Saturday, July 18, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1966, Gemini 10 launched from Cape Kennedy and went on to dock with two separate spacecraft in orbit—a first in spaceflight—as part of NASA’s buildup to the Apollo moon missions.

Manatee County has secured funding to build Valor Commons, a project that will provide both resources for veterans and a memorial honoring their service. Learn more in Top Stories.

For years, spotting an email scam felt easy. Bad grammar, a fake logo, an obvious ask, and you’d catch it. But the emails that drained nearly $21 billion from Americans last year didn’t look sloppy at all. They looked like they came from your bank, your pharmacy, even your own family, and adults over 60 lost the most of anyone. In today’s episode of The Flyover Podcast, Amy breaks down five quick inbox moves that clean up your clutter and quietly lock scammers out. Which one are the con artists counting on you never learning? Tune in here to learn more!

Today’s sponsor is Immersed, offering investors the opportunity to get in early on an extended reality company developing next-generation productivity software and XR hardware before its planned public listing.

Gulf System Could Bring Heavy Rain

The National Hurricane Center is watching a system expected to develop in the northeastern Gulf this weekend, with heavy rain the bigger near-term threat to Florida.

Forecasters say development odds remain low, but heavy rain will hit regardless, soaking the Tampa Bay metro, the Nature Coast and the Big Bend from Saturday through Tuesday. Rain rates could top 3 inches an hour, raising the risk of flash flooding in cities like Tampa and Jacksonville.

The rain could offer some relief to drought-stressed parts of the state, according to Local 10 hurricane specialist Michael Lowry, though localized flooding remains possible. A second disturbance in the far eastern Atlantic is not expected to develop further this weekend.

The NHC puts the Gulf system’s odds at 20% over seven days and the Atlantic waves at 10%, keeping both in the “low” category. Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30, peaking typically in September.

Security First Cuts Rates Again

Security First Insurance, one of Florida’s largest property insurers, is cutting rates by an average of 5.6% on its Dwelling Fire Basic policy, effective July 14.

The Ormond Beach-based company, which has about 155,000 policies statewide, has cut rates in some form every year since 2024. It’s also rolling out a “disappearing deductible” that lowers a policyholder’s deductible by 20% for every claims-free year.

The cut adds to a broader statewide trend: insurers have filed dozens of rate decreases since Florida lawmakers curbed insurance litigation in 2022 and 2023, and the average homeowner premium has dropped from about $6,300 in 2023 to just over $5,700 last year.

Still, Florida homeowners pay the nation’s highest average premium, at $8,292, according to the insurance-comparison site Insurify.

Manatee County Funds Veterans Campus

Manatee County has received nearly $3 million in federal funding and $1.6 million in state funding to help build Valor Commons, a 24-acre veterans resource and memorial campus in Palmetto.

The project is now estimated to cost $40 million, up from an initial $30 million estimate in 2024. A groundbreaking ceremony was held earlier this year, though major construction won’t start until next summer.

“This veterans park will be more than just a Gulf War or Korean War; it’ll be the whole culmination of things,” said Air Force veteran Carl Hunsinger of Manasota Veterans Inc. He said the site also needs to connect veterans with support services, not just memorials.

Manatee special projects manager Lee Washington said Valor Commons will give veterans one permanent location to navigate the shift from military to civilian life. The county is targeting a spring 2028 opening.

Flying together with our sponsor

This Private Company Is Up 4,000% Already

How do you follow 4,000% valuation growth? By preparing for what’s next. That’s what Immersed did, reserving the Nasdaq ticker $IMRS. But the real opportunity for investors is now, before public markets.

Why? Immersed changed the game in extended reality (XR), developing the Meta Quest store’s most popular productivity app. 1.5M people, including Fortune 500 teams, already use it up to 60 hours a week.

But that’s not all. Immersed’s soon-to-be-released XR headset has 2M more pixels than Apple’s Vision Pro for 70% less money. No wonder they’re projecting $71M in first-year sales.

And with partnerships in place with Google and Samsung, investors are taking advantage of this limited-time chance before its next stage of growth.

Executives and founders from Intel, Meta, and Reddit invested. Don’t miss your chance to join them before the July 30 deadline.

