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Just under 900 people in the state have tested positive for the Zika virus, and as Matt Galka tells us, while the virus continues to take it’s toll on people, Florida’s biggest industry is starting to get bit.

Florida’s $90 billion dollar cash cow, the tourism industry, is feeling the sting of Zika.

$24 billion dollars alone comes from Miami-Dade – where local transmission of Zika started in the state.  And worried people are cancelling their travel plans.

Hotel rooms sold in the Miami beach area are down more than 2 percent compared to the same time last year. Visit Florida isn’t taking the threat lightly

“Having Zika in Miami doesn’t help, and it’s certainly a cause for concern, it’s an issue that is very well known among travelers around the country and around the world,” said CEO Will Seccombe.

But the state’s tourism agency says they can get through it.

“It’s a blip, it’s important that we not hide from that, and make sure that we continue to let people know that this is a challenge, and continue to support our government, local officials, doing everything they can to get the word out,” said Seccombe.

A zika zone in the Wynwood area was cleared this week. The Governor hopes a night out next week shows people it’s safe to go.

But even with everything South Florida has to offer – Zika fears might deter the itch to head south for worried people around the country.

The Governor added another $25 million dollars of state funds to aid in the fight against the virus this week. The state’s Department of Health is set to grant the money to researchers and developers working on a vaccine.

The Supreme Court of Florida could rule as early as tomorrow on the fate of nearly 400 death row inmates after the highest court in the nation ruled last January that the way death sentences are handed out is unconstitutional. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the court has two questions to answer.

The US Supreme Court ruled that the way Florida imposes death sentences was unconstitutional because the jury didn’t have the final say.

The first question facing Florida Courts? What to do with the 388 people on death row. In June, Jacksonville lawyer Richard Kuritz, representing one inmate, argued they should all automatically be re-sentenced to life in prison.

“Absolutely, because when we start drawing a line, that’s where the problem is going to be is because the statute has been declared unconstitutional.  The sentencing scheme. well, it’s the same scheme we’ve been using  since the reinstatement of the death penalty case” says Kuritz.

The Second question facing the court is whether the state’s new death sentencing law, which lawmakers passed this spring, goes far enough because it only requires ten of the twelve jurors to agree on death. Former Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero was in the court this week lecturing on the death penalty. A decade ago he wrote that that Florida must adopt a unanimous jury if it wanted to continue to impose death.

“But the legislature refused to do it and I think the law has evolved since than, and I think the time has come. “I don’t think 10-2 repairs the deficiencies in the statute” Cantero told us.

And, no matter what this court decides, it’s  likely to face multiple appeals that could take a long time.

Without the 10-2 compromise, lawmakers say there would be no death penalty at all. But in the end, not requiring a unanimous jury may have the same result.

In 1972 when the US Supreme Court temporarily ended the death penalty, inmates on Death Row in Florida saw their sentences commuted to live in prison.

Getting help for counterterrorism efforts in the state is at the top of wish list for the state’s law enforcement agency. Matt Galka tells us more about the request.

After a summer that saw the Florida Department of Law Enforcement respond to the Pulse nightclub massacre, the department’s commissioner is making stopping future terrorist attacks a top priority.

“I was in Orlando after the Pulse shooting, the morning after the shooting and I was there for that entire week. I went to many funerals with the Governor. I went to the morgue. We can never let that happen again in Florida,” said FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen.

He requested an additional $6.2 million dollars from the General Revenue fund in next year’s budget.  He also cited the recent bombings in the New York City area over the weekend to stress the need.

“We’re seeking funding for 46 new counterteorrism positions which will help us establish a counterterrorism squad in each of our regions,” he said.

And both the commissioner and the Governor stressed the need for the community’s help.

“We all have to start watching out. Anything that looks unusual we need to report it to law enforcement, that’s their job,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida).

But FDLE will have to battle what other state agencies are also battling, a projected tight budget year.

“We all have to understand that we live in a time that people want to do harm to our country, and we’re going to have to spend more money to fight terrorism,” said Gov. Scott.

FDLE will also push for new legislation that criminalizes more terroristic activities. Swearingen said it would give the state some of the same authority that federal agencies have.

