The Daily Pulse

› New $5 fee coming to Fort De Soto and Fred Howard parks in Pinellas [St. Petersburg Times]
Pinellas County will add $5 fees per car at Fort De Soto and Fred Howard parks when its next budget comes out this summer. The new fees at the popular beach areas are expected to net the county $2 million to stave off more cuts and improve maintenance in parks. The fees received just enough support from the County Commission during a work session Thursday. Commissioners Susan Latvala, John Morroni, Karen Seel and Ken Welch backed the fees, while Neil Brickfield said he "half" supported them during an informal vote.

› Cape Coral's mom and pop eateries holding their own [Fort Myers News-Press]
Georgette and Bob Hibbs want to eat somewhere where everybody knows their name. Somewhere where those people know Georgette Hibbs doesn't like mayo on her BLT. So, they do — at least three days a week. The Cape Coral couple was dining at Jimbo's Waterside restaurant, one of the oldest in the city, Tuesday for lunch. And they planned to go back that evening for dinner, too. Local mom and pop restaurants were the first to feed the pioneers in the Cape. And over the years, local restaurant owners have had to compete with chains, such as Perkins, Denny's, and others, that have more recently moved into the Pine Island Road corridor with more recognizable names. All contribute to the local economy. But the economy hasn't been picky about who it affects. Whether local or chain, many owners have been struggling to get by and doing what they can to get noticed.

› With funding tight, how much will Jackson Lab settle for? [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The Jackson Lab is not tipping its hand about how much state money over what time period would be enough to establish its personalized medicine institute in Sarasota County. But with a wide variety of economic development initiatives competing for limited Tallahassee funding, the key word in the Jackson camp this summer has become "negotiation." State government has pulled together $100 million to $200 million to stimulate economic development during the fiscal year that starts in July, with $150 million the most common number attached to the new economic development incentive fund. Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta said he does not want to hurt Jackson's cause, but suggested that negotiation is highly likely. "Because of the fact that the total fund is only about $150 million, we would be fortunate if we could get $60 (million) or so and make that work, either in a lump sum or spread out over a couple of years," Barbetta said. "With site work and the timing of a referendum, the project would stretch out out over a 24-month period anyway."

› Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas Riverfront sells for $16.7 million [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Las Olas Riverfront, the beleaguered 3.67-acre shopping, dining and entertainment complex on the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale, has been sold for $16.7 million, broker Colliers International South Florida said Thursday. Last year, the assessed value of the property was $16.5 million and the value of the mortgage at auction was around $24 million. Colliers, which has offices in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach, represented both the seller and buyer in the sale of the near-empty, 244,667-square-foot complex at 300 SW First Ave. CRE Las Olas Riverfront LLC, which is owned by a large private equity fund, sold the complex to Las Riverfront LP, which plans to reposition the property, Colliers said in a statement.

› Rocket-engine maker lays off 300, including 69 at Cape [Orlando Sentinel]
Rocket-engine maker Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is laying off about 300 people, including 69 at its facility at Kennedy Space Center, the company said this week. The company, which has powered missions to virtually every planet in the solar system, cited a sluggish economy, uncertainty in the space industry and concerns about government spending as reasons for the job cuts. "We must take difficult steps to ensure our cost structure is competitive during these challenging times," the company said in a statement. "This action is part of the company's continuous effort to align its workforce to meet customers' needs and to respond to the prevailing business conditions and outlook." The Kennedy layoffs were included in the state's regular announcements of major job reductions around the state. The company said it had already cut back in other areas, reducing spending on facility space, salaries and travel. Salaried workers who are being let go will receive severance packages that include benefits.

› Canaveral Port Authority picks builder for new cruise terminal [Florida Today]
Canaveral Port Authority commissioners this morning unanimously approved awarding the construction bid for a new cruise terminal to Skanska USA Building Inc. The commission's vote reaffirms a decision made April 20 where Skanska bested four other firms for the multi-million dollar project. Following complaints that the original bidding process was confusing, port officials decided to re-bid the project to build cruise terminal No. 6. The second time around, only the New York-based Skanska, which has an office in Orlando, and Haskell Co. of Jacksonville bid on the $23.5 million contract. The three other bidders, which included two local firms, instead opted to bid on the parking garage portion of the project.

› State approves Raytheon cleanup plan [St. Petersburg Times]
Florida environmental officials have approved the plan Raytheon submitted for cleaning up the pollution that has spread beneath the Azalea neighborhood, they announced Thursday. Under the 2,000-page plan, Raytheon would zap the toxic plume with a combination of electrodes and chemicals designed to neutralize the pollution, and sink new cleanup wells throughout the area to pump what's left of the pollution out. Raytheon has already pumped out, cleaned and disposed of about 28 million gallons of contaminated groundwater from beneath its former plant in St. Petersburg, according to the announcement from the state Department of Environmental Protection.