State wildlife officials have documented 23 Florida panther deaths so far this year, leaving as few as 120 of the big cats surviving in the wild. Vehicles killed 21 of the panthers. The cause of death for the other two is unknown, state officials say. A record 27 panthers were reported dead in 2021. Vehicles … Read more
More than 31 million people visited Florida during the first quarter of 2020. By the second quarter, that number had plunged to less than 13 million as Covid-19 spread across the United States, state figures show. Florida’s tourism industry showed signs of a strong recovery in 2022, with the number of visitors hitting 36 million … Read more
Along West King Street in St. Augustine, Florida, is an eco-friendly shop called The Local Refillery. Spices, nuts, coffees, grains, oils and other organic goodies line the walls of the store, which advocates zero-waste shopping. That means customers bring in their own containers or buy reusable containers when they want to stock up on necessities. … Read more
Let’s face it – Florida isn’t getting any bigger and development isn’t slowing down. Tourists and new arrivals continue to flood the state. People are eager to visit Florida’s unique, historic and charming cities – places like St. Augustine. But will the influx of people make it a less appealing destination? I discussed that and … Read more
Growth and development affects hundreds and perhaps thousands of cultural and heritage sites across Florida, archaeologists say. One of the main obstacles to preservation is the blatant lack of awareness that a site may exist. Archaeologists often don’t learn about a potentially important new site until bulldozers have ripped through it, making it tough to … Read more
Rapid development in Florida can put cultural sites at risk. Emily Jane Murray would like to raise awareness of what could be lost. She is public archaeology coordinator for the Florida Public Archaeology Network – Northeast Region. My conversation with Murray is below: Losing Florida: Could you tell me about your background and your tie … Read more
Katherine Sims is busier than ever. She’s one of just two archaeologists in St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565 and touted as America’s Oldest City. Tourists and new residents are arriving in droves, making it ever more difficult to protect archaeological sites, she says. My conversation with Sims is below. Losing Florida: Could you tell … Read more
Have you ever visited a new town and gotten the uneasy feeling that it felt too perfect? Kind of like that scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull where Indy gets caught in the atomic bomb testing site, running around frantic for help because everything in it is perfectly set up … Read more
Just north of Tampa in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, sits a 40-foot recreational vehicle, but it’s no ordinary RV. It’s a self-sustaining, off-the-grid home that runs off solar power and features a biodigester, described as “a mechanical stomach that breaks down organic waste.” “We want to be living examples of what a reimagined Florida could … Read more
The coastline of St. Augustine Beach has it all: A gentle surf and refreshing breeze, sandpipers running along the shoreline and those lovely plastic cups, cigarette butts and other remnants of the human race. If you want to do something about it, registration is open for anyone who would like to help clean up the … Read more