Part of the request includes raising the base salary for FDLE agents from $46,000 dollars a year to $56,000 dollars.

Thousands of people are still wrestling with insurance companies more than two weeks after hurricane Hermine. As Matt Galka tell us, at least one unique case has put a homeowner in a bind, and state officials may step in.

If a tree falls in a storm but doesn’t hit a house, who claims it?

That’s the question facing Joe Greiner. A tree from his neighbor’s yard fell during Hurricane Hermine more than two weeks ago.  It broke a fence and it’s now hovering over his home.

“And it’s kind of a weird situation as far as the insurance goes,” he said.

The neighbor’s insurance company told him to call his own provider.  His insurance company sent out a claims adjuster, but they’re not accounting for the tree.  Paying out of pocket won’t be cheap.

“I got a couple estimates, it’ll be in the neighborhood of four thousand,” he said. “If another hurricane came through it would be really bad news, I suppose.”

And state officials could ultimately have a role in settling this. The Department of Financial Services handles consumer insurance complaints. They’ve received six so far.

“We will contact the insurance company, see if we can step in to resolve the issue,” said Danishia Sword with the Division of Consumer Services.

Greiner says it’s a possibility for him.

“In a perfect world, my insurance company pays for the whole thing, but that’s not going to happen,” he laughed.

For now, Greiner just hast to wait as the problem continues to hang over his head.

The state’s Office of Insurance Regulation says there are still just under 9500 open insurance claims due to Hermine damage.

For ions oysters have been harvested by digging them out at low tide or by tonging, using a long post hole type tool to lift the bivalves from the water, but now as the lack of fresh water supplies has devastated Florida’s oyster production, Mike Vasilinda tells us many believe the future is in oyster ranching.

What you are looking at may soon be the largest oyster ranch in Florida. 38 leases, totaling more than 50 acres devoted to growing oysters in cages.

“At high tide, all this is underwater” says Rob Olin. Olin has several of the leases and has organized  a co-op to manage the oysters from spat to the table.

“We’re going to be employing four to six hundred people with on the water jobs. this is what this county was built on and its been lost due to us, quite frankly, people” says Olin.

When at full production, the oyster ranchers will be producing tens of millions of oysters a year, all on submerged land leased from the state.

“We have to keep constantly separating them so we get oysters with like sized oysters.”

Attorney Fred Harris is one of the brains behind the co-op.

“We helped put this together so the co-op would be the marketing arm, and the branding arm, and the distribution arm” says Harris.

And the first harvest here begins October first.

And while it could take a few years to come to fruition, Rob Olin says oyster farming could be the futures answer to hunger.

“You get thirty times more protein off an acre of water  than you da an acre of land. We have more ranch able water in our state that any other state in the union.”

Shakespeare may have penned the line the world is our oyster, but this bay could soon  be the center of the oyster universe.

The co op will pasteurize the oysters before fast freezing them when shipping to out of state or country markets,  eliminating a rare but deadly disease know as vibe vulnificus, The oyster farming is a product of a new environmental education program at Tallahassee Community College.

Let’s break out the crystal ball and take a look at what Florida will look like in 50 years. As Matt Galka tells us, one organization is trying to forecast what the state will look like in 2070, and what we should start doing to prepare.

Florida is home to nearly 20 million people now.  And by the year 2070, we are expected to have around 34 million residents.  It could be a problem.

Vivian Young works with 1000 Friends of Florida. The Group released a forecast entitled Florida 2070 which shows a state that adds 15 million people in the next 50 or so years. And with more people comes more development, but that could hurt the environment.

“If we continue existing development patters, more than 1/3 of the state will be developed by 2070,” she said.

So what part of the state can expect the most change? The area between Tampa and Daytona. The forecast predicts nearly half of that land will see new development.

Developer and realtor Josh Kasper says a growing population is always good for business.

“I think that the law of supply and demand will create more opportunity for developers, contractors, and everyone associated with building,” he said.

But the state needs to be careful and not get overrun.

“Smart development would be taking into account some of the developments that need revitalization and the infrastructure improvements that are aging and getting older and the market could use an update,” said Kasper.

One of the suggestions from the report – building up, and more compactly, and focusing on conservation lands.

