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Safari Wilderness Ranch is piece of old Florida that offers unique adventures

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Safari Wilderness Ranch is piece of old Florida that offers unique adventures


Nestled next to the Green Swamp is a ranch that is more like stepping into the wilds of Africa.

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Safari Wilderness Ranch is not a zoo, but it does have animals most people associate with one. It’s not a ranch like a farmer’s ranch, but is more like a range where wild animals live.

READ: Robinson Preserve in Bradenton offers one of Florida’s premier birding destinations

“We have about 800 animals here,” Shared CEO and resident owner Lex Salisbury. “They’re all animals that do well in this climate and they thrive here, and you’ll see them in big herds.”

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The here is a piece of old Florida, still wild and untamed like it used to be.

“We’re at Safari Wilderness now which is 260 acres in the Green Swamp in Florida,” shared Salisbury. “And the Green Swamp is the second-largest wilderness area after the Florida Everglades and this is the heart of the Florida Aquifer.”

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“There are five different ways you can see the place,” shared Salisbury. “You can see ’em on ATVs, you can see ’em on camel back safaris, you can go on vehicle tours, you can do drive-thru tours, and you can can go on kayak tours.”

READ: Jet cars can be driven on the water in Clearwater

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All of the experiences put the visitor in the heart of the open land where the herds of animals live and thrive.

“It’s a different experience than going to a zoo,” admitted Salisbury. “I think it’s a more real, richer thing.”

And he knows a bit about zoos, having worked in the business professionally before opening this adventure.

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“Experiential learning is far more superior than lecturing people in school,” said Salisbury of this ranch. “If you can let people ride a camel, smell a camel, and feel a camel [then] the sense of smell and the sense of touch are emotional triggers that allow you to commit the experience to memory.”

Those memories are what keep people coming back. They are what inspire the next generation of animal lovers to support the conservation efforts of ventures like this.

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Safari Wilderness is located at 10850 Moore Road in Lakeland. To learn more about them and book your own visit, click here.

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Florida man sues Publix, CVS, Costco; claims Adderall caused psychosis

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Florida man sues Publix, CVS, Costco; claims Adderall caused psychosis


ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida man is suing several companies on accusations that his prescription Adderall sent him into “psychosis,” according to court records filed on Wednesday.

WKMG in Orlando reported that the records show that the man — Robert Buckley — had his Adderall prescriptions filled by pharmacists at the following locations:

  • CVS: Orlando — 4974 N. Alafaya Trail

  • COSTCO: Winter Park — 3333 University Blvd.

  • PUBLIX: Orlando — 400 E. Central Blvd.

  • PUBLIX: Oviedo — 4250 Alafaya Trail

  • PUBLIX: Casselberry — 1455 FL-436

However, the lawsuit claims that Buckley was over-medicated, which sent him into psychosis.

“Buckley suffered from an overdose causing psychosis, was falsely imprisoned, suffers seizures, and now suffers permanent injuries,” the lawsuit reads.

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In addition, the lawsuit argues that Buckley suffered injuries and “mental anguish,” and he will “be obligated to pay large sums of money for doctors’ bills, hospital bills, and other directly and indirectly related expenses in an effort to alleviate his suffering and cure his injuries.”

As a result, Buckley is now suing Publix, CVS, Costco and the associated pharmacists.

The lawsuit accuses them of negligence in providing Buckley’s Adderall, claiming they were responsible for his overmedication.

Due to this, the lawsuit is seeking over $50,000 in damages.

Read the full lawsuit below:

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Florida Saw Jump in Workers' Comp Cost per Claim in 2022-23, WCRI Report Shows

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Florida Saw Jump in Workers' Comp Cost per Claim in 2022-23, WCRI Report Shows


Call it the effects of wage creep during the pandemic, along with a little bit of creep in the duration of benefits.

Employers and insurers in Florida saw a 7% increase in total cost per workers’ compensation claim in 2022 and 2023, to just over $30,000 on average, due largely to higher wages and longer temporary disability benefits duration. That was the finding of an analysis by the Workers Compensation Research Institute, which compared COVID-19 pandemic-era costs in Florida and 16 other states.

“The large indemnity growth in 2022 was mainly driven by increases in the average preinjury weekly wage of workers with injuries and duration of temporary disability. In particular, wages in Florida grew 9.5 percent in 2022, faster than the increases in prior years,” notes the report, authored by WCRI researcher Rebecca Yang. Other study states saw similar cost increases.

The work echoed other studies that have found that as employers rebounded from the pandemic shutdowns, they were forced to pay higher wages to attract workers. That led to higher payrolls and higher weekly benefits for injured employees.

