Thursday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 4/27/2017

HSN CEO Mindy Grossman to leave Florida retail giant

HSN chief executive officer Mindy Grossman, one of the revered names in the retail shopping industry, is leaving the St. Petersburg TV/digital shopping company after 11 years to become president and CEO of Weight Watchers International Inc. More from the Tampa Bay Times and Reuters and see the press release from Weight Watchers.

Delray City Commissioner Jim Chard says there wasn't a sober house in sight when he bought his home 15 years ago. Today, he calls his neighborhood "the epicenter of the epicenter." [Photo: Michael Price]

Florida Trend Exclusive
Addicted to rehab: A look at Florida's sober houses

Patient brokering. Kickbacks. Expensive urine tests. Shady operators in Florida's substance abuse treatment industry turned recovering addicts into cash cows -- where we've seen overdoses, suicides and troubled neighborhoods. Access full story.

This just in:
» Florida House approves bill cracking down on sober homes

Holiday Retirement moving HQ to Florida

The nation’s largest independent living provider is moving its corporate headquarters from Lake Oswego, Oregon, to Winter Park, Florida, this summer—eliminating or relocating approximately 200 jobs in the process. More from Senior Housing News and the Oregonian.

Citrix earnings fall 4 percent

Fort Lauderdale-based software company Citrix Systems reported 4 percent lower earnings for its first quarter on revenues that were up 1 percent. Net income from continuing operations was lower for the quarter. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Miami and five other cities receive Knight smart city technology grants

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced $1.2 million in support to six cities, including Miami, to explore how the Internet of Things (IoT) — the connection of everyday objects to the Internet — can be deployed in cities responsibly and equitably. More from the Miami Herald.

Environment
What to do with Florida's human waste

It has to go somewhere. Florida must dispose of about 320,000 tons of treated human waste a year. Even so, some scientists and environmentalists say there's no good reason the state should keep dumping most of it on farms as free fertilizer because it can overload watersheds with toxic algae-spurring nitrogen and phosphorus.

» More from TCPalm.

Industry Trends
Space industry targets more government aid

Out-of-date regulations, a looming backlog of license applications and a lack of viable destinations in Low Earth Orbit threaten to hamper the nation’s burgeoning commercial space industry. That’s what several commercial space executives on Wednesday told a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee panel overseeing the space program.