1000 Friends of Florida worked with the University of Florida and the state’s Department of Agriculture on the study.

A rare outbreak of the hand, foot, and mouth virus has infected nearly two dozen students at Florida State University this week. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the outbreak which is usually reserved for day care centers, is thought to be hurricane related.

Students first started showing up with the unusual disease at the FSU wellness center on Monday. FSU Health Services Director Lesley Sacher said her staff knew the symptoms were unusual right away.

“Blisters on hands and some students who had blisters on their feet. We normally see this in day care centers” says the veteran health care administrator.

After Tuesday brought new cases, the University cancelled Fraternity and Sorority Rush events scheduled that night. Justin Butler is a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

“I don’t know if they expected it to be gone overnight. Activities resumed last night and Rush is back and better than ever, I guess.”

The vast majority of students, we talked to, including Ayesha Wilkinson,   were aware of the virus and what to do.

“It’s kinda contagious, really contagious. that’s all I know.”

Q: And they told you to wash your hands? What have thy told you?

“Sanitizer”.

“Once it’s sprayed you can wipe it” demonstrated Marcus Anderson at the heath center.

The best advice is to clean, clean, clean with a bleach solution diluted nine to one with water.

There were no new cases Wednesday, but Thursday did bring another case.

“It’s nothing that is life threatening” said the heath director.

The University has asked if the outbreak could be in any way related to a sewage spill that took place while hurricane Hermine was hitting the State Capitol. they have not gotten a definitive answer.

Even if sewage wasn’t the culprit, the University health director says Hurricane Hermine probably was.

‘We expect it to spike again a little bit. We think the hurricane and no electricity led to this in terms of humid hot conditions, can’t do your laundry.” says Sacher.

There is no cure for Hand, foot, and mouth disease except time, which is between five and seven days.

Signs and symptoms usually begin within three to six days after exposure and it typically begins with a fever. The University is working with students who are missing classes because of the virus.

Hillsborough and Duval Counties are being singled out as two of the worst in Florida when it comes to issuing civil citations to juveniles committing petty crimes. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, experts say the underutilization comes with a cost both now and later.

Police in Florida arrested nearly 12 thousand juveniles for minor offenses last year even though all were eligible for a civil citation. A new study by Dewey Caruthers commissioned by the Children’s Campaign shows using criminal sanctions results in more repeat offenders.

“For vandalism, the civil citation recidivism rate is three percent. For post arrest diversion is nine percent. Triple the rate” says Caruthers.

The use of civil citations was up 5 percent last year, but two counties, Duval and Hillsborough says Caruthers, saw a significant drop.

“Duval has an average rate of 29 percent, Hillsborough 29 percent, which is an actual drop from the previous year.”

The way the system works right now is police may have jurisdiction on this side of the street and use civil citations. The Sheriff may have jurisdiction across the street and not.

Howard Simon, ACLU Florida executive Director says the optional nature of the citations leads to unequal justice.

“You can’t have a system in which things vary from county to county,  from law enforcement agency to law enforcement agency, or from community to community within the same county” says Simon.

The study estimates at least 20 million and maybe three times that much is spent prosecuting kids. Sal Nuzzo from the conservative James Madison Institute says that doesn’t include significant long term costs.

“They pay more taxes as opposed to using the social services safety net. They are more likely to get student loans to be able to go to higher education institutions. they are less likely to be incarcerated down the road” say Nuzzo.

Use of the non criminal citations are optional for police. Advocates say requiring an officer to justify an arrest in writing to a supervisor is the single most important thing that could lead to fewer criminal sanctions and more second chances for kids.

This week, Governor Rick Scott was told Florida Supreme Court Justice james Perry was stepping down at the first of the year. in 2018, three more justices leave office on the same day a new governor takes office, which is likely to provide a fight between the outgoing Scott and his successor over who makes those three appointments. Howard Simon of the ACLU Florida says that will make the next gubernatorial election critical for at least a generation.

“Every public official swears an oath to the constitution, but our legislature frequently takes the point of view  that, well. we’ll do anything we want unless the Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional. That’s why an independent check on what the legislature and Governor does is so important” says the ACLU Executive Director.

In 2014. voters turned down a constitutional amendment that would have clarified whether the incoming or outgoing governor makes appointments when the terms coincide, which leaves the question of who appoints up in the air.

