At least 55 migrant children separated from their parents by the Trump administration in 2018 were sent to a privately run detention center in Florida: A recent congressional report revealed children had been sent to a child detention center located in Homestead, Miami-Dade County. A house committee obtained information on the center after issuing subpoenas that forced federal officials to release documents relating to the separation of migrant children from their families at the southern U.S. border. There was little information on the case of each child. The documentation is "woefully inadequate in terms of the volume of information and the number of separated children who remain unaccounted for," according to the report's authors. The Homestead facility houses about 2,000 children between 13 and 17 years old and is the only for-profit detention center in the country.
Central Florida Schools are improving, according to the latest Department of Education report card: A total of 1,172 schools earned an "A" in the 2018-2019 school year, a slight rise from the 1,043 that received an "A" last year. Sixty-three percent of schools received an "A" or "B," also an increase from years past. The amount of "F" schools decreased to 15 percent.
There's a $38,000 reward for anyone with information on the brutal stabbing of a bottlenose dolphin: A group of agencies including the Humane Society of the United States and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are offering the reward. The dolphin was found lifeless, stabbed to death with a spear-like object, near Captiva Island on May 4. The dolphin died from a six-inch wound to the head, according to the NOAA. Harassing, harming, killing or feeding wild dolphins is a federal crime punishable by up to $100,000 in fines and as much as one year in jail. Anyone with information can call the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement hotline at 1-800-853-1964.
Florida Department of Transportation is ending its contract with a Sunpass Contractor: Transportation officials told the Tampa Bay Times they won't renew the contract with New Jersey-based Conduent State & Local Solution. The contractor oversaw the Sunpass conversion, which is facing ongoing problems. Officials imposed a $4.6 million fine on Conduent in March and announced internal changes to how the state's toll-collection system is managed. Conduent's failings included not meeting a deadline for upgrades to the system as well as serious glitches involving overcharges when it went live last summer.
Lime's bike sharing program will leave the UCF campus by fall: The ride-share company announced the departure of some 600 bikes from the campus, although the bikes will stay in the city of Orlando. A Lime spokesman said the company is "in discussion with [city officials] about expanding residents' clean transportation options with electric scooters." But when the Orlando Weekly asked city officials in January, they said they weren't interested in implementing the scooters in Orlando just yet.
Two Florida State University professors study how Hurricane Michael might have played a detrimental role on births in the state's panhandle: The professors received $400,000 for their study, which will look into how carbon monoxide exposure and infrastructure damage may affect births. The resulting stress and reduced access to maternal care amid the storm may have increased the risk of having a low-birth weight baby, according to FSU associate professor of geography Christopher Uejio.
