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Friday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida named one of the top states for business
Florida is once again the second-best state in the U.S. to do business, according to CEOs surveyed for a new report released Thursday by Chief Executive magazine. More at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Orlando Business Journal.
Many outside groups aren't fighting to be part of special session
Special interest groups whose issues weren't resolved this spring have no guarantee they'll secure a spot on the agenda for the special session scheduled to start June 1. Texas was ranked No. 1, as it was in 2014, followed again by Florida. And many of them aren't even trying, opting instead for a rallying cry they might make after a more typical session: Wait until next year. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
The house where Ma and son Freddie Barker met their demise is up for sale. [Photo: John Pendygraft/Tampa Bay Times]
Florida Originals
Bullets before breakfast:
Ma Barker's house is for sale
Before dawn on Jan. 16, 1935, as many as 25 FBI agents surrounded a two-story home in Ocklawaha near Ocala. Inside the house, most members of the Barker-Karpis gang were already gone, apparently tipped off to the coming raid. Today, the house is being offered to the state. The price: $1 million. Access full story.
Gov. Scott files injunction to get federal hospital funds
After striking out with federal officials, Gov. Rick Scott accelerated his efforts Thursday to secure federal funding for hospitals’ care for the poor, filing an injunction aimed at preventing the Obama administration from ending the program. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
This is what CEOs give (and get) on Mother's Day
The National Retail Federation expects the holiday to ring up $21 billion in retail sales this year, and the promotions can be relentless. What do successful CEOs give and get on Mother’s Day? Five CEOs told Fortune their stories. [Source: Fortune]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Universal Parks and Resorts will create attractions based on Nintendo games
Universal Parks & Resorts will create theme-park attractions based on Nintendo video games,. Nintendo is the creator of games such as Super Mario Bros. and Zelda.
› University of Miami to study the health effects of e-cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes, the plastic, light-up, 21st-century version of traditional smokes, have been marketed as the safe alternative to smoking, despite no studies on how they affect the human body — until now.
› Orlando drop in homeownership among biggest in US
Metro Orlando's homeownership rate dropped by more than that of almost any metro area in the U.S. from 2010 to 2013, according to a study released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
› eMerge Americas conference wins praise
eMerge Americas gave South Florida’s technology community the stage this week, and reviews were quite favorable. It appeared that Miami — and the effort to build a tech hub for the Americas — may be starting to move beyond the buzz. The region is getting noticed.
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