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Thursday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Obstacles abound for millennial homeowners but optimism improves
Although many millennials want to begin the next stage of their lives as homeowners, they still face many obstacles. So said a panel of economists and lenders Wednesday in Miami at the National Association of Realtors conference. Chief among the problems is the inability to find a home that they can afford that suits their needs. Worries about low credit scores, lack of funds for a down payment and being stuck in a lease are also are big drawbacks. Nevertheless, more adults in the oldest cohort of millennials, ages 25 to 34, are looking. In that group, those who looked on Realtor.com, rose to 23 percent from 21 percent in the last six months. [Source: Naples Daily News]
Scripps awarded grant for diabetes research
Scripps Florida scientists have been awarded $3.5 million from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health for diabetes research. The Jupiter-based research institute will use the five-year grant to accelerate development of a new class of anti-diabetic compounds. [Source: Sun-Sentinel]
Gulf Power to move toxic coal ash from storage lagoons
Gulf Power has settled a federal lawsuit brought by three conservation groups over the company's storage of toxic coal ash at its power plant in Sneads near the Apalachicola River. Last year, the Apalachicola Riverkeeper, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Waterkeeper Alliance filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee alleging that hundreds of thousands of tons of coal ash were leaking from unlined waste lagoons on a bluff overlooking the river. Gulf Power has agreed to dry out and remove the coal ash, and move it to a new landfill. [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]
Florida small-business owners more confident
Florida small-business owners are seeing a better road ahead, according to a survey released by the Florida Chamber of Commerce. The organization’s recent Florida Small Business Index survey found that 78 percent of respondents expect the economy to improve over the next 12 months. The survey said 18 percent of respondents expect the economy to “improve significantly,” more than double the number from the survey last year. [Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal]
State growth last year driven by Hispanics
Hispanic residents made up almost half of Florida's population growth last year, and the age gap between Florida's white and minority residents continued to widen, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Florida grew by more than 290,000 residents from July 2013 to July 2014, and more than 141,000 of those new residents were Hispanic. [Source: Bradenton Herald]
› Florida rises in CNBC business ranks
"The economy in the Sunshine State is glimmering again, but education issues are dragging down a traditionally strong workforce," CNBC said in summary remarks about Florida.
› Seminoles seek mediation in stalemate over blackjack
The state broke its promise of exclusive rights to “banked card games” by allowing electronic blackjack and player-banked poker elsewhere in the state.
› Historians differ if Fla. flag echoes Confederate banner
To art majors, it’s a saltire, a heraldic symbol. To theologians, it’s a St. Andrew’s Cross. To a lot of us, it’s just a big red X. But is that thing criss-crossing Florida’s state flag really a racist symbol of the old Confederacy?
› Lennar profit jumps as deliveries, prices rise
Miami-based home builder Lennar Corp. on Wednesday said profit rose 33 percent in its latest quarter.
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