Wednesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 3/5/2014

Private sector adds 139,000 jobs

U.S. private employers added 139,000 jobs in February, shy of economists' expectations, and gains in the previous month were revised lower, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 160,000 jobs. More at Reuters.

Entrepreneurs who fled Cuba are returning to help

The business ideas have ranged from a bikini franchise to a peanut farm, restaurants, and design firms for software and home interiors. But even more novel than the pitches – in a country where entrepreneurship used to be illegal – is the financial muscle behind them: Cuban-Americans whose families lost their previous ventures to Cuba’s Communist government. More at the Globe and Mail.

Port tunnels readied to open in May

Space News

NASA budget would ramp up asteroid mission

NASA's proposed budget for fiscal 2015 would ramp up funding to fly astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 as part of a stepping-stone approach to Mars, a mission some lawmakers want to replace with a return trip to the moon.

After years of planning and construction costing more than $1 billion, PortMiami’s twin-tunnel system is slated to open to public traffic in the third week of May. More at Miami Today.

Florida Tech Aviation program getting some new wings

The flight training arm of Florida Institute of Technology is welcoming a shipment of five new airplanes. The aircraft Piper Archer TX models with Garmin G1000 glass cockpit avionics systems. These aircraft bring the flight school’s fleet total to 46 aircraft overall and 13 of the type after the initial delivery of eight Archers in May of 2013. More at Florida Today.

Palm Beach County makes pitch to world travelers

Palm Beach County folks are partnering with Brand USA and Visit Florida to produce multilingual videos to highlight key attractions, shopping, and cultural and entertainment offerings to visitors from South America and Europe. More at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Entertainment Business
SeaWorld's Whale of a Fight

The Orlando-based company’s flagship park in Orlando was headed for record earnings with higher ticket prices and new attractions. Then came what looked to be another stock documentary by free-the-whales activists, a low-budget film destined for a quick fade to obscurity. But Blackfish the movie caught fire in late 2013, and has SeaWorld executives seeing red.