal fee by ten dollars. Concealed weapons permits now cost about eight and a half dollars a year.

If lawmakers don’t act by Friday, Florida’s unemployment tax will more than double. The tax is going from 71 dollars an employee to more than 170. As Whitney Ray tells us, efforts are underway to reduce the increase, but lawmakers will have to act fast or they’ll run out of time.

Good food and great services are the ingredients for success for Brian Rowe and his BBQ business. Piggy’s BBQ employees 35 workers. The restaurant has added catering and a food truck, but the rising price of food and fuel presents a huge challenge.

“It hurts our bottom-line. I’m not going to do a price increase to our customers,” said Rowe.

It could get worse. Piggy’s is about to be hit with a 35-hundred dollar increase in state unemployment taxes. The tax is skyrocketing from 71 dollars to more than 170 per employee.

“It’s kind of a double whammy there. When you have all these increases that are affecting us, ultimately you will have to increase the prices or drop your staff and have fewer staff,” said Rowe.

And if lawmakers don’t act by Friday there will be an 817 million dollar increase to all business owners statewide. Legislation to cut the increase in half is being heard late in session. State Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff says the bill will make it across the finish line.

“I don not anticipate Sine Dieing before this thing passes. This is a priority of the governor and we have been working diligently to get it through,” said Bogdanoff.

The increase is needed to pay back the federal government. In 2009, the state ran out of cash to pay unemployment claims. Florida borrowed 2.6 billion dollars from Uncle Sam to keep the money flowing and now the bill has come due with interest.

Critics of the bill say delaying the increase will only prolong payment to the federal government, and since they are charging interest, in the long run businesses will end up paying more.

Florida may soon tell local governments that they can no longer place restrictions on beekeepers. Local ordinances have cropped up as the number of beekeepers has tripled, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, industry experts say local ordinances are actually putting local residents at risk of dangerous bee stings.

A growing number of urban beekeepers has resulted in bans or restrictions in at least nine Florida counties. The bans come as the number of beekeepers has tripled in Florida.

�This bill is intended to prevent over-regulation,� Sen. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) said.

Now state lawmakers are being told the bans are doing more harm than good.

�If you start banning bees in these urban, residential areas what�s going to happen is you�re creating an environmental void,� Nancy Gentry with the Florida Beekeepers Association said.

Testimony before a Legislative committee was blunt: local ordinances are based on bad information.

�I had a number of complaints about bees in areas and upon investigation, usually found it had nothing to do with bees but had something to do with neighbors not wanting to be neighbors,� Leonard Cutts, former state bee regulator, said.

These are docile European honey bees. Without them, the door gets opened to more aggressive, dangerous African killer bees to move in.

Bee Keepers like Tom Nolan say the African bees will be a much bigger nuisance without the kinder, gentler European bee to keep them from spreading.

�If we don�t have European bees in our areas to provide competition for food sources, for forage, we leave the Africans unchecked,� Nolan said.

Nearly 3 thousand bee keepers are licensed in Florida. The Florida League of Cities opposes the abolition of local ordinances, but bills in the House and Senate are poised to pass this year.

The state got a short break from massive wildfires, but they�re back.

In June more than 400 wildfires were raging at once. Two wet months helped firefighters extinguish many of the blazes, but the rain wasn�t enough to pull many parts of the state out of the drought. Over the weekend several fires sparked up in the panhandle. There were 55 statewide Tuesday. Florida Forest Service Director Jim Karels says there are more fires than usual this month and the state is about to enter a dry season.

�If we don�t get essentially a named storm, if we don�t get a tropical event, we are going to go into our dry season, which is not far away very dry already so it will compound what we see the next coming year,� said Karels.

A storm of tropical proportions that brings water but not destruction is what firefighters are hoping for. In the mean time, they�re asking people to be careful when cooking outdoors, building campfires or burning trash.

There have been 21 victims of mosquito-borne illnesses reported to the Florida Department of Health this summer. One woman bitten earlier this month contracted West Nile Virus and died. As Whitney Ray tells us, the Department of Health is asking Floridians to take some precautions when heading outdoors.

Chris Mentzel spent Monday playing disc golf. This course will take Chris up hills and down deep into the woods.

�We notice some mosquitoes occasionally. You just swat at them and keep going,� said Mentzel.

Chris brought a cart full of discs, but no bug spray� He�s rethinking his decision.

