{"id":158298,"date":"2026-02-17T12:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/158298\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:20:08","slug":"morning-briefing-central-florida-february-17-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/158298\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Briefing Central Florida February 17 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, Central Florida.\u00a0Here’s what you need to know today.<\/p>\n

Your Weather Planner<\/p>\n

Brighter skies will emerge for Tuesday in the wake of the lingering cloud cover that stuck around for Presidents’ Day. Highs will climb to the mid-70s, right in line with the average for this time in February.<\/p>\n

Temperatures will become increasingly warmer throughout the week under the influence of high pressure, with highs even rivaling records by Friday and Saturday. Throughout this stretch we can anticipate rain-free conditions; the next opportunity for showers arrives on Sunday with a front, but at this time it does not look to be a meaningful opportunity to help with the drought or fire danger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get the full forecast here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stay up to date on the forecast by\u00a0downloading the Spectrum News app<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Highs:\u00a0Mid-70s<\/p>\n

Lows:\u00a0Mid-50s<\/p>\n

Rain Coverage:\u00a00%<\/p>\n

Check your hour-by-hour forecast here<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Share your weather photos<\/a><\/p>\n

Around Central Florida<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0More than a vacation: Orlando emerging as medical tourism destination<\/a>
People are traveling to the Sunshine State for medical procedures, combining healthcare with recovery in a world-class tourism destination \u2014 a growing trend known as medical tourism.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0NASA to conduct second wet dress rehearsal of Artemis II<\/a>
After detecting a liquid hydrogen leak during its first wet dress rehearsal of the Artemis II moon rocket, NASA will attempt a second test of the launch vehicle that will take humans back to the moon.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Unbudgeted cost of cold shelters causes financial headache for some Central Florida nonprofits<\/a>
Leaders with Matthew\u2019s Hope say that opening as a warming shelter during the recent cold snap drained $70,000 from the nonprofit’s operating budget.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Church serves as health care hub to fill gap in services in Eatonville<\/a>
There are no clinics, no doctors\u2019 offices, and no medical labs within the town of Eatonville. To top it off, based on a Data USA analysis of census data, the town has an uninsured rate of around 20%.<\/p>\n

Around the Nation & World<\/p>\n

1.\u00a03 killed, including suspect, in shooting during Rhode Island youth hockey game<\/a><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Epstein files fallout continues<\/a><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigators work with Walmart after identifying suspect’s backpack<\/a><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall dies at 95<\/a><\/p>\n

Quote of the Day<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after the revered leader’s assassination, has died.<\/p>\n

Jackson died Tuesday surrounded by family<\/a>, according to a statement posted online from the family.<\/p>\n

Jackson, 84, led a lifetime of crusades in the United States and abroad, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues from voting rights and job opportunities to education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow\/PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning, Central Florida.\u00a0Here’s what you need to know today. Your Weather Planner Brighter skies will emerge for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2126,139,141,140,275],"class_list":["post-158298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-app-morning-briefing","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-spectrum-news-staff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}