Florida News That Impacts You – August 4th, 2025
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you throughout the Palm Beaches and Treasure Coast.
- In advance of the new school year which starts next Monday for area schools, teacher vacancies are nearly 18% lower than a year ago according to the Florida Department of Education, with the two-year vacancy rate 30% lower.
- Today is day three of the scheduled eight-day closure of Northlake Blvd. at Beeline Highway for CSX railroad crossing repairs. It’s the first weekday that high traffic times in morning and afternoon drive will be impacted. Delays of an hour or more are possible with detours of 21 and 34 miles serving as the only options for navigating around the closure.
- It'll be sunny, hot and humid again today with highs in the low 90’s, which is warmer than usual for this date, and a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. More Saharan dust is on its way as a thin layer is currently tracking across the central Atlantic, through the Caribbean and over Florida later today. Related...
- Activity has picked up considerably in the tropics with Tropical Storm Dexter forming on Sunday, Dexter is tracking away from the U.S. towards the mid-Atlantic. There’s a disturbance that’s expected off the coast of Africa later this week with a 50% chance of development and a disturbance off the southeast U.S. coastline with a 30% chance of development. That system is likely to eventually move onshore.
- Gas prices fell through the weekend and are close to a new low for the year. The average price for regular unleaded in Florida is currently $2.94 per gallon - 14 cents lower than a week ago. In Palm Beach County the average price is $3.08 per gallon, in Martin the average is $2.95, ditto St. Lucie, and in Indian River County the average is $2.97 per gallon.