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Thursday's Daily Pulse
What You Need to Know About Florida Today
Web Speculators Bet on Rubio's Prospects
Like many Republicans, Amber Butler sees Marco Rubio as a rising star with a big future in the party. Unlike most, Butler also has some money riding on Rubio's prospects. Eleven months ago, the part-time web developer paid $12 for the site www.rubio2012.com on the hunch that the former Florida speaker would run for president two years from now. "He was a major underdog,'' Butler said of Rubio, who was just pulling ahead in the polls in his primary fight with Charlie Crist when Butler reserved the site on Jan. 20. "He just seemed the type that would become really popular really quickly.'' Butler wasn't the only one making tiny, early bets on Rubio's climb from obscure state lawmaker to leader of the conservative moment. Online real estate scouts staked out their Rubio territory early. Among the sites reserved at least 10 months ago: marcorubioforpresident.com , palinrubio2012.com , rubio2016.com and even marcorubio2020.com . They're small investments with the potential for big pay-offs if Rubio's star keeps rising. [Source: Miami Herald]
RELATED:
» What's Next for Charlie Crist? [St. Petersburg Times]
COLUMN: Was GOP Landslide an Endorsement of Legislature?
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ATTENTION: Each July, Florida Trend publishes a compilation of the state's top lawyers as selected by their peers. Ballots now are available, and we encourage each Florida Bar member to vote. |
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Now that was an old-fashioned butt kickin'. Americans on Tuesday fired the Democratic Party, or at least as many Democrats as they could reasonably get their hands on. It was a landslide, a near-total rejection of the Democratic president and Congress and their policies. However, as a Floridian who mostly pays attention to Tallahassee ... I am curious as to how much this election also validated the Tallahassee Republican Party, and in particular, the Republicans who run our state Legislature. Make no mistake — the Tallahassee Republicans were huge winners Tuesday. Not only was the existing Legislature returned to power, but its ruling party grew into a veto-proof majority. In other words, the Legislature got off scot-free for everything outrageous that has happened over the past two years. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]
RELATED:
» Democrats Lose Clout in Tallahassee
Key GOP Lawmaker Cool to High-Speed Rail Grants
The Republican lawmaker in line to head the House Transportation Committee suggested Florida's high-speed rail project could be scaled back to exclude Tampa and Lakeland, in a Wednesday interview with The Associated Press. U.S. Rep. John Mica, W-Winter Park suggested the Florida project could run between the Orlando airport and theme parks and tourist destinations in the Orlando area. Mica complained that most of the U.S. projects the Obama Administration has funded, including $2.05 billion for the Tampa-Lakeland-Orlando, line weren't truly high-speed trains like the trains in Europe and Asia. He said last week said in an interview with The Tampa Tribune he wanted "Tampa and Orlando both to be successful in the high-speed rail project, but to be successful, Tampa needed fixed transit to feed high-speed rail. [Source: AP]
RELATED:
» Hillsborough Rail Defeat Reverberates in Pinellas
» Voter Rejection Not the End of the Line, Supporters Say
Getaways: Auto Attraction
Exceptional automobiles — from 1894 Duryeas, dragsters and muscle cars to sexy red Ferraris — are overlooked jewels of tourist attractions, surprisingly quieter than theme parks yet universally appealing. Thousands of car lovers will fill Winter Park this month to ogle 125 gleaming cars — antique, vintage, classic and exotic — on Park Avenue for the high-brow Concours d'Elegance competition. In a concours, cars don't race; they primp, pose and radiate their beauty while judges scrutinize them from tonneