Orlando Fringe Asks Governor to Restore Arts Funding, Home Insurance, Mitigating Hydrilla Growth, Strokestra

Orlando Fringe Asks Governor to Restore Arts Funding

Florida Fringe Festival leaders are asking Governor Ron DeSantis to take them out of consideration for state grants and restore the 32 million dollars in arts and culture funding he vetoed from the state budget approved by lawmakers. The Orlando Fringe bills itself as a space for artists to emerge and showcase their talent. It also produces the oldest fringe festival in the country. The festival content varies each year because it is determined by a lottery. Scott Galbraith is the Interim Executive Director of the Orlando Fringe and one of the writers of an open letter to the Governor asking to forego state grants for Fringe Festivals so that funding can be restored to other arts and culture groups. Galbraith joins Engage to discuss the purpose of writing this letter.

Home Insurance

Florida’s property insurance crisis entails astream of departures from the insurance market by some big-name providers, and there are concerns the companies filling the gaps are too small to provide reliable, quality coverage. The state’s backstop, the Citizens Property Insurance, fell short of its reinsurance goals by two billion dollars. Mark Friedlander is the Florida spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan analysis organization. He joins Engage to discuss the state of Florida’s residential property insurance market.

Mitigating Hydrilla Growth

Millions of dollars in state funding are coming down the pipeline to control the spread of invasive aquatic plants like hydrilla in Central Florida lakes. Hydrilla can often block sunlight from other native plants. Central Florida Public Media Environment reporter Molly Duerig shares why some worry the chemicals used to control it are causing even more damage.

Strokestra

An orchestra program is offering stroke patients a musical approach to healing in their recovery. A stroke can happen when blood supply is cut off to the brain, and the number of cases is rising in our region. Central Florida Public Media Health reporter Joe Mario Pedersen brings us a story about a new therapeutic option for patients at AdventHealth with the help of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.