Closing Pitches Before Tuesday’s Primary

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds worked to protect a commanding lead Thursday while Lt. Gov. Jay Collins urged two rivals to quit, days out from Florida’s Tuesday primary.

Donalds carries President Trump’s endorsement and drew 49% in an August James Madison Institute survey, with Collins at 18% and former House Speaker Paul Renner at 8%. Donalds is running on affordability, pledging to lower property-insurance costs.

Collins used a virtual news conference to cast himself as a “day-one ready” executive and Donalds as a Washington celebrity. “I mow my own yard, I gassed up my own truck,” Collins said.

Democrat David Jolly held 47% in the same poll and is already campaigning for November. Running mate Gwen Graham cast her ballot Thursday at Florida A&M, choosing the campus to highlight voting rights.

Collins said he’ll back whoever wins Tuesday. Graham called the stretch to November a short sprint.

Blue Origin Doubling Pads After Explosion

Blue Origin is building a second launch pad at Launch Complex 36, the Cape Canaveral site where its New Glenn rocket exploded in May.

Pad 36A will serve the smaller New Glenn; the new 36B is for the larger version. Blue Origin is also adding a vertical integration facility and a payload processing facility built with the federal government.

Two pads give the company flexibility with customers, Launch Pad Network CEO Zac Aubert told FOX 35, calling it Blue Origin’s version of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.

The May 28 explosion during a hotfire test destroyed the rocket, badly damaged the pad, and scuttled a June 4 launch of Amazon satellites. No one was injured.

Blue Origin still aims to fly New Glenn again before year’s end and says it has invested more than $3 billion in Florida’s space economy and employs nearly 5,000 workers here.

Two Atlantic Waves, No Florida Threat

The National Hurricane Center cut the development odds Friday on one of two tropical waves it’s tracking in the Atlantic.

The nearer wave, about 650 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, has grown less organized as it runs into dry air and stronger upper-level winds. Its formation chance is down to 20% through seven days.

The wave behind it, southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, has a 50% chance and could become a tropical depression this weekend as it tracks west. Dolly is the next name on the list.

A thick plume of Saharan dust sitting north of both clusters is steering them east to west, and wind shear is forecast to shred the first one early next week.

Neither is expected to threaten Florida, and forecasters note the percentages measure whether a storm forms, not whether it hits land. Cristobal, the season’s third named storm, fizzled Thursday.

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➤ Duval County: The Florida Department of Health issued a second red tide alert in under a week after an Aug. 11 water sample near Kingsley Plantation turned up the harmful algae. An earlier alert covered Ft. George Inlet. (See Details)

➤ Jacksonville: Fire crews are investigating a blaze at JAX Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery on Beach Boulevard early Friday that neighbors said felt like an explosion, shaking their homes. A metal door landed in a nearby coffee shop. (More)

➤ Jackson County: Murder suspect Isabelle Johnson was arrested Thursday at a home in Cottondale following a weekslong multistate manhunt spanning Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. She was wanted in the death of a man found buried in a shallow grave in Florida on June 25. (More)

➤ Atlantic Beach: Mayor Curtis Ford wants to sell a 1.25-acre city parcel on north Mayport Road for a DG Market with produce and meat, filling a gap left when a Food Lion closed in 2012. (More)

➤ Panama City: Volunteers are building vertical oyster gardens from recycled shells to hang off docks in St. Andrews Bay, where sedimentation is smothering reefs. The St. Andrews and St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program uses them to gauge whether young oysters are surviving. (Watch)

➤ Miami-Dade County: Two brush fires burning in the Everglades east of Krome Avenue pushed smoke into West Kendall on Friday. The Trail fire has burned 25 acres at 80% containment; the Radio Tower fire, 188 acres at 50%. No injuries reported. (More)

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➤ Florida State men’s basketball announced a jersey patch deal with cybersecurity company ReliaQuest, the first such sponsorship in FSU Athletics history. The logo will appear on all game jerseys starting this season. (More)

➤ Florida booster Gary Condron launched a new win-based donation club through the Gators’ NIL collective, Florida Victorious, tying additional funding for players to the football team actually logging victories. (More)

➤ The Jacksonville Jaguars travel to New Orleans today for their preseason opener against the Saints at 4 p.m. on NFL Network. (How to Watch)

➤ The Miami Heat will appear in 25 nationally televised games this coming season after acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee. The team had just five national appearances total last year. (More)

➤ Former Florida tennis star Ben Shelton won the National Bank Open in Montreal without dropping a set, his fourth title this season and seventh overall. The 23-year-old is now ranked No. 6 in the world. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: NFL | MLB | Golf | WNBA | Tennis | Soccer

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➤ An eastern kingbird was photographed buzzing the resident bald eagle pair at Briarwood Executive Golf Course in The Villages, circling above the two much larger birds. Kingbirds are known for harassing raptors many times their size. (See Photos)

➤ Disney’s parks and cruise business posted a 10% revenue jump last quarter, its best in two years, with global attendance up 4% and domestic resort hotels 91% full. Analysts credit targeted discounts and retooled attractions. (More)

➤ Salomes Jackson, 40, a former cast member on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, was arrested in Volusia County on charges tied to a scheme that took an Orange City couple for over $196,000 on a parcel the supposed sellers didn’t own. (See Details)

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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:

➤ One doctor cracked only the knuckles on his left hand for 50 years to settle the infamous medical argument. (Hear More)

➤ American shoppers cut back sharply in July, raising fresh doubts about the strength of the economy. (Listen Now)

➤ Police have recovered more than $10 million in masterworks stripped from an Italian museum in a three-minute heist. (Podcast Available)

A reader named Kim submitted this photo of a “congregation” of alligators from one of her morning walks around Wonderwood Lake at Naval Station Mayport. They paid no attention to her.

The Miami Heat will be on TV more in the upcoming season. Do you plan to tune in?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Maybe

Yesterday’s Results:

Do you think schools should start up after Labor Day instead of August?

1. Yes: 60%
2. Don’t care: 26%
3. No: 14%

Which player’s jersey number hangs in the Miami Heat’s rafters even though he never played a game for the team?

Show me the answer