Thursday's Afternoon Update

Will Short Gorham | 3/22/2012

Florida bank failures decrease

Bank failures in Florida have continued to slow as the fallout clears from the housing market crash and the financial crisis, experts say. Only two Florida-based banks appeared on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s list of failed banks this year through March 9. That compares to 12 failures in all of 2011 and 29 in all of 2010 among Florida-based banks, according to FDIC records. [Source: Miami Today]

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Editor's Column It's unclear whether the drilling platform now floating in the Florida Straits 30 miles off Cuba's north shore will actually find oil. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there may be some 4.6 billion barrels of recoverable crude in Cuba's North Basin, but who knows? It's also unclear, if oil is found, how long it will take to begin pumping it out of the ground — some experts estimate three to five years. Whether it finds oil, however, the Scarabeo-9 rig already serves as a giant monument — to how toothless our embargo against Cuba has become and to how expensive and dangerous it is to continue that 50-year-old policy. » Deep Water

Labor Department proposes overtime for home health care workers

Should home health care workers get overtime? The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking public comment on its proposal to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to 2.5 million home health care workers. Florida has more than 31,000 residents working as home health aides; they earn a median wage of $10.21 an hour, according to state data, which is above Florida's minimum wage of $7.67 an hour. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

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7-Eleven plans return to First Coast

7-Eleven is planning a big splash as it returns to Jacksonville, opening 15 to 20 stores in the area this year and 80 by the end of 2015. The president of the world’s largest convenience stores chain made the announcement Wednesday at The Jacksonville Landing, complete with political dignitaries, military color guard and free Slurpees. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

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New Florida orange juice ads stress good feelings

The new ad campaign for Florida orange juice will step into the 21st century with computer-generated imagery and an evolution from its traditional health message. Officials at the Florida Department of Citrus say they hope the new campaign will reverse the tide of falling OJ sales expected to decline during the 2011-12 season for the 10th time in the past 11 years. [Source: Lakeland Ledger]

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Brooklyn center turns to Boca for its 'Brooklyn' bagels and water

A major Brooklyn sports and entertainment venue has found the essence of Brooklyn bagels and tap water — in Boca Raton. New York's famed bagel shops may be miffed, but Barclays Center has chosen Boca Raton's Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company as its bagel vendor. The $1 billion center opens in September as home to the NBA's renamed Brooklyn Nets. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

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Out of the Box South Florida's taste for conch drives smuggling, black market sales State and federal wildlife authorities are investigating a network of suspected conch-smuggling rings that traffick hundreds of pounds of sea snail from the Bahamas to satisfy South Florida appetites. High demand for the protected species — long over-fished in Florida waters — fuels black market sales that smugglers use to evade international rules regulating commercial trade of queen conch. The practice is depleting the Bahamian conch population, experts say, and putting unsuspecting consumers at risk of illness. At least six people have been indicted in South Florida in the past year for illegally importing conch. Full story from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

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