A Seminole County police dog named Amber was honored at this years Missing Children’s Ceremony for locating and saving a special needs child when no one else could find the child, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the number of tracking dogs in use is exploding because of some families loss.

Diena Thompson’s was the feature speaker for two dozen police officers spending the week trying to improve their tracking dogs abilities. The Jacksonville mom lost her 7 years old daughter Somer to a rapist in 2009. Now she thrives on making the world safer for other children.

“I just come every year delivering my message that what they are doing is important and that I want them to keep up the good work and help me protect the children in Florida” says Thompson.

Each year, the Florida Public Safety Institute hosts a week long trailing exercise for police dogs. Pasco County deputy Chris Miller hopes his to improve his young dogs endurance.

“He’s up to about six hours. Really really solid following a trail. We hope to get him up  to 24, 36” Miller told us.

Many of the dogs come from one place:

“These dogs were donated by the Jimmy Ryce Foundation” Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Kelli Covet told us.

11 Yr old Jimmy was killed less than two miles from his home, and his parents always thought he would could have been rescued if a tracking dog had been available. They set out to make that happen.

The Jimmy Ryce Foundation has given hundreds of dogs to law enforcement agencies across the country, but there are still thousands without.

Each year, more and more dogs are succeeding says Deputy Debbie Wallace of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

“it was a natural abduction, so it was a good ending. So they found the child alive.”

And while Diena can’t bring her Somer back, just as Don Ryce can’ bring Jimmy back, both are working to make the world safer for other children through the noses of these bloodhounds.

The competition brought a dog from as far away as Michigan, and it too was from the Jimmy Ryce Foundation, brought to the Cass County Sheriff’s office by a deputy who used to work in Manatee County. Competitors from California were forced to stay home after complications shipping their animals.

If you are interested in preserving the scent of a loved one, someone with Alzheimers, or a special needs child, a Tallahassee couple has the answer. Paul Coley is a retired FBI forensic specialist. He and his wife have founded a company called Scent Evidence, providing human scent preservation kits. This past February the company had its first recovery when an elderly Citrus County man with Alzheimer’s went missing. After two hours police were still having no luck says Coley.

“They put up a helicopter with a FLARE, patrol dogs. 12 deputies on the ground. Two hours later they still hadn’t found him. She remembered she had this. They pulled it out. Called in the Bloodhound team we helped train. Five minutes later they had him within about 2 hundred yards from his house hiding under some bushes” says Coley.

Coley says the kits eliminate confusion over scent on clothing that can be contaminated by multiple people.  You can learn more about scent preservation at scentevidenceK9.com.

The response in getting power back and information out to thousands of people in Florida’s capitol wasn’t good enough for many, including the Governor. As Matt Galka tells us, a new group has been formed to try and come up with solutions for the next time a storm hits.

31 years passed before another hurricane hit Florida’s Capitol. But following Hurricane Hermine, lobbyist Barney Bishop says there are better ways to handle response and recovery.

“What’s the chain of command supposed to be? What are the communications supposed to look like? What’s the prioritization of services and the best use of public and private facilities?” asked Bishop. He heads the Citizens for Responsible Spending.

Bishop is assembling a task force to iron out some of those ideas. High on the agenda – streamlining cooperation between city owned and investor owned utilities.

“There wasn’t timely information, there wasn’t accurate information, in fact there were elected officials sometimes giving contradictory information. And we had a mayor frankly who shouldn’t have been in the chain of command at all, it wasn’t his responsibility,” he said.

And municipal owned utility backers say they’re open to suggestions.

We reached Barry Moline by phone. He’s the executive director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association and will work with the task force.

“I think that there’s always room for improvement. Every storm we learn a little bit more about how to restore faster and better and communicate better,” he said.

The group seems to fit in with what Governor Rick Scott is calling for. He was one of the storm response’s top critics.

The task force will also include former Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp, and a former commissioner on the Florida Energy Commission.

More than a dozen families whose child left one day and never came home spent the day in the state Capitol at a ceremony where their loss was recognized. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, today was the annual missing children’s day ceremony.

