Thursday's Daily Pulse

› Gainesville businessmen admit paying bribes to Florida prison officials [St. Petersburg Times]
Two Gainesville businessmen have admitted paying bribes to state prison officials and officers of Keefe Commissary, the St. Louis company that provides snacks and other items to Florida's prison inmates. Joseph Arthur Deese, 38, appeared in federal court in Jacksonville on Wednesday and pled guilty to conspiracy to pay kickbacks to former Corrections Secretary James V. Crosby and Allen Wayne Clark, another high-ranking prison official. Edward Lee Dugger, 64, entered a similar plea in March. Both men face sentencing July 27. Dugger, owner of an Allstate Insurance agency in Gainesville, befriended Crosby shortly before he was appointed in 2003 to run the state prison system by Gov. Jeb Bush.

› Jacksonville-based PSS broadens its reach in the medical market [Florida Times-Union]
PSS World Medical Inc. grew into a $2 billion-a-year business by distributing medical supplies to physician offices and elder care facilities. But as the Jacksonville-based company laid out a new three-year growth plan for investors, its top officials wanted everyone to know that PSS is more than a product distributor. "We are a professional services company," says President and CEO Gary Corless. In an era where health care reform is a continuing topic for debate nationwide, PSS is focusing on helping its customers manage their businesses by offering a broader range of services than they have in the past. "There's a lot of pressure on caregivers," Corless said. "We're not naive about the challenges out there. But that creates opportunity," he said.

› Focus put on future as space shuttle program's terminal flight nears [Florida Today]
The shuttle program's end next month is a difficult but necessary step to enable human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, where the shuttle can't go, astronauts flying the final missions said Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center. Endeavour's return from its last flight early Wednesday and Atlantis' move to a launch pad for the final shuttle mission -- targeted to blast off July 8 -- pushed the program to the brink of retirement. Members of both flight crews said these final milestones, while bittersweet, should focus not only on the loss of the shuttle. Instead, they should celebrate three decades of shuttle achievements while also accepting that if humans want to some day explore the moon, asteroids or Mars, it's time to move on.

› Digital twist to old-school tradition [St. Petersburg Times]
It's that time, when seniors from Florida high schools hustle to finish exams, attend senior breakfasts and grad nights, and don their caps and gowns. Pinellas County public school seniors begin collecting their diplomas on Friday when Palm Harbor University High School graduates its Class of 2011. This year, however, one of the oldest high school traditions got a new digital twist in Pinellas: yearbooks with barcodes linking to a video memory. St. Petersburg High School is among the first in the Tampa Bay Area to use QR, or quick response, codes, said Steve Ferguson, a representative of yearbook publisher Balfour. (A Broward County school is also using the codes.) Smartphone users can download a free application that reads the code, which takes them to a website with more school highlights. "This really advances our yearbook and sets it apart from all other yearbooks," said Kellam Davis, a St. Petersburg High junior who's on the yearbook staff. Teachers and students say the codes could help jazz up slumping yearbook sales and allow more content to be included in the book even after it's printed

› Former Broward power broker Mendelsohn gets prison [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Onetime Broward power broker Dr. Alan Mendelsohn was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison for what federal prosecutors characterized as a fraudulent political fundraising and lobbying scheme designed to enrich himself. Mendelsohn had hoped for leniency, a light sentence of home confinement, community service and probation. Prosecutors argued that Mendelsohn's influence peddling cynically corrupted the political process and undermined public confidence in elective office, and that sufficient punishment would be a minimum two years in prison. A composed Mendelsohn, 53, stood before U.S. District Judge William Zloch in federal court in Fort Lauderdale and asked for compassion, but the judge determined the Hollywood ophthalmologist deserved to be locked up long enough to serve as a deterrent to those tempted by corruption. After the judge pronounced the sentence, Mendelsohn almost imperceptibly shook his head. "Oh, my God," his wife, Caryl, exclaimed. One of his daughters began crying. For now, Mendelsohn will remain free — he does not have to surrender to prison authorities until early January.

› Tuition hikes, cuts in aid pinch Florida college students [Orlando Sentinel]
College students across Florida will return to classes this fall facing steep tuition increases and a variety of other cost hikes — all at a time when they'll be seeing less financial aid from the state. A number of state-funded aid programs, including the popular Bright Futures scholarships, were among the victims of this year's wave of legislative cutbacks. "It looks pretty grim," said Brad Honious, director of financial aid at Valencia Community College. "Students are getting hit from all levels." Here are details about the changes and some tips on how students can afford to stay in school.

› Legoland seeks to fill 800 seasonal jobs [St. Petersburg Times]
The Legoland family theme park that opens Oct. 15 at the former Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven has dramatically stepped up hiring. The park, which already hired 200 people, on Wednesday posted job openings for more than 800 seasonal positions that will be filled by late August. Starting pay is $7.75 an hour with no other benefits. Most unfilled jobs are for park operations, restaurants and retail shops. The rest of the full-time staff will be filled from the initial seasonal workforce. Applications for an interview can only be filed online at florida.legoland.com. In the first day, 700 applied.