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Southeast Florida In the News - Oct. 2005
BOCA RATON -- A proposal to build 236 single-family homes and town houses on part of the Mizner Trail golf course has generated hundreds of negative responses from nearby residents worried about traffic and school crowding.
BROWARD COUNTY -- The median price of existing single-family homes in Broward County shows signs of leveling but is still 28% higher than it was a year ago. As of July, the median price in Broward had reached $385,600, according to the Florida Association of Realtors -- third in the state behind Naples and Palm Beach County.
DAVIE -- A Broward man was sentenced to 33 months in prison and will pay a $16-million fine as part of a plea agreement reached on charges of operating prescription drug websites that allowed customers to purchase controlled substances without a prescription. According to the Food and Drug Administration, Vincent Chaabra of Golden Beach used the websites to sell diet drugs, Viagra and Celebrex, among others prescription drugs.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Kaplan University is expanding its online student support center, creating 660 jobs in Fort Lauderdale. The university plans to invest $41.7 million in its new facilities, business equipment and networking services.
MARTIN COUNTY -- Commissioners have put the brakes on a proposal to extend water and sewer lines beyond the core urban services area, heeding the concerns of environmentalists and others who dubbed the idea the "Browardization amendment."
MIRAMAR -- Applica (NYSE-APN), a maker of small appliances, has sued a group of employees and former employees, alleging that the group has violated company policy by posting anonymous comments about the company on an internet message board. The company is seeking an injunction to bar the message writers from revealing proprietary information about the company.
PALM BEACH COUNTY -- Plans to give Convention and Visitors Bureau Chief Executive Warren McLaughlin a $26,000 bonus hit a snag after the Palm Beach Post reported that a pay study showing McLaughlin earns less than peers in big cities failed to include any cities in Florida, where head tourism officials in at least four large cities are paid less. McLaughlin earns $156,900 a year.
Charter schools Delray Boynton Academy and Riviera Beach Academy have sued the school district, seeking an injunction to prevent the district from closing them. The schools received "F" grades in 2004 and 2005.
County commissioners have voted to seek proposals from qualified master builders for the Palm Beach County Research Park adjoining the Scripps Research Institute's new Florida campus. The decision follows two years of frustration for the county in its attempts to begin developing the site. The process of qualifying and reviewing proposals for the park is expected to take eight or nine months.
Florida Power and Light Co. is soliciting proposals from power plant developers for two new plants in western Palm Beach County. The natural-gas powered plants are expected to be on line in 2009 and 2010.
PALM BEACH GARDENS -- Cross Match Technologies, the maker of a digital fingerprinting device, has named former Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner James Ziglar chief executive officer, replacing Ted Johnson, who will stay on as chairman.
RIVIERA BEACH -- Three state legislators and two Palm Beach County commissioners are calling for a state financial audit of the city and its community redevelopment agency. Questions about internal financial controls could hamper the city's efforts to get a multimillion-dollar waterfront redevelopment project off the ground.
SOUTH FLORIDA -- Samples of a bright green algae bloom covering a large section of the St. Lucie River and a West Palm Beach canal show that some of it is toxic, health officials say.
ST. LUCIE COUNTY -- Tropicana Products will pay the county about $400,000 to buy methane produced by a local landfill. The company will use the gas to power boilers.
WEST PALM BEACH -- WCI Communities demolished the 1920s-era Helen Wilkes Hotel to make room for luxury condominiums with prices starting at more than $1 million. City officials, however, have declared a temporary moratorium on developing the site as they consider what role it should play in a $25-million redevelopment of the downtown waterfront.
Jacuzzi Brands (NYSE-JJZ) has named Alex Marini COO. Marini, formerly president of the plumbing division, replaces Donald Devine. Jacuzzi cited a cold housing market in the United Kingdom for recent earnings losses.
