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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

FL Community Set to Become Nation's First Solar-Powered Town

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Monday, April 2, 2018   

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – One brand-new Florida town has taken its first steps toward becoming completely solar powered. Babcock Ranch, just north of Ft. Myers, already has residents moving in and businesses looking to get in on the action.

The town's developers hope its success will keep the federal government from imposing high tariffs on solar energy, and keep the energy source in private hands rather than government-controlled. Babcock Ranch developer Syd Kitson says Florida has done a good job of embracing solar energy.

"I think the state of Florida has really, over the last several years, realized that it's the Sunshine State, and that this is a great opportunity for a renewable-energy source for the state of Florida," says Kitson.

He says Babcock Ranch should see about 250 families moving into the area within the year. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on solar panels made outside of the U.S. earlier this year, although opponents say that could cost thousands of jobs and billions of investment dollars for the solar industry.

Kitson says the land for the ranch was purchased in 2006, and more than 90 percent of it is being preserved for wildlife. For the homes and businesses, Florida Power and Light partnered with town founders to build a 75 megawatt solar-generating facility that's already working.

Kitson says energy prices are comparable to other power sources, and the home prices were set to attract a wide range of buyers.

"We have homes priced from anywhere from the high 'ones,' low $200,000s, up to $1 million," he explains. "What we're trying to do is create a full stratification of pricing and products for people to move into Babcock Ranch."

He adds that autonomous transportation shuttles are already in the works, along with a gigabyte of fiber in every home.


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