Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 2024, the Florida Panthers hoisted their first Stanley Cup, edging the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in a Game 7 nail-biter in Sunrise after nearly blowing a 3-0 series lead.

Way at the bottom of this email, you'll find an item about Argentine black-and-white tegus invading an area in Brevard County. Hit reply to tell us if you've come across these big lizards in the wild?

Today's sponsor, Miso Robotics, is betting that the future of fast food isn't replacing workers with robots. It's pairing employees with AI-powered "cobots" that help restaurants run faster, smarter, and more profitably.

Jury Acquits Pino in Boat Crash

A Miami-Dade jury acquitted Doral broker George Pino of manslaughter and vessel homicide Monday in the 2022 boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez.

Pino, 55, was driving his 29-foot Robalo on Sept. 4, 2022, when it slammed into a channel marker near Boca Chita Key and capsized. Fernandez drowned, and another teen, Katy Puig, now 21, was left permanently disabled.

Prosecutors argued Pino sped through a narrow channel at nearly 50 mph after a day of drinking, with his daughter and a group of her friends aboard. Investigators later found dozens of alcohol containers on the salvaged boat.

Pino, who did not testify, embraced his family in tears as the not-guilty verdict was read, less than two hours into deliberations. Defense attorney Howard Srebnick called the crash "a tragic accident, not a crime." State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said she disagreed with the jury's decision but accepted it.

Surfside Marks Five Years

Families of the 98 people killed in the Champlain Towers South collapse will gather in Surfside on Wednesday to mark five years since the disaster.

The 12-story beachfront tower crumbled just after 1 a.m. on June 24, 2021, as most residents slept. Hundreds were displaced, and no one has been held criminally responsible.

On Monday, the National Institute of Standards and Technology said the failure began about three weeks earlier, when two connections between the garage columns and the pool deck gave way. Investigators concluded the building's margins against failure had been too thin from the start.

The findings, drawn from two dozen simulations over five years, brought little closure, and a final report is still pending. "The federal government spent nearly $40 million, allocated every resource they needed, and they came back with pretty much nothing," said Martin Langesfeld, whose sister died in the collapse.

SpaceX Debuts Starfall Capsule

SpaceX launched its first Starfall capsule from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday, debuting a new spacecraft built to haul cargo back from orbit.

The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 6:53 a.m., and its first-stage booster returned to a droneship in the Atlantic on its 29th flight. The mission is the first of at least two planned Starfall demonstrations.

Unlike capsules that ferry satellites or astronauts, the disk-shaped Starfall is designed to bring up to 2,200 pounds of cargo back to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific. SpaceX says it could return goods manufactured in orbit, from pharmaceuticals to specialty materials.

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“Cobots” Are Transforming This $1T Market

They’re not replacing humans; they’re working with them. That’s the promise of “cobots,” or collaborative robots.

In a robotics market NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang called “one of the largest industries ever,” the cobot segment is projected to grow 15X by 2035.

And Miso Robotics is proving its value in the $1T fast-food industry.

Their Flippy fry station AI robot boosts restaurant profits up to 3X, logging 200k hours in live kitchens alongside human employees for brands like White Castle.

Flippy carries $4B/year in U.S. revenue potential on its own. And that's just one piece of Miso’s platform.

Big-name brands like Jersey Mike’s and Cinnabon just became customers. Industry powerhouse Ecolab already invested. Join them as an early-stage shareholder before Miso hits their $2.5M raise goal for June.

➤ St. Augustine: Two inmates at the St. Johns County jail face charges over an escape plot. They knocked out a cell window and arranged by phone for a saw blade, a "finger phone," and drugs to be flown in by drone, before a cellmate dispute exposed the plan. (See Details)

➤ Gainesville: University of Florida trustees voted unanimously Monday to install former University of Alabama president Stuart Bell as interim president, effective July 1, after the state Board of Governors delayed a vote on making him permanent amid a dispute over UF's governance. (See Details)

➤ Miami-Dade: ICE began evacuating detainees from the Krome Detention Center, on the edge of the Everglades, over the weekend as nearby brush fires burned. (See Details)

➤ I-4 corridor: Florida broke ground on five projects to add about 917 truck-parking spaces along Interstate 4, funded by a $180 million federal grant, easing a chronic shortage on a corridor that carries roughly 95% of the state's goods. (See Details)

➤ Palm Beach County: Developers secured a $33.8 million package to build Village of Valor, a 54-unit affordable-housing community for military veterans and their families in Palm Springs, with on-site support services and half the units reserved for the lowest earners. (See Details)

➤ Cape Coral: An inaugural Stuff the Bus drive blew past expectations, collecting more than 40,000 school supplies in two weeks for local students. Volunteers loaded the donated backpacks, notebooks, and pencils onto a school bus on Saturday. Families can pick up supplies Aug. 1. (Read Story)

