Monday's Top Stories

MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2009

WEST PALM BEACH:
Realtors Urging Hike in Conventional Loan Limits

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In another symptom of how drastically the real estate market has changed in the past three years, lenders have all but stopped making jumbo loans. The credit crunch is one reason the housing recovery of recent months has skewed heavily toward low-cost homes, while properties priced for more than $500,000 can languish on the market for months or years. Realtor Randy Bianchi of Paradise Properties in West Palm Beach has a $600,000 listing in a gated community that has been on and off the market since 2006. "There's just no activity," Bianchi says. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

More on this topic:

• Million-dollar homes hard to move in down economy

TALLAHASSEE:
FBI Investigating Sansom Case

The FBI has begun investigating a web of political and personal connections that have already resulted in state indictments of former House Speaker Ray Sansom and two associates. The potential of a federal grand jury complicates and intensifies matters for Sansom, Okaloosa County developer Jay Odom and the former president of Northwest Florida State College, Bob Richburg. The men face felony charges over allegedly securing $6 million in taxpayer money for a college building that Odom may have planned to use for his corporate jet business. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

Also:

• Key document in Sansom case refers to airport early on

APALACHICOLA:
Study: River Flow Could Affect Gulf Fisheries

Reduced water flowing from Georgia and Alabama in the Apalachicola River in Florida could have wider effects than have been traditionally studied, according to Florida State University researchers. Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been fighting in federal court over water from the river system since 1990. Alabama and Georgia want water for cities, farms and recreation on upstream reservoirs while Florida for fish and wildlife in the Apalachicola River and the seafood industry at Apalachicola Bay. The FSU researchers found that low flows in the river coincided with reduced concentrations of microscopic plant-like organisms. [Source: Bruce Ritchie]

Beth Kassab: These deals are so predictable. Orlando puts together an incentive package to lure a company to town. The company's current hometown begs them to stay. Suddenly, the company is faced with deciding which lucrative incentive package to accept. That scenario appears to be playing out with Willard & Kelsey Solar Group, an Ohio-based solar panel manufacturer. Officials in Ohio and Florida are constantly trying to match the latest offer. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:



› A Key to Health Care: Same Cost Everywhere [St. Petersburg Times]
Medicare, the federal health program for seniors, spends a staggering $16,351 a year per Miami patient, more than anywhere else in the nation. In Tampa, it's $8,991.

› Sponsorship of Epcot's Test Track Stuck in Neutral [Orlando Sentinel]
The Epcot attraction remains uncertain as GM and Disney executives negotiate a possible contract extension.

› Fight Brews Over Proposal to Raise FPL Rate [Palm Beach Post]
Consumer watchdogs are railing against Florida Power & Light Co.'s latest attempt to raise customer rates, calling it "excessive" and "irrational" at a time when many Floridians are struggling to pay their bills.

› Recession Crimps Some Town Center Projects [Miami Herald]
Pembroke Pines leaders began planning their City Center during the early days of the real estate boom, and they've spent more than $66 million in taxpayer money on land and development costs.

› Florida Unemployment Hits 10.2% [St. Petersburg Times]
With nearly 943,000 Floridians out of work in May, the state's unemployment rate vaulted to double digits, registering its highest mark since 1975.

› New Complex Rises from Ashes of Boom [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
In the vicinity of downtown Sarasota sit numerous empty lots once destined for condo fame. Other projects started to take shape only to be abandoned when the bottom fell out of the market. But there is one notable exception when it comes to residential real estate: apartments. Also: Living in an empty condo may be mental health risk

› Broward to Make 400 School Layoffs Official Tuesday [Herald]
''I'm not going to quit the profession,'' said Medvecky, a first-year teacher who planned to head Boyd Anderson's drama club next year. "It gave me a real sense of self-worth.''

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