Tears and continuing pain were on the faces of parents and loved ones as they honored a children gone missing. Mark Degner and Bryan Hayes were last seen leaving a Jacksonville middle school more than decade ago. Linda Alligood is Mark Degner’s Aunt.

“And the feeling when you put the rose up there?”

“Rough”

Rough? Tell me, how long has it been?”

“Eleven years.”

“And it hasn’t gotten any better?”

“No, it never does” says Alligood.

Governor Rick Scott calls the pain unimaginable.

“To this day, they miss their loved ones and none of us can imagine what they have gone through” Scott told the audience.

But the somber ceremony had it’s bright spots. Two fifth graders were honored, one for an essay teaching kids how to stay safe. Jaycelynn Dowdy is a fifth grader at Curlew Creek Elementary in Pinellas County.

“Honestly, if someone tried to take me, I don;t know if it would be worse for me or them. I would immediately start to fight and scream at the top of my lungs”

says Dowdy.

And another who put that advice to work. Mia does not want to be identified because her  attacker has not been caught. Donna Uzell FDLE Special Agent in Charge described the ordeal this way:

“She said she found strength she never knew she had,a nd her instincts were to scream and just run away” say Uzell.

To which Jaycelynn responded.

“I feel happy that I inspired some kids and adults.”

And this poster was drawn by fifth grader Samantha Castillo

who won a national contest.

“And I feel so bad. I wanted to do art that I could remember and that other people could remember the children” says Samantha.

Also honored, a bloodhound who tracked down a missing special needs child. It was one of dozens donated by Don Ryce after his son went missing in 1995.

Since the beginning of the year, Florida has issued 30 missing children’s alerts, seven Amber alerts, which indicate a child is in danger and more than 170 silver alerts for a missing senior. As the ceremony ended, a new alert went out for a missing 3 year old in Pinellas County.

The national media, along with some late night talk show hosts, are skewering Florida attorney gerneral Pam Bondi’s relationship with Donald Trump. As Matt Galka tells us, democrats are using it to try and pile on.

Late night host Stephen Colbert ripped Attorney General Pam Bondi’s relationship with Donald Trump last week.

A 25 thousand dollar check from the Trump foundation to Bondi’s campaign came right around the time the Attorney General decided not to make a case over Trump University fraud allegations in 2013.  Democrats are making the connection between the check and these comments from Trump back in January.

“I’ve given to everybody, because it’s my job! Because when I want something I get it! When I call, they kiss my *bleep*” he said in January.

“Our state Attorney General is supposed to be looking out for us in Florida and is taking illegal campaign contributions from Donald Trump,” said Damien Filer with Progress Florida.

But the Attorney General’s office says this was not a pay for play situation.

A spokesman sent us a lengthy email pushing back against the allegations that the contribution led to Bondi choosing not to pursue legal action against Trump University. The email cites that there was never a multistate case, there was never an invitation to join the original lawsuit in New York, and that there was only one Florida complaint against Trump U in 2013. The Attorney General was noticeably absent from a Florida Missing Children’s Day even in Tallahassee this (Monday morning). An event she usually attends…and her office did not make her available for an interview about the Trump donation.

The Trump Foundation is a charity – which means they’re not allowed to directly engage in politics. Trump had to pay a fine for the contribution and ended up making the 25 thousand dollar donation to Bondi’s political action committee.

Things are just about back to normal in Tallahassee following Hurricane Hermine, but as Matt Galka tells us, some small business owners say the storm took some money out of their pocket.

Joe’s Bike Shop is back open, but not before Hurricane Hermine changed some of the business hours.

“We didn’t have power until yesterday, it finally got turned back on. We were outta here for 6 days,” said owner Joe Mezzina.

But even though he was kept out of work, Mezzina kept his sense of humor.

“Yea we lost millions of dollars….and we don’t know if we’ll ever get back on our feet again,” he laughed.

The state activated a small business loan assistance program to help some companies in the meantime.

While the Governor was out all week helping with storm damage – his criticism of the response to the storm centered around getting people back to work.

“People not having a job for six days, if you think about the typical American, typical Floridian, they don’t have a lot of money in the bank,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida).

The Department of Economic Opportunity added Hurricane Hermine to a business damage assessment survey they’re running on the department’s website. The other two damage options – the Zika virus and algae blooms.