FLORIDA’S POPULATION The recently released Florida Population Report by Cushman & Wakefield predicts the state’s population may reach 20.7 million by the end of 2016. Additionally, they report that Forth Myers experienced 3.3 percent growth, the largest percentage in the state with an estimated 701,900 residents. Numbers released earlier this year by the U.S. Census showed the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach metropolitan areas as the eighth-most populated in the U.S. Over the past decade, almost 500,000 people have moved to the region. Sixty-five percent of new residents to the South Florida region are from other countries.
DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS Stat prosecutors have concluded too much time has passed to effectively bring individual criminal charges regarding deaths at the Dozier School for Boys near Marianna. A task force, convened to develop a plan to honor the victims, was unable to reach a consensus regarding the reburial of the exhumed bodies and the creation of a permanent memorial to the victims.