A.I. Data Centers and legislative updates, Francisco Menéndez and Fort Mose, and more

A.I. Data Centers and legislative updates, Francisco Menéndez and Fort Mose, and more

From The Florida Roundup by WLRN News & WUSF

February 20, 2026 · 50 min

About this episode

The episode discusses AI data centers, legislative updates in Florida, and highlights on Black history and education.

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about the push to build new large-scale data centers for artificial intelligence and how local communities in Florida are responding with WUSF’s Jessica Meszaros (00:00). Then, we checked in with Douglas Soule, ‘Your Florida’ state government reporter, about an effort to restrict the governor's use of the state’s emergency fund (14:42). Plus, we heard about a new film from Flagler College about the unique history of Francisco Menéndez and the free Black settlement Fort Mose (19:34). We also spoke about the state’s plan to create a museum dedicated to Black history in Florida (31:00). And later, a roundup of educational news from across the state (37:32) and the outlook ahead for Florida’s drought (45:08).

People in this episode

Guests: Jessica Meszaros, Douglas Soule

Topics covered

  • artificial intelligence
  • data centers
  • Florida politics
  • Black history
  • education news
  • drought outlook

Keywords

  • data centers
  • artificial intelligence
  • Florida politics
  • Black history
  • Fort Mose
  • education news
  • drought

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Fort Mose, Florida

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