MENAGERIE MONEY:
Palm Beach Zoo, where an employee was killed by a tiger a year ago, would get $300,000 to help make changes in a safety, training and access system.
The Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens is up for $854,677 million as part of a partnership with Seminole County to build a teaching facility to serve middle and high schools and colleges.
The Lowry Park Zoo Manatee Hospital would receive $500,000 to complete life-support system upgrades. And the Brevard Zoo is up for $1.126 million for conservation research.
STUDYING UP:
Lawmakers want to spend $150,000 to determine site locations for an underwater “Marine Statue Garden” that could provide recreational opportunities for Floridians and draw tourism dollars.
The state would spend $150,000 for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to contract with the University of South Florida’s Center for Urban Transportation Research on a feasibility study related to moving the Florida Highway Patrol Academy from Gadsden County to Polk County. The new site would be on or near the SunTrax facility at the Florida Polytechnic University campus.
