March 28, 2024

Tuesday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 11/20/2012

Hotels, restaurants ready for early Thanksgiving

With a superstorm and major election in the national rearview mirror, Americans can be forgiven if they aren’t exactly prepared for a feast — or flight — on Thursday. Yes, this Thursday. Thanksgiving arrives earlier than usual this year and although hotels have been dangling deals, travelers appear to have been taken by surprise. [Source: Miami Herald]

Related:
» South Florida hotels enjoyed a strong October
» Florida airports project higher holiday traffic this year
» Charities have turkeys, need other foods for holiday meals
» Central Florida auto show in convention center over Thanksgiving weekend
» Long lines hitting holiday travelers early


Florida Trend Exclusive
Redevelopment: "Incubating ideas"

Seven years ago while they were still in their 20s, Chad Kittrell, a bank executive at the time, and J.T. Burnette, an entrepreneur, founded private equity firm Hunter & Harp in Tallahassee. Since that time, the two have launched a half-dozen Tallahassee businesses, invested $30 million in completed projects, put another $16 million worth in the pipeline and created nearly 1,000 jobs. Full story...


Florida companies hoping to make bid for Hostess

Private equity firm Sun Capital Partners wants to buy bankrupt bakery Hostess Brands Inc. Read the full story at Fortune. Additionally, a Sarasota investment company said Monday it plans to make a multimillion bid for the Hostess bakery line, which includes iconic brands such as Wonder Bread and Twinkies snack food. Read more at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.


Governor presses for closer look at Citizens firings

Gov. Rick Scott called Monday for his chief inspector general to expand an investigation to determine whether firings at last-resort insurer Citizens were retaliatory to cover up internal misconduct. Scott’s letter to Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel said he was already troubled by the company’s disbanding of its corporate integrity unit, but a Citizens audit committee report “raised new concerns.” [Source: Palm Beach Post]


Florida citrus begins a week ahead of normal

The 2012-13 Florida citrus season opened with higher grapefruit, orange and tangerine volume. However, the state expects a 17% drop in navel production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Oct. 11 first-season forecast. [Source: The Packer]


ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› South Florida home resales and prices rise in October
More good news for South Florida’s beleaguered housing market. The median price for an existing single-family home in Miami-Dade rose 5.8 percent to $185,000 in October from a year earlier, underscoring the recovery in the housing market is well rooted.

› Down economy drives up number of Collier cab companies
Collier County is crawling with more companies running taxi, limousine and shuttle services, with the number of licensed operators at a five-year high.

› In-school credit union branch teaches teens about money
Claudey Gustave, a senior at Booker T. Washington High School, always had an affinity for business and dreamed of running his own company. But he was not sure what area of business he wanted to pursue. Then his high school partnered with the Dade County Federal Credit Union and his path was made clear.

› Facing move, classic car museum pleads its case
After almost 60 years at the site on Tamiami Trail in North Sarasota, the Sarasota Classic Car Museum has been told by New College, which owns the property, that after June it will have to park its collection of more than 75 classic automobiles somewhere else.


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