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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Federal Reserve raises interest rates
The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate on Wednesday by a quarter of a percentage point to between 0.25 percent and 0.50 percent, ending a debate about whether the economy was strong enough to withstand higher borrowing costs. The rate hike is a small one, but it will affect millions of Americans, including investors, home buyers and savers. Savers will eventually see a little more interest on their deposits at the bank, and mortgage rates will gradually rise. More at CNN and Reuters.
» Full statement from the Fed is here.
One Spark announces enhancements to its Creator Academy
One Spark organizers announced Wednesday that they are beefing up efforts to better train participants in the annual crowdfunding festival that will consume over a dozen blocks of downtown Jacksonville in April. More at the Florida Times-Union.
Seminole showing higher flu activity than other Florida counties
If you live in Seminole County, you may know more neighbors with the flu, according to the latest state data for the week of Nov. 29. The county is the only one in the state to report moderate flu activity, which is a higher level than all others, which are showing mild or no activity. More at the Orlando Sentinel.
Florida's first black chief justice dies at 85
When Leander Shaw took the Florida Bar exam in 1960, he was not allowed to stay or eat at the whites-only hotel in Miami where the exam was administered. Three decades later, Shaw became the first black chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court. More at the South Florida Business Journal.
See also:
» Retired Justice Leander Shaw Jr. to lie in state Monday at the Supreme Court
Florida workers-comp case sees business groups file briefs
As an indication of the potential high stakes in a workers-compensation insurance case, some of the state's most influential business groups and the Florida League of Cities have been approved during the past week to file friend-of-the-court briefs with the state Supreme Court. More at the Orlando Sentinel.
Around the State
Family matters
Some 65 years ago, the Corrigan family of Midland, Texas acquired four large tracts of land in Florida and settled in as ranchers. Through the years, the family sold off tracts of land. How long the remaining 9,000 acres will stay undeveloped is something of a question.
Players
Thomas J. Graham
Tavistock Group, an international private investment organization announces the arrival of prolific health innovator, serial entrepreneur and renowned surgeon Thomas J. Graham, MD, to Orlando, Florida and Lake Nona as Chief Health Innovation & Strategy Officer of Tavistock Group and Chairman of the Lake Nona Institute.
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