Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 12/14/2012

Florida economists predict continued growth

Florida economists are predicting that the state's tax collections will continue to grow over the next three years. Tax collections since this past summer have been slightly higher than expected. It's a sign that the state's economy continues to slowly recover from the recession. [Source: AP]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Being There - Florida Law, Overseas

Florida-born Holland & Knight has offices in four foreign countries. Greenberg Traurig has attorneys in six. Miami’s Diaz Reus [“Danger Zone,”August] built its reputation on being in every country where it sees opportunity. The Miami firm’s international presence includes Caracas, Frankfurt, São Paulo, Kurdistan and Iraq.

» Being There - Florida Law, Overseas

Orange prices rise as crop falls

Florida orange growers who gambled with holding onto their fruit until now because of low early season farm prices hit a small jackpot. Farm prices for oranges have increased about 20 percent from October levels following a reduction of 8 million boxes. [Source: Lakeland Ledger]

Aging America: The cities that are graying the fastest

Notwithstanding plastic surgery, health improvements and other modern biological enhancements, we are all getting older, and the country is too. Today roughly 18.5% of the U.S. population is over 60, compared to 16.3% a decade ago; by 2020 that percentage is expected to rise to 22.2%, and by 2050 to a full 25%. [Source: Forbes]

» FRIDAY PREVIEW: Coming next week to FloridaTrend.com:

Vote of Confidence: Florida pollster Bruce Barcelo is making a name for himself ensuring ‘ballot integrity' in budding democracies.
Rising Tide: Bay County, home to northwest Florida’s largest port and its only container port, is riding a wave of international trade growth.
Triton Submarines: When you're in the business of making $3-million personal luxury submarines, you need to do everything you can to broaden the market.
Toscana Divino: A public-private venture, Toscana Divino is more than just a restaurant in downtown Miami.

» You'll find all these stories first on the Daily and Afternoon Pulse e-mails.

Out of the Box
Octopuses, weather patterns are causing stone crab prices to soar

With the holidays approaching, demand for Florida stone crabs is on the rise. Unfortunately, so is the price. The problem is the supply of the Gulf of Mexico delicacy is down dramatically in some areas because of balmy weather, warm water and the crustacean's fickle life cycle. Then there's the octopus.