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Orlando Sentinel Evening Update

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Dow's drop | Hurricane season prediction | Direct flights from Orlando

Dow drops 1,400 as US stocks lead worldwide sell-off after Trump's tariffs cause a COVID-like shock

Financial markets around the world are reeling.

Above-average hurricane season, US landfall chances in CSU forecast

Experts at Colorado State University revealed Thursday they're expecting an above-average storm season with nine hurricanes and a better than 50% chance a major one will strike the United States. The seasonal forecast points to warmer-than-normal waters in the eastern subtropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean as harbingers of an active season similar to 2024. The […]

Orlando airport expands direct flights to Europe, seeks Korea route

Looking to get away? Orlando International Airport is adding nonstop flights to Munich, Madrid and Paris.

Charter schools could more easily take over district schools, under Florida bill

Parents at a public school could vote to convert it into a charter school, and the district must provide the campus rent-free, even if the idea is opposed by teachers, under a bill in the state Legislature.

'Gut punch': Opposition grows to Florida AG's announcement he won't support gun-buying age law

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he disagrees with a federal appeals court's recent decision upholding a long gun-buying age restriction, passed in the wake of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018.

UCF leans on McKenzie Milton to identify its next starting QB

For the first time since 2019, the Knights enter a season without a clear-cut starting quarterback.

Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth's use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike

The review will also look at other defense officials' use of the publicly available app.

$270K study may finally answer: Why does Mount Dora smell funny?

A consultant's study determined that it isn't the sewage treatment plant. But that has left officials wondering what the odor could possibly be.

'Oh no, we love Florida': DeSantis dismisses idea Canadians will keep away from state

Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to dismiss reports that Canadians will stay away from Florida as a backlash to President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats to annex Canada.

Tweaks to Florida's Live Local Act may boost developers' options but frustrate cities

Florida developers could gain more latitude from legislative bills this year that aim to piggyback off the state's law to increase affordable housing. But the proposed legislation also may pose challenges to some cities.

Orlando's 'Ren' Theatre pushes boundaries to make its artistic mark

Orlando's Renaissance Theatre has become an integral part of the Central Florida theater scene — by pushing theatrical boundaries.

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The Houston Housing Authority has turned to property tax cuts for landlords as a key affordable housing strategy. But public housing residents are seldom the winners in these deals – the tax cuts tend to boost profits for landlords while doing little to make Houston's housing more affordable for low-income residents. Below, a longtime public housing resident shares her safety concerns with government officials during a 2023 community event at Cuney Homes.

Photo by: Illustration by Susan Barber; photography by Yi-Chin Lee and Meridith Kohut

Who really benefits from Houston's affordable housing programs?

Solving Houston's affordable housing needs can be a complicated puzzle – and now, new investigations by Houston Chronicle reporters show just how messy those pieces of the puzzle can get. This is a longer than normal note from me, but an important look at how well-intentioned policies around affordable housing can run awry, so please hang with me.

First, let's dive into the winners and losers behind a common tax break used to stimulate affordable housing development.

A Houston Chronicle investigation by R.A. Schuetz, Yilun Cheng and Matt Zdun found that the Houston Housing Authority's use of Public Facility Corporations (PFCs)—a tool meant to create affordable housing—has primarily benefited developers, law firms and consultants, while offering little relief to the city's lowest-income residents. See the full investigation here.
Under this model, developers get full property tax exemptions in exchange for reserving a portion of units as "affordable," but many of those units are still priced far out of reach—for example, one-bedroom apartments often run around $1,500 a month.
Since 2017, these deals have diverted tens of millions in property tax revenue away from schools, counties and other public services.
Data shows that while developers saved big, the affordability impact has been minimal in many cases, raising concerns that a program designed to combat the housing crisis is instead enriching private entities at public expense. See charts illustrating those concerns here.

Next, we'll turn to Mike Morris' continued investigation about how efforts to build more affordable housing in the Third Ward have floundered.

For more than a decade, Houston's Midtown Redevelopment Authority (MRA) assembled 118 acres of land in and around the Third Ward with the goal of building affordable housing and curbing the spread of high-end townhomes.
But in recent years, MRA quietly sold off 16.6 acres to developers and investors. Now, some of that land is being divided for the very townhomes it MRA sought to prevent.
Despite seeking to turn a profit, MRA bypassed open market bidding and, in two cases, sold the land for less than it originally paid. One deal mistakenly gave away half a parcel due to a pricing error, while others benefited individuals with close ties to a former MRA executive now facing felony charges for misusing public funds.
The land sales, commissions, and insider dealings—funded by local property taxpayers—have raised questions about the agency's transparency and whether its actions contributed to gentrification instead of preventing it. See Morris' summary and key takeaways from his investigation here.