TAMPA BAY, Fla. - Here are five things you need to know happening in Florida on Thursday, June 23.
(1) Tampa fertilizer ban vote
The Tampa City Council will vote for a second and final time to ban the sale and residential use of specific types of fertilizers during specific times of the year on Thursday.
The proposed ordinance would ban sales of fertilizers of nitrogen and phosphorus during rainy season and ban the use of such fertilizers on residential lawns during the summer starting in June 2012.
City council members gave initial approval to the ban by a 6-1 vote during at June 2 hearing.
The Tampa Bay Estuary Program and the Sierra Club believe the proposed city ordinance would help keep Tampa Bay clear of nitrogen-fed algae blooms.
However, the lawn care industry says they could be hurt by the ban on nitrogen-based fertilizers and are threatening a lawsuit should council members pass the ban.
Locally only Pinellas County and certain municipalities have such a ban. In Hillsborough County, there's a ban on using fertilizer if heavy rain is in the forecast, but there is no ban on sales.
A new state law passed this spring gives only the state to regulate fertilizer sales. Cities and counties that pass their own fertilizer sale laws before July 1 will be exempt.
Today's Council meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. at the Tampa City Hall. For more information, visit tampagov.net .
(2) Pinellas School Board workshop
Pinellas County School Board members are holding a workshop on Thursday to discuss their concerns with Superintendent Dr. Julie Janssen and the decisions she has made.
Board Member Linda Lerner wants to address what she calls is constant poor communication between Dr. Janssen and the Board.
Lerner says Dr. Janssen made several decisions involving Melrose Elementary School's partnership with the University of Florida. Those decisions could affect teachers' jobs and Lerner claims the Board was not notified ahead of time.
Other issues the Board has not been pleased with is a slow response to fights at John Hopkins Middle School in 2010 and a plan to create new academic programs that parents angrily complained about after it was announced.
Today's workshop comes three weeks before the School Board will conduct a formal evaluation of Dr. Janssen.
There will be two neutral facilitators to moderate the discussion at today's workshop which begins at 9:00 a.m. at the School Board Administration Building in Largo.
For more information, visit www.pcsb.org .
(3) State University tuition increase vote
The State University System of Florida Board of Governors is set to increase tuition at meeting in Tampa on Thursday.
The Governors are expected to approve both a mandatory 8 percent tuition increase ordered by the Florida Legislature and a 7 percent increase asked by Trustees at each of the 11 state universities.
Last year a similar 15 percent tuition increase went into affect. A State University analysis showed the additional money saved nearly 1,000 faculty member or adviser jobs and let the schools save or add more than 4,300 courses.
The Legislature 8 percent raise would increase undergraduate tuition from $95.67 to $103.32 per credit hour.
Schools can not raise tuition more than 15 percent from one year to the next. Because state lawmakers signed off on an 8 percent increase, school trustees could only ask the Board of Governors for a 7 percent increase.
The Board of Governors are meeting in Traditions Hall in the Gibbons Alumni Center at the University of South Florida.
The tuition raises will be voted upon during their meeting which starts at 2:00 p.m. today.
For more information or to watch a live website of the meeting, visit www.flbog.org .
(4) Direct Air first Lakeland flight
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport will celebrate the first commercial flight of Direct Air on Thursday.
The South Carolina-based airline company begins operating flights to Lakeland using a fleet of Boeing 737 jets. Service is being offered to cities including Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Hagerstown, MD; Niagara Falls, N.Y.; and Springfield, IL.
In November Direct Air will add flights to Plattsburgh, N.Y., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Direct Air says the company has booked more than 14,000 round-trip flights to Lakeland before even officially beginning service.
Today's celebration takes place at 2:30 p.m. The first Direct Air flight is scheduled to arrive 15 minutes later from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
For more information, visit www.visitdirectair.com .
(5) Everclear concert
Rock band Everclear plays at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe in Tampa on Thursday as part of the venue's "40 Days That Rock" 40-year anniversary celebration month.
Everclear formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1992. Art Alexakis has fronted the group since the beginning, presiding over three major line-up changes when band members left in 2003 and 2009.
Everclear's major hits came in the late 1990s and early 2000s with songs such as "Wonderful," "AM Radio," and "I Will Buy You a
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