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The trend was highlighted late last year when the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation raised the 2024 maximum weekly indemnity benefit to reflect the big jump in average weekly wages. The average wage rose from $1,099 in 2021 to $1,260 in 2023 – a 15% increase. That much of an increase had not been since the high-inflation days of 1980, which saw a 20% spike in wages from two years earlier.

Click on the chart for an enlarged image.

The reasons for a half-week increase in temporary disability benefits duration were also related to the economic realities of the pandemic. In many states, including Florida, TD duration increased in 2020, declined or remained stable in 2021, then increased again in 2022. High unemployment early in the COVID era may have kept some injured workers out of a job, leading to longer injury or benefits duration times, the WCRI report said.

Later, as employment rose nationwide, “the tight labor markets and the potential workforce shortages associated with this reality may have led to longer working hours and worse overall health among current employees.”

The study underscored what other analyses have found – that many employers were forced to hire less-experienced workers in 2022, which may have led to higher injury rates in some job classifications. Post-pandemic, employers have seen an increase in comorbidities for workers. Some employees may have had problems accessing medical care due to a shortage of health care professionals, the study said.

“These factors may have led to more severe injuries, prolonged recovery, and slower return to work,” the report noted.

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The analysis found that duration of temporary disability in Florida increased in 2022 in most industry groups and across age groups with workers aged 35 and above at the time of injury. The report can be accessed here.

It’s too soon to know if the higher costs will put pressure on workers’ compensation rates in Florida. The state, like most others, has seen a steady drop in comp rates over the last two decades. Late last year, Florida regulators approved a 15% average decrease in rates.

WCRI also found that medical payments per claim have remained stable in recent years, in contrast to a 5% per-year increase in the years from 2017 to 2019. Part of the stability was due to a drop in the utilization of medical services at ambulatory surgery centers and other non-hospital providers, the report noted.

That cost stability could be positively impacted, at least to some degree, by new Florida limits on emergency room costs. Florida Gov. last week signed House Bill 989, which, among other changes, clarifies that emergency care, except those procedures subject to the maximum reimbursement allowance, must be set at 250% of Medicare’s rates, unless governed by a contract.

The “agency bill,” which addresses a wide range of issues identified by the Florida Department of Financial Services, also requires DFS to work with actuarial firms to develop maximum reimbursement allowances for emergency services.

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Marco Rubio refuses to say whether he’d leave Florida if Trump picks him as VP

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Marco Rubio refuses to say whether he’d leave Florida if Trump picks him as VP


Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the man Donald Trump once dubbed “Little Marco,” is now vying to be his 2024 vice presidential pick.

And due to a ”technical glitch” in the Constitution, it may be difficult for both the VP and president to be from the same state, which means Mr Rubio may have to leave Florida.

On Fox News Sunday, host Shannon Bream asked whether the Florida Senator would leave the state of Florida or change his residency if he were asked to join Mr Trump’s 2024 ticket.

In short, the Republican lawmaker didn’t answer her question.

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He did, however, say, that Mr Trump is “going to have an extremely talented group of people that can serve this country in multiple roles, and that’s a decision he’s going to have to make.”

He added, “Leaving me aside for a moment, I think that before anyone decides to move from their state, you better make sure you don’t move to a state where there’s not some DA [district attorney] that makes a career after going after Republicans.”

Senator Rubio seemed to be referring to the ongoing hush money trial in New York that was brought by the Manhattan DA’s office. Mr Trump is now standing criminal trial, with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments given to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Mr Trump.

Bream then joked, “So, if you do move, not to New York. That won’t be your choice.”

The Fox News host then said there could be a “technical glitch with having two people from the same state when it comes down to an Electoral College vote,” should Mr Rubio be named as Mr Trump’s running mate.

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She was referring to the 12th Amendment, which states that after a presidential election, “the Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves.”

This could become a problem when Florida electors cast their votes, should a Trump-Rubio ticket emerge, since both men are from the same state as those electors.

But the former president has yet to unveil his 2024 running mate.

Mr Rubio has been considered to be on the former president’s shortlist of potential running mates, and was one of a handful of possible veep contenders at Mar-a-Lago this weekend for a RNC donor retreat.

The evolution of Mr Trump and Mr Rubio’s relationship from infamous feuds to potential running mates is astounding.

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Both men ran for the 2016 GOP nominee, and their online spats quickly devolved into name-calling and jokes about the other’s physical appearance. Most notably, Mr Trump labeled the Florida Senator “Little Marco” while Mr Rubio suggested that Mr Trump had “small hands.”



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