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➤ The Miami Heat acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, a pick swap, and a second-round pick. (More)

➤ Edge rusher Dean Miller, who hopes to play for UCF, filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking an additional season of eligibility for 2026. Miller argues his junior college season should not count against his eligibility clock because COVID-19 restrictions limited his recruiting exposure. (More)

➤ The Florida Panthers enter Friday's NHL Draft in Buffalo without a first-round pick after trading both its 2026 first-rounders (Nos. 9 and 25), plus future picks, to Ottawa on Sunday for captain Brady Tkachuk, who reunites with brother Matthew in South Florida. (Read Story)

➤ Miles Russell, a 17-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, the world's top-ranked junior and a Florida State commit, became the second-youngest player to make a U.S. Open cut since World War II, then surprised his father on Father's Day by having him caddie the final hole at Shinnecock Hills. (Read Story)

➤ Brazil faces Scotland tonight at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, the third of seven World Cup matches the venue is hosting. Brazil leads Group C with four points; Scotland has three entering the group finale. (Read Story)

Yesterday's results: World Cup | MLB | WNBA

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➤ Florida's unemployment rate held steady at 4.8% in May, above the national average of 4.3%, with an estimated 531,000 Floridians out of work in a labor force of 11.45 million. The private sector added 20,200 jobs over the past year. (See Details)

➤ Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini proposed a one-year moratorium on new data centers, which commissioners took up Tuesday and could finalize within two weeks. Nassau, Pasco, and Jackson counties have passed or considered similar pauses amid scrutiny of the facilities' power and water demands. (See Details)

➤ Florida International University again posted the highest score in the state university system's annual performance metrics, while Florida Gulf Coast University ranked lowest. No school fell below the threshold requiring a corrective plan. The rankings weigh graduation rates, graduate wages, and cost. (See Details)

➤ With the Orlando metro's median home price topping $400,000, a new pilot program by the GXVE Homes Initiative aims to build homes priced around $200,000 in Orlando's Parramore neighborhood for families earning $16,000 to $65,000 a year. (See Details)

➤ Buc-ee's, the Texas-based travel-center chain, is planning several new Florida stores, including a location near I-75 north of Ocala. Other spots are being eyed in Tallahassee, Fort Pierce, and Port Charlotte. The Tallahassee site is projected to bring about 200 jobs. (See Details)

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Musk: This Will Make Everyone Wealthier Than Me

After SpaceX’s history-making IPO, Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire. But he says the forthcoming AI and robotics boom will make everyone wealthier than him.

Over 44,000 people are tapping into this boom by investing in a private robotics company: Miso Robotics.

Miso’s AI and robots are becoming fixtures across the $1T fast-food industry, serving customers at Cinnabon, Jersey Mike’s, Jamba, and many more. In fact, Miso’s Flippy Fry Station AI robot has already logged over 200,000 hours in real kitchens like White Castle.

Now Miso’s scaling Flippy across a $4B/year US revenue opportunity. And it’s only one piece of Miso’s growing platform.

This is your chance to tap into this growth as a Miso shareholder. Invest before Miso hits their $2.5M raise goal for June.

This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics’ Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.misorobotics.com

➤ The Night Nation Run, billed as an after-dark running music festival, brings a neon-lit 5K with live DJs, light shows, and a main-stage after-party to the Buccaneers' stadium Saturday night. (See Details)

➤ The Central Florida Zoo in Sanford introduced Leeloo, a Linnaeus's two-toed sloth and the youngest in its care, one of the survivors rescued from the shuttered Sloth World attraction. (See Photos)

➤ MacDill Air Force Base's waterfront will host the Stars and Stripes Beach Bash on Friday, a patriotic summer kickoff for the base community with beach games, water activities, and family entertainment. (See Details)

➤ State wildlife officials are asking residents near Lake Poinsett in Brevard County for help tracking Argentine black-and-white tegus, an invasive lizard that can reach nearly 5 feet, swims well, and eats the eggs of alligators, sea turtles, and ground-nesting birds. (See Details)

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➤ A Harvard scientist discovered a new "facelift protein" that smooths wrinkles, shrinks pores, and evens-out red blotchy skin in just 7 seconds a day. What surprised researchers the most wasn't just the results...It was that women with higher levels of this "facelift protein” appeared to age dramatically better than their peers. Learn about this new discovery here.

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

➤ Savannah Guthrie made a tearful on-air plea as new details emerge in her mother's disappearance. (Listen Here)

➤ Should weight-loss drugs be banned in sports? Serena Williams reignited the debate. (Hear More)

➤ These are the 20 highest-paying jobs in America that aren't doctors. (Tune In)