Stuff to Know Today: January 5, 2015

The wedding’s off in northern Florida

Photo via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons LicenseAt least a dozen Florida county clerks of court will no longer offer any civil marriage ceremonies. Some officials say it’s a staff capacity issue, while others say they don’t want to force staff to perform gay marriages (which they’d have to do starting Tuesday). Meanwhile, possible future potential presidential hopeful Jeb Bush (phew) said he thought the issue should have been “a local decision…The people of the state decided. But it’s been overturned by the courts, I guess.” ACLU has a great FAQ on the process for people wanting to get married.

Throwing shade in the Sunshine State

Photo via Mark Taylor https://www.flickr.com/photos/n3tel/ Creative Commons LicenseThe Miami Herald created a troubling timeline of Gov. Rick Scott’s transparency issues. TL;DR: Scott’s staff routinely communicated about public business with lobbyists and Republican leaders using private cell phones and private email accounts. Scott is also the first modern governor to attempt to hide his travel records from public view, and in at least one instance his office attempted to destroy entries in his calendar before releasing them. Side-eye.

Proof of income

Photo via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons LicenseMiami/Fort Lauderdale rents went up 7.7% (the fifth largest increase in the country) from 2013 to 2014, according to a new report from Zillow. Area renters paid $10.5 billion in total rent. If we pooled our money, we could buy the entire Cayman Islands, ten seats on a trip to space, the New York Times and the entire Hannah Montana franchise, and still have money left over! Hannah Montana marathon on the International Space Station, y’all.

Where shopping is a treasure

UnknownSouth Florida Business Journal has some predictions on the 2015 grocery industry. Short version: no one’s messing with Publix. We expected this news, since we had a delicious sub for lunch.

Today in nice things you can’t afford

Photo via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons LicenseThe domain name MIA.com is up for sale for the first time since 1995. Apparently it’s expected to go for at least $1 million. Bona fide hustlers only.