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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida rebound powered by foreign investors
Record foreign investment in Florida housing the last three years is boosting property-tax revenue in areas hardest hit by the recession. In the 10 Florida counties with the largest influx of international cash since 2010, property-tax assessments are up an average 4.1% this year, state records show, nearly double the rise in the rest of Florida. Read more from Bloomberg News and the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
See also:
» The housing bust missed rents in South Florida
Collectors of Florida history
Two collectors of historic Florida artifacts share their interests. Also, we list other notable Florida historical collections around the state. Full story.
Florida groups get $7.8 million in Obamacare grants
In all, $7.9 million in grant funding was awarded to eight groups. These grants will pay for trained "navigators" to fan out across communities – in schools, libraries, employment offices and wherever the uninsured can be found – to help people fill out forms or enroll on line. More than 3 million currently uninsured Floridians will be eligible to purchase health coverage -- often with a federal subsidy -- from an online "exchange." More from the Orlando Sentinel and the AP.
Automatic tips may be off the table
If you dine out in a big group, chances are you've had an automatic tip tacked on to your bill. That practice might soon go away. Orlando-based Darden Restaurants may drop automatic gratuities for tables of eight or more at its chains including Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse. Experts predict others will follow suit. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
If you're poor in Florida, you're better off living in Miami
Children from low income families in Florida have the best chance of achieving a higher income level if they grow up in Miami. A Miami child in the bottom fifth income level had a 7.4 percent chance of rising to the top fifth, the highest rate of mobility in the state. [Source: WLRN]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› MLB may intervene in Tampa Bay Rays stadium dispute
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday the slow pace of stadium talks between the Tampa Bay Rays and the city of St. Petersburg may prompt him to intervene.
› St. Johns County makes where-the-jobs-are list
Money magazine has released its list of the top 25 places in the country where the jobs are. St. Johns County comes in at No. 5. Job growth from 2010 to 2012 was 12.1 percent, and the magazine called it “The healthiest county in Florida and leads the state in public education.”
› State higher education job requires political savvy, soft touch
The pay’s good, and the title of the job sounds nice enough — chancellor of the state university system. But Florida’s next leader in higher education will inherit a job that requires a soft touch, keen political savvy and the dexterity to manage many bosses.
› Railworkers, AFL-CIO sue over rejected SunRail bid
Two unions filed a lawsuit Thursday objecting to the state's attempt to side-step an agreement from 2009 to use federally certified union signal workers in the signal construction of the $1.6 billion SunRail commuter line.
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