Teach Me How to Get the Money Grant Workshop Oct. 16

Fellsmere awarded $700K for community development

Fellsmere was one of 48 cities and counties to be awarded state funding toward community development Wednesday, according to the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The $700,000 grant for the city will go toward replacing streets, sidewalks and landscaping from North Broadway Street to South Broadway Street, officials said. "Making investments in our small communities helps build opportunities for generations to come," DeSantis said in a statement. "I am proud to make these awards to 48 communities throughout the state to help them build economic resiliency and strengthen their communities." DeSantis issued more than $35 million to the communities through the Florida Small Cities Community Development Block Grant. The funds will be used for economic development, commercial and neighborhood revitalization, ...

Harbor Branch scientist gets lagoon monitoring grant

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute's network of Indian River Lagoon water quality monitoring stations is about to expand and generate more data than ever before – thanks to a grant of more than $865,000 from the institute's fundraising foundation. According to Dr. Dennis Hanisak, a research professor and director of the Indian River Lagoon Observatory, the grant will fund construction and maintenance of three new LOBO stations in Brevard County to augment the 10 already dotting the lagoon between the St. Lucie Estuary and Sebastian Inlet. The stations produce real-time info on factors that influence lagoon health, such as salinity, temperature, depth, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. The grant will also pay for new sensors at existing stations that, for the first ...

Environmental groups continue lagoon cleanup and education efforts

Even as much of Florida and the world have come to pretty much of a standstill due to COVID-19, local environmental and conservation organizations are still working to clean up the troubled Indian River Lagoon and educate school children and other members of the public about lagoon issues – all while maintaining social distancing. Ocean Research and Conservation Association is conducting its usual suite of environmental monitoring programs – maintaining its Kilroy network of water quality stations around the lagoon and doing other field work. ORCA chief scientist Dr. Edie Widder said it’s not difficult for the organization’s 13 fulltime employees to maintain a safe distance from each other in the field. ORCA has postponed all its citizen science training ...