Manatee County may soon have an armed workforce.

What's happening: Manatee's Board of Commissioners debated for two hours Tuesday after Commissioner James Satcher proposed allowing employees to be armed at work, per the Bradenton Herald.

• This comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis began pushing for an open carry law last week.

Context: Properly licensed gun owners in Manatee can bring their firearms onto county property, but employees are prohibited from carrying guns on the job.

What they're saying: "Gun-free zones should be called criminal empowerment zones. They basically just let the bad guys know exactly where to target," Satcher said at a public meeting, per the Herald.

• "I feel we have a similar situation right now with (nearly) 2,000 county employees that are not allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights while they're at work."

The other side: Commissioner Reggie Bellamy was the only one to vote Tuesday against researching a new policy that would allow for armed employees. Instead, he proposed a review of the county's security systems, expressing concern about an employee shooting a coworker or a member of the public.

• "We do want to make sure everyone is protected, but we can take different angles to make sure those protections are in place," Bellamy said at the meeting.

What's next: Commissioners voted to direct county staff to research Satcher's proposal before it's brought up again at a public meeting on July 26.

Last week, we told you about the wildlife underpass being constructed on I-4 in Polk County that will help reconnect wilderness bisected since the road was built in the 1960s.

• Here are some fresh aerial photos from Carlton Ward Jr. that provide a much better view of what the underpass will reconnect, and why it's so important.

Of note: If you're interested in this kind of landscape-scale conservation, check out "American Scar," a short documentary about the consequences of the continued construction of the border wall in Arizona.

🚃 Tampa's 2.7-mile-long TECO Line Streetcar had 104,826 riders in April and is on track for more than 1.1 million this fiscal year. (Tampa Bay Business Journal)

🚣‍♀️ Sarasota County will spend $20 million of tourism tax revenue to build a boathouse and indoor sports complex at Nathan Benderson Park. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

💻 National cybersecurity firm Rapid7 has leased 42,000 square feet of office space on two floors at Sparkman Wharf in Water Street Tampa. (Tampa Bay Times)

🐋 Two sperm whales died within seven days of each other in the Florida Keys, and state and federal officials are trying to figure out why. (Fl Keys News)

Quotes du jour:

"I've got a serious situation here. My pilot has gone incoherent, and I have no idea how to fly the airplane."

"I think the man has a problem."

Dating can be expensive, but you don't have to spend a ton of money to have a good time.

• Whether you're on a first date or have been together for years, here are four date ideas under $30, rounded up by Axios' Sami Sparber.

1. Pick up margaritas to go

Grab a 1/4 gallon of to-go margaritas from Margaritas Mexican in Tampa and watch the sunset from Seaplane Basin Park on Davis Islands.

Best for: Couples who love to booze al fresco

Cost: $28

Yes, and: Enjoy a drink with a view at these rooftop bars.

Check out the rest

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The New York Post reported that Fox Corporation will pay Tom Brady $375 million over 10 years to be its lead NFL broadcast analyst. The Athletic unpacked the numbers:

If he retires after this season, his $37.5 million average annual salary starting in 2023 would be fourth among NFL player salaries and the highest of Brady's career. (He'll make $25 million this year, the most so far.)

• It would also be the highest salary of any color commentator, dwarfing guys like Troy Aikman and Tony Romo.

Here’s an excerpt from “Dreams in the New Century: Instant Cities, Shattered Hopes, and Florida’s Turning Point,”  the new book by Gary Mormino, the Frank E. Duckwall professor of history emeritus at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg:

If modern Florida needed an official slogan, it should be, "Because we could." That simple declarative sentence encapsulates centuries of Floridians' dominion over nature and ethical dilemmas.

Why would sensible people build high-rise condominiums on barrier islands? Why would politicians, supposedly acting in the public interest, plunder the Everglades, destroy wetlands and natural habitat, straighten rivers, disfranchise felons, build and rebuild six-lane highways while scorning mass transit, and persist on a hell-bent policy that promised growth would pay its way?

How does one explain to future generations that we once welcomed — indeed, subsidized — phosphate mining and corporate sugarcane farming? Florida was once home to some of the purest and largest freshwater springs in the world.

How do we explain to future generations that we awarded generous extraction rights to a foreign corporation that pumped millions of gallons of water destined for plastic containers, distant markets, and paltry returns?

Because we could.