What Orlando is talking about
📰 Two Florida businessmen may save the Orlando Sentinel from being sold to Alden Global Capital. As stated bluntly by Orlando Weekly, the hedge fund is well known for its proclivity for purchasing and subsequently blowing up newsrooms. (Orlando Weekly)
🚫 Orange County Convention Center will not act as a shelter for unaccompanied migrant children arriving from the U.S. border. Apparently, FEMA had approached Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings about using the center... but the site’s already too busy. The hope was that the convention center could offer a better, more humane arrangement for kids and circumvent the controversies plaguing existing detention centers., (WKMG)
📌 County-run senior centers, gyms, fitness centers, and outdoor courts in Orange County are reopening on Monday, April 5. The faculties will only be operating at 50 percent capacity, and the day also marks the date when; Florida’s vaccine eligibility age will be lowered to 18 years and up. (Orlando Weekly)
🛣 A “ground depression” closed the 408 exit ramp at Orange Avenue yesterday. Apparently, a tree and a light pole were swallowed up in the hole that went into Lake Lucerne. (WKMG)
🍽 Bites and Bubbles shared good news this week with the announcement it’s moving into a bigger building down the street in the Mills 50 District. It’ll be occupying the old Belicoso Cigar and Four Rebels Taco spot in Mills Park starting in mid-May. (Bungalower)
🎭 Opera Orlando’s performance of “Carmen” opens tonight at the Dr. Phillips Center and tickets are apparently going fast. There are less than 100 seats left for tonight’s performance and only 12 left for Saturday’s matinee of the fiery masterwork from Georges Bizet. Tickets start at $19. Here’s a taste of what to expect. (Opera Orlando on Instagram)
In COVID-19 news…
📊 Florida reported 5,294 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and 87 new fatalities, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 2.06 million. There are currently 33,425 reported residents dead, and a fourth surge of the virus is feared by medical officials. March’s average death rate was 83 victims a day, a drop from February’s daily fatality average of 156. (Orlando Sentinel)
- Related: A new nationwide survey by scholastic researchers from Boston University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says COVID deaths have been largely underreported in Florida’s rural communities. (Orlando Sentinel)
💰 Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed $1,000 bonuses for teachers and principals to be paid for with federal COVID-19 funds. The $216 million teacher bonus plan would be separate from the governor’s proposed $3,000 bonuses for teachers who have completed his suggested civics training. (Orlando Sentinel)
💉 Florida is getting more than 800,000 vaccines next week. That number includes more than 300,000 shots of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine along with more than 500,000 in total of the Moderna and Pfizer shots. (Orlando Sentinel)
