Can a small business insurance marketplace take root in Florida?
Florida Health Choices was created in 2008 by the state legislature — with the idea of promoting competition and transparency in the health insurance market to bring prices down for small businesses. But it is still not operational. It was set to open this past summer, but has been delayed as it continues to try to recruit health insurance companies to sign up and offer their products. [Source: WFSU/Kaiser Health News]MUST-KNOW FLORIDIAN
Meet Kent Westberry. Among his North Lakeland neighbors, Westberry is best known for a mean pitcher of fruit tea. Step into his foyer, and he'll offer a glass. Step farther into his home, and the man's reputation changes completely. There, packed into two spare rooms, sits the evidence of a life entrenched in music — 18,000 records; autographs of famous singers; and a scrapbook filled with photos of him and his wife, Dale, alongside people such as Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn. While Westberry's music can be found on records by Dolly Parton and The Beatles and is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, he keeps a low profile. Read more from the Lakeland Ledger. |
Non-aviation growth eyed by Jacksonville Aviation Authority
Jacksonville's airports will offer more international flights, employ tens of thousands more people, pump billions more into the economy and become Florida's leading aerospace centers during the next decade and beyond, aviation officials said.
At least that's what the Jacksonville Aviation Authority is shooting for.
Plans are to develop some airport properties for use by non-aviation firms while also expanding taxiways and building more hangars and other facilities to attract more aerospace companies.
[Source: Florida Times-Union]
New Bonita River trail inches closer to reality
A dozen years of hard work are drawing to a close for a Bonita Springs environmentalist, sculptor and real estate agent.
Earlier this month, Cullum Hasty obtained an agreement from a Bonita property owner to use part of his land for a walking trail along the Imperial River. The land is the missing link that will open up a part of the city few know about, and Hasty hopes the once crime-ridden area could be revitalized as an eco-tourism attraction.
[Source: Fort Myers News-Press]
Office Depot sales flat, but escapes quarterly loss
Office Depot reported flat sales for its third quarter, and escaped a quarterly loss without tax benefits and restructuring charges, the Boca Raton-based office supply retailer said Tuesday.
In a conference call Tuesday morning, Chief Executive Neil Austrian said he doesn't see the U.S. economy "improving at all" in 2012, but that downsizing store size and other initiatives are getting results.
[Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Leon Medical Center's health plan sold for $3.8 billion
National health insurance giant Cigna on Monday announced the $3.8 billion purchase of the holding company that owns Miami-Dade's Leon Medical Center's Medicare insurance plan.
The Nashville-based holding company, HealthSpring, runs Medicare health maintenance organizations in a half-dozen states. In 2007, it spent $400 million to purchase Leon Medical Centers Health Plans.
The plan's 37,000 members get most of their treatment at seven Leon Medical Centers, which continue to be owned and operated by the Leon family.
[Source: Miami Herald]
Out of the Box » Read more from the Palm Beach Post. |
