The start of the Everglades happens right in our backyards.

“When I say the word ‘Everglades,’ people think Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and maybe Naples, or Fort Myers,” said Sam Haught, the co-owner and co-founder of Wild Florida Airboats. “But the Everglades water system spreads all the way up through Orlando.”

As the headwaters of the Everglades, Central Florida’s waterways supply a large amount of the water that flows south into the heart of the Everglades National Park.

Learn more about the history of the Everglades, changes to the Kissimmee River, and see why one land investor purchased land by the gallon.

PRODUCED BY THE PULPTOWN CREATIVE STUDIO WITH WILD FLORIDA

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Gov. Ron DeSantis has gotten off to anything but a quiet start since being sworn in to his new position last month. He’s focused a great deal of his $91.3 billion budget on the environment, including hundreds of millions of dollars dedicated to cleaning up Florida’s waterways and protecting the Everglades (timely, we were just talking about them above).

And another issue has been a major focus for him early in his tenure – education. After announcing that he wanted to make a more fair playing field for students waiting for private school vouchers, last Friday he announced plans to create an entirely new voucher program. And he wants state lawmakers to make it happen.

This proposed plan would cost about $90 to $100 million and would be focused on the more than 14,000 kids currently waiting for private school vouchers through the Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

The plan got lots of cheers when the governor announced it at Calvary City Academy last week but critics aren’t so thrilled. The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, described the plan as a “voucher scheme” and said that  “scholarship’ programs, fail to adequately serve our students.”

In other news…

• Festival ready. The cold weather appears to be gone so grab your sunglasses, and check out this list of festivals coming to Orlando. (WKMG)
• Blazing a trail. One of the fastest runners in the world is from right here in the Sunshine State. Oh, and he’s only seven years old. (SB Nation)
• Blubbery bliss. Last week there was plenty of love in the air, and over at SeaWorld that extended to a walrus family welcoming a new calf. (WKMG)

‘TIL TOMORROW

We’ll see you mañana.

Make it a good one, Orlando,

— Pulptown