Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
After more than 300,000 votes cast in three rounds of online balloting, the Florida Chamber of Commerce has narrowed the field in its “Coolest Thing Made in Florida” contest to four companies.
The finalists represent a cross-section of the state’s manufacturing sector, ranging from heavy equipment and aerospace engineering to renewable energy and medical devices. The “Final Four”:
— Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions (Alachua County), which produces underground mining loaders equipped with dual diesel and electric systems and exports worldwide.
— Chromalloy (Palm Beach County), which designs and manufactures FAA-approved replacement parts for jet engines, with operations in Palm Beach Gardens, Tampa and Oldsmar.
— Blue Wind Technology (Brevard County), which builds wind turbine nacelles — generator housings that help power more than 3 million homes.
— Arthrex (Collier County), an orthopedic surgical company recognized for its DualCompression Hindfoot Nail implant.
“These finalists demonstrate the extraordinary talent, innovation, and global competitiveness of Florida manufacturers,” said Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson. “From aerospace and energy to healthcare and heavy machinery, these companies are helping grow Florida into a top 10 global economy.”
The competition is part of the Chamber’s broader effort to highlight the role of manufacturing in Florida’s economy, which employs more than 421,000 people and generates nearly $69 billion in exports annually.
Voting in the championship round runs through Sept. 23 at CoolestThingMadeinFlorida.com. The winner will be revealed Oct. 28 during the Chamber’s Future of Florida Forum and Annual Meeting in Orlando. Registration for in-person attendance is open through Sept. 26.[1][2]
Evening Reads
—”America loves cocaine again — Mexico’s new drug king cashes in” via Steve Fisher, José de Córdoba and Santiago Pérez[3]
—”A Florida home insurer was allowed to bypass the courts during claim disputes. It won more than 90% of the time.” via Mario Ariza of ProPublica[4]
—”Inside Trumpworld’s reality distortion field” via Jake Lahut of WIRED[5]
—”Foreign disinformation about Charlie Kirk’s killing seeks to widen U.S. divisions” via David Klepper of The Associated Press[6]
—”The economy is turning into a black box” via Peter Orszag of The Atlantic[7]
—”The third Red Scare” via Zack Beauchamp of Vox[8]
—”Crush of flights routinely strained National Airport capacity before crash” via Ian Duncan, Lori Aratani, Rachel Weiner and Andrew Ba Tran [9]
—”What to know about ‘hate speech’ and the First Amendment” via Adam Liptak of The New York Times[10]
—”Holograms and more: Ron DeSantis, Blaise Ingoglia bash Jacksonville’s big-spending budget” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics[11]
Quote of the Day
“I considered doing this presentation as a hologram. But I wanted to save taxpayers’ dollars.”
— CFO Blaise Ingoglia, dinging Jacksonville for what he characterizes as “out of hand” spending.
Put it on the Tab
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
Break out the blue curacao — CFO Blaise Ingoglia needs a Hologram to sip on while the Florida DOGE crew pores over Jax spending.[12][13]
Brandy and whole milk may not sound appealing for those looking to beat the heat, but the new Benjamin Franklin statue in Apalachicola means Milk Punch is going on the menu.[14][15]
Identity Thiefs all around for James Uthmeier’s statewide prosecution team, which busted a fraud ring in South Florida.[16][17]
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Seminoles face Tar Heels in women’s soccer
In a meeting of the last two national champions, Florida State faces North Carolina tonight in Chapel Hill, N. C. (7 p.m. ET, ACC Network).
Florida State or North Carolina (or both) have played in the last seven national championship games, with the Seminoles winning three titles in the stretch while the Tar Heels took the crown last season.
Florida State (6-0-1) is ranked seventh in the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll, while North Carolina (7-2-0) is ranked No. 18.
Florida State has opened the ACC schedule with wins over Louisville and Syracuse. North Carolina won its only conference game 2-1 at Virginia Tech. The game will be the first against a ranked opponent this season for both teams.
The Seminoles have been led by sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson, who has scored seven goals in seven games. FSU is third in the nation, averaging 3.71 goals per game.
North Carolina leads the all-time series 31-14-6 dating to 1995. The two programs have met 20 times in the ACC tournament and twice have faced one another for the national championship.
Florida State has won the last two meetings between the two programs, including a win in the ACC title game last year.
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
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References
- ^ CoolestThingMadeinFlorida.com (coolestthingmadeinflorida.com)
- ^ Registration (floridachamberfoundation.regfox.com)
- ^ America loves cocaine again — Mexico’s new drug king cashes in (www.wsj.com)
- ^ A Florida home insurer was allowed to bypass the courts during claim disputes. It won more than 90% of the time. (www.propublica.org)
- ^ Inside Trumpworld’s reality distortion field (www.wired.com)
- ^ Foreign disinformation about Charlie Kirk’s killing seeks to widen U.S. divisions (apnews.com)
- ^ The economy is turning into a black box (www.theatlantic.com)
- ^ The third Red Scare (www.vox.com)
- ^ Crush of flights routinely strained National Airport capacity before crash (www.washingtonpost.com)
- ^ What to know about ‘hate speech’ and the First Amendment (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Holograms and more: Ron DeSantis, Blaise Ingoglia bash Jacksonville’s big-spending budget (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Hologram (cocktailservers.com)
- ^ Jax spending (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ new Benjamin Franklin statue (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ Milk Punch (thehipflask.wordpress.com)
- ^ Identity Thiefs (www.instagram.com)
- ^ busted a fraud ring (floridapolitics.com)