There have been 21 cases of mosquito-borne illnesses in Florida this summer. Last Wednesday a 64 year old Jacksonville woman died after being bitten by a mosquito with the West Nile Virus.

Doctors with the Florida Department of Health say people who plan on being outdoors need to cover their arms and legs and put bug spray on the parts that aren�t covered. To keep mosquitoes out of your yard remove all standing water� and inside.

�Cover doors and windows with screens so that the mosquitoes don�t get into your home and bite you inside your home,� said Dr. Carina Blackmore.

Judy Ray brought her grandsons to the park Monday, but before they could play she sprayed them down with mosquito repellent.

�I have grandchildren and I want to protect them so the sunscreen, bug spray, it�s all important. It�s all their health,� said Judy.

All the West Nile cases in humans are out of Duval County. Other illnesses like Dengue Fever were found in South Florida. One in every 150 people who contract West Nile develops a severe illness. Fever, headache, stiff neck, muscle weakness and loss of vision are just a few symptoms of the virus.

One month ago more than 400 wildfires were burning up Florida.

Today 32 are still active. Firefighters are applauding nearly a month of rain for helping extinguish the fires. They�re also thanking the hundreds of out-of-state firefighters who flew to Florida to help fight the flames. Jim Karels, the Director of the Florida Forestry Service says conditions are almost to a point were Florida firefighters can begin returning the favor.

�New Mexico, Arizona, slowed down a little bit. Nevada is starting to pick up and if they pick up, we are ready to help them. They helped us. We are ready to help them,� said Karels.

32 is still a lot of fires for Florida this time of the year. Plus Florida is still in a drought, but Karels says if the current rain pattern continues and people continue to be careful, the worst may be behind us.

This morning there were 96 wildfires burning in Florida, That�s down from more than 430 active fires just two weeks ago, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the danger isn�t over.

Parts of Florida got about an inch of rain over the holiday weekend. And recent rains have dampened wildfire, but 96 fires were still burning on Tuesday morning, down from more than 400 two weeks ago when a North Florida fire claimed two firefighters� lives. Because of the rain, the states drought index has been steadily declining.

�What you see on the map, you see Pensacola to Tallahassee and parts of North Florida into Jacksonville, they are still very dry on the drought index map,� said Jim Karels, Director of the Florida Forestry Service.

20 counties continue to enforce burn bans, and no campfires are being allowed in state parks.

But Florida is not out of the woods yet. Much of the state is suffering through a rain deficit of more than a foot. Firefighters say a tropical system is the only thing that will end the deficit and reduce the risk of more fire, and without significant rain, firefighters worry about a resurgence.

�It really only takes four or five days with these kinds of conditions and real hot, dry weather, and we are right back into some pretty severe fire conditions. We haven�t gotten out of it, we�ve gotten slightly better,� said Karels.

Wildfires have claimed more than 30 homes this year, as well as more than a hundred out buildings.

Florida firefighters are receiving a helping hand from Mother Nature. Weekend showers over much of the state helped extinguish about a hundred wildfires. More rain is expected through the fourth of July, but as Whitney Ray tells us, even if it rains all week, the drought is so severe it will barely put a dent in the fire danger.

At the height of Florida�s wildfire crisis last week more than 4-hundred fires burned throughout the state. A wet weekend helped firefighters extinguish about a hundred of those fires and more rain is in the forecast.

State Meteorologist Amy Godsey says Florida is in for at least five rainy days.

�A little bit higher further South, around toward southern and central Florida areas, but even in northern Florida above normal rain chances continuing through much of the week,� said Godsey.

Most of the state will get about an inch and a half of rain. This is a six inch rain gage. Meteorologists say this will have to be filled twice before the drought condition subsides and the fire danger ends.

Florida Forestry Service Director Jim Karels buried two brave firefighters this weekend. The men died fighting a North Florida blaze. Karels says the week of rain is a good sign.

�The summer pattern are starting to kick in possibly, that�s what we need, we need that thunderstorm and they slowly feel in to where it gets better to where we can control it on a day to day basis,� said Karels.

Despite the weekend of rain 32 counties remain under a burn ban and fireworks are on the outs in most of the state. Whether skies light up with fireworks this coming weekend will depend on how much of a soaking the state receives between now and then.

We said it in the past, but this week�s forecast really sheds light on just how much rain the state needs to come out of the drought. Firefighters say it�s going to take a tropical depression, which hovers over the state for a few days. They�re hoping for a storm without strong winds.