March 29, 2024

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What You Need to Know About Florida Today

Will Short Gorham | 7/25/2011

› Physicians, gun advocates tangle over new 'Docs vs. Glocks' law
Four years ago, an experienced gun owner in Pembroke Pines named Reynaldo Gonzalez made an exception he will forever regret. His 15-year-old daughter, Yamel Trigo, begged to show off his guns, usually locked away except when Gonzalez went to the range, to a visiting teenage cousin. Out came the guns and a camera, Yamel recalls. The cousin posed with a .22-caliber rifle, which Yamel's dad thought was unloaded. The cousin put her finger on the trigger — something safety-minded gun owners know never to do unless you mean to fire. The rifle went off. The bullet hit Yamel in the neck and left her a quadriplegic. Cases like Yamel's in which kids are shot accidentally are hardly new, but now they're at the core of an unusual legal battle pitting a portion of the medical profession against some powerful gun-rights advocates and the state of Florida.

› Changes slow to appear at Disney's Pleasure Island
At the end of summer in 2008, Walt Disney World shut down the nightclubs that once made Pleasure Island an after-dark destination for more than a million people a year, saying it wanted to transform the adult-oriented district into a new venue more suitable for families with children. Three years later, Disney has yet to realize that vision. Five Pleasure Island clubs are still standing, but they are sealed up and dark, little more than elaborately themed, empty storefronts. Two others have been demolished, replaced only by a grass field walled off from pedestrians. Just one new restaurant has been added, though Disney says a clothing boutique will open later this summer.

› Law firm's strategy raises ethical issues
David E. Ramba is a Tallahassee lobbyist and lawyer who has prospered representing well-heeled clients such as AT&T, the Seminole Tribe and the Florida Chiropractic Association. But these days, he flies his six-seat Piper Malibu around Florida championing the cause of the little guy. His target: the big, bad banks. Ramba, 40, has joined forces with a California attorney and opened offices in Pinellas Park and Boca Raton where employees ask struggling homeowners to join an innovative legal action against their lenders. Prospective plaintiffs are told that nearly 6,000 people have joined the effort and six lawsuits have been filed so far. But there are several hitches.

› Brazilian furniture maker Artefacto mines the international market
About 1,000 people circulated around Artefacto's Merrick Park showroom one night last week, sipping cocktails and tiny glasses of malanga soup, perching on designer chairs and chatting about their next decorating or redecorating projects. The after-hours event at the Brazilian furniture retailer and manufacturer's Coral Gables store was the launch of a designer showcase that will run for the next 11 months. The company has held a similar marketing event in Brazil for the past 15 years, but this is the first time it has staged a Design House in the United States. With the U.S. real estate market still in a funk, this isn't the best of times for furniture stores. And events such as Design House are becoming more important in getting customers across the threshold.

› Empty space haunts Orlando as big stores close doors
Borders began liquidation sales for the last of its bookstores Friday, adding even more vacant retail space to a region already struggling to fill its empty storefronts. The shells of other empty Borders bookstores still litter the landscape, along with old Pier 1 Imports, Belk, Blockbuster Video and Circuit City stores that were victims of the economic downturn. Orlando's retail real-estate market has been sluggish, according CB Richard Ellis, losing more than 200,000 square feet of occupancy since the end of last year. While big spaces in the best spots have gotten filled, the company said in a report released this week, those in older centers or less-desirable parts of town often remain empty.

› Top officials cash in on the way out
Four years into one of the longest economic slumps in memory, local governments have cut salaries, jobs, and even unilaterally reworked negotiated union contracts. Yet big payouts for top officials leaving public-sector jobs, a practice that sparks outrage from taxpayers, continue essentially unabated. Even in these brutally tough budgetary times, top administrators seldom leave without a golden handshake. Here's a look at some.

› Study shows people are pressed for time, eager to relax
The latest snapshot of U.S. travelers reveals them to be a stressed-out bunch who remain sensitive to price and continue to suffer from a syndrome known as "time poverty." That could prove to be a challenge for Central Florida's tourism industry, but there is good news as well in the newest research by the Maitland travel research-and-marketing firm Ypartnership. For one thing, the number of people who say they are planning to take a leisure trip in the near future is rising, a sign that demand is returning.

› Celebrity Cruises CEO discusses new ship
Dan Hanrahan, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, has been busy lately introducing the company's newest ship. The only catch: The 2,886-passenger Celebrity Silhouette is the fourth of five in the Solstice class, which debuted its first ship in 2008. So how to keep interest high when the product is already familiar to loyal customers?

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Facial recognition cameras in Florida city spark privacy concerns
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New security cameras in downtown Lakeland are raising concerns about privacy. The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority has begun installing 13 new security cameras on streets, sidewalks, and alleyways, and there are mixed feelings about them.

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