➤ Tallahassee: A U.S. Postal Service clerk was arrested Friday on grand theft and mail theft charges after officials said she stole cash and gift cards from customers. The investigation began in April. (See Details)

➤ Jacksonville: The Jacksonville Aviation Authority board voted to hire outside legal counsel and gave the city 30 days to resolve a dispute over airport budget control before deciding whether to sue. (More)

➤ Flagler Beach: City officials are warning residents and visitors to watch for large bee swarms after one was found this week near the fishing pier. (See Video)

➤ Tampa: Tampa General Hospital signed on Thursday as the first hospital in the nation to join a federal pledge to serve healthier food, with U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on hand. (More)

➤ West Broward: A wildfire near Tamarac has burned more than 4,400 acres and is 20% contained as of Friday afternoon, according to the Florida Forest Service. (See Video)

➤ Miami-Dade: Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Cuban-American Republican from Miami-Dade County and President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, testified Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, fielding questions on tariffs and trade tensions with Brazil. (More)

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➤ Miami Heat President Pat Riley confirmed that Miami has spoken with LeBron James’ agent and continues to pursue the free agent even after trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo. “We landed the plane. But there’s another one we have to land,” Riley said. (More)

➤ Both Florida MLB teams will open the 2027 season at home, with the Miami Marlins hosting the New York Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays welcoming the Baltimore Orioles on the earliest Opening Day in league history. (More)

➤ Rays draft pick Grady Emerson, the No. 2 overall selection, was named the 2026 Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year, joining a distinguished list of past winners that includes LeBron James and Cooper Flagg. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: The Open | MLB | WNBA

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➤ Two identical twin sisters. Same DNA. Yet one appeared years younger than the other. What Harvard scientists discovered next led them to a little-known “facelift protein” that researchers now believe may play an important role in how our skin ages. See the fascinating discovery here.

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Google, Microsoft, & Meta Partnered With This XR Startup

The world’s leading tech giants have all partnered with Immersed, an XR startup chasing a $250B+ opportunity in remote work.

Immersed combines the world’s most-used remote work XR software ($127B by 2030)1, AR/VR hardware ($100B+ by 2026)2, and AI productivity tools ($36B)3 into one productive, collaborative virtual office. Its valuation has grown 4,000% to date.

Over 1.5M professionals, including Fortune 500 teams, already use Immersed. The company is now scaling mass production of Visor, a productivity-designed headset with 75,000+ people on the waitlist, representing $71M in projected first-year sales.

Executives from Intel, Meta, and Reddit have invested, and Immersed has already reserved the Nasdaq ticker $IMRS. You can become an early-stage shareholder before the July 30 deadline.

1Source: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/ai-productivity-tools-market-23074
2Source: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/ai-productivity-tools-market-report
3Source: https://www.giiresearch.com/report/grvi1512062-ai-productivity-tools-market-size-share-trends.html

This is a paid advertisement for Immersed Regulation A+ offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.immersed.com/

➤ Tiramisu, a sea turtle found ashore in March, was released back into the Gulf this week after weeks of rehab by the Sea Turtle Patrol of St. George Island and the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab. (See Video)

➤ Busch Gardens Tampa Bay will retire its Kumba roller coaster on Aug. 2 after 33 years, the park announced, with a new ride called Kumba’s Revenge set to replace it as part of a $100 million investment. (See Details)

➤ The Florida Museum of Natural History and the state’s Department of Transportation have planted 15,000 milkweed plants along North Florida roadsides since 2023, part of a project to turn highway rights-of-way into corridors for monarch butterflies and other pollinators. (See Photos)

Flying together with our sponsor

➤ Most People Blame the Wrong Thing for Easy Bruising “I must just be clumsy.” “It’s my age.” “It’s probably my medication.” If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking one of these after another bruise seemed to appear out of nowhere, you’re not alone. But health experts say many people dismiss easy bruising as a normal part of aging when it may actually be one of the first visible signs your body is trying to tell you something. Click here to discover the 7 warning signs experts say are worth paying attention to—and why so many people overlook them until much later. Learn More

The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes, straight from the heart of the country. Clicking the link will take you directly to these stories:

➤ The emails draining billions from Americans no longer look fake, and these habits stop nearly all of them. (Hear Tips)

➤ Researchers have found a way to smuggle a drug past the brain’s toughest barrier and into glioblastoma tumors. (Hear Details)

➤ Federal officials have linked lettuce served at this fast food chain’s locations to a multistate parasite outbreak that has hospitalized dozens. (Podcast Available)

Donald B. of Ormond Beach sent us this photo of a mysterious glowing “jellyfish” cloud created by a SpaceX launch last week. Have an interesting photo to share? Send it our way, and it could appear in a future edition.