March 29, 2024

Monday's Daily Pulse

What you need to know about Florida today

| 3/17/2014

Florida's wealth a magnet for Ponzi schemes

Ponzi schemes in Florida ripped off at least $5 billion from unsuspecting investors, according to a new analysis of the “Madoff Era.” The Sunshine State ranked second in the nation, with 54 schemes uncovered since 2008, and third in the combined value of those losses. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]


4 million homeowners climb out of negative equity

The economy may be growing at a frustratingly slow pace, but one piece of it is booming: American homeowners' equity holdings — the market value of their houses minus their mortgage debts — soared by nearly $2.1 trillion last year to $10 trillion. [Source: LA Times]


US lags as commercial drones take off around globe

The use of commercial drones, most of them small, is starting to spread to countries where authorities have decided the aircraft presents little threat if operators follow a few safety rules. The drone industry and some members of Congress are worried the United States will be one of the last countries, rather than one of the first, to gain the economic benefits of the technology. [Source: AP]


On foot, wing or claw, invasive species make way to Florida

Burmese pythons. Cuban tree frogs. Nile monitor lizards. Giant African land snails. Just as humans from all corners of the globe flock to Florida, so, too, do creatures of every conceivable classification: mammals, fish, reptiles, mollusks, even microbes. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]


Coastal cities press anew for sway over vacation rentals

The debate over short-term vacation rentals shows how economic development can collide with quality-of-life concerns, and how even lawmakers eager to boost the economy can find their rhetoric complicated by the real-life impact of pro-business proposals. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]


ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› South Florida beaches eroded by Hurricane Sandy replenished
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it has replenished 5.1 miles of beaches in South Florida eroded by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Sandy didn't make landfall in Florida, but the storm contributed to ocean swells that sent water crashing over beaches into roadways.

› School choice bills spark debate, controversy in Florida
Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have ambitious plans to provide Florida's 2.7 million schoolchildren with more choices in education. But critics believe something else — this year's gubernatorial election — is driving the push.

› More Central Florida restaurants see the pasta-bilities
You can keep your paleo diet. More restaurants are cooking up spaghetti and linguine to satisfy Central Florida's passion for pasta. Restaurants nationwide served about 2.2 billion pasta dishes in 2013, a 2 percent increase from the previous year, Research firm NPD Group says.

› From Silicon Valley to Gainesville
SumTotal Systems gradually has taken over all but one corner of the Madison Park building since relocating its headquarters from Mountain View, Calif., in Silicon Valley in 2010, growing from 40 to 250 local employees, with plans to hire 60 to 100 more in 2014.


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Bitter-to-swallow cocoa costs force chocolate shops to raise prices
Bitter-to-swallow cocoa costs force chocolate shops to raise prices

Central Floirda chocolate shops are left with a bitter taste as cocoa prices hit an all-time high earlier this week.

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