Stet News🇺🇸 Election day: Democrats and Republicans pick candidates today to face off on March 24 for the state House District 87 seat formerly held by Republican Mike Caruso, who left to become county clerk. Voters must be party members and live in the district, which runs along the coast from Manalapan to Juno Beach and includes a large section of Palm Beach Gardens. It’s Emily Gregory versus Laura Ann Levites for the Democrats and Gretchen L. Miller Feng versus Jon Maples for the Republicans. (Check to see if you live in District 87)
A day before the mayor of Minneapolis told federal immigration officials to get out of his Minnesota city after a fatal shooting, the mayor of Lake Worth Beach failed to bring an agendaed discussion of immigration activity in her city up for consideration during a five-hour City Commission meeting. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
The director of West Palm Beach’s South Olive Tennis Center, Skip Jackson, got a boost last week in his efforts to discredit USTA Florida, the city’s choice to run the tennis center. The organization’s former longtime chief, Douglas Booth, was charged in North Carolina with multiple child sex crimes. In his bid protest, which has morphed into a lawsuit, Jackson claimed that the state and national USTA have a “culture of conscious indifference to the safety of the young women.” (WGHP-TV)
🕵️ Property taxes, school vouchers and eight other issues to watch as the 2026 Legislative session opens today. (News Service of Florida via WUSF)
- The governor’s address is scheduled for 11 am. Watch it here.
🚧 Remember the Wellington annexation vote in 2024? The village added 258 acres north of Southern Boulevard along Seminole Pratt Whitney Road. That’s where Arizona-based homebuilder Meritage Homes is proposing 206 townhomes on 30 acres to replace single-family homes and plant nurseries. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
💰 Since 2017, companies linked to a multibillion-dollar New York investment manager, Ruane Cunniff, have spent at least $230 million buying more than 80,000 acres across North Florida. Now that firm wants Florida lawmakers to make it easier to develop that land. (Seeking Rents)
🚉 S&P Global Ratings lowered its bond rating on Brightline Trains’ Florida debt to “CCC” from “BB-” and warned the Miami-based company was at risk of defaulting on its debt by January 2027. Just three investors — TIAA-CREF, First Eagle and Invesco — own about two-thirds of Brightline’s outstanding debt, meaning they “may be more willing than the general market to allow for workouts and restructurings to happen,” said Lisa Washburn, managing director of Municipal Market Analytics. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
✍️ Former Apple CEO John Sculley and his wife Diane have a pre-construction contract to pay $40 million for an 11,000-square-foot penthouse at Related Ross’ South Flagler House in West Palm Beach. They sold their Palm Beach oceanfront estate for $37 million to embrace the condo life. (The Wall Street Journal $$$)
🏌🏾♀️ Women golfers are joining the indoor TGL golf league at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens. The LPGA and TMRW Sports announced last week that the WTGL will launch in winter 2026-27. (Golfweek)
🏥 Two announcements last week from Jupiter Medical Center. The center and the Hospital for Special Surgery have forged an alliance to allow HSS to perform inpatient surgeries at Jupiter. The medical center also announced a $35 million gift from Tim and Jayne Donahue, who will be honored with their name on Jupiter’s new $135 million hospital tower. Tim Donahue is the former CEO of Nextel Communications. (The Palm Beach Post $$$, South Florida Hospital News)
🗳️ Former West Palm Beach spokesperson Elliot Cohen has surfaced as the face of Lake Worth Beach’s campaign to inform voters about five charter changes on the March ballot. The city hired Rick Asnani’s Cornerstone Solutions, which hired Cohen. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
🎙️ “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, explores the state of immigration enforcement in Florida, detention quotas and the impact of workplace raids with South Florida immigration attorney Richard Hujber. (Listen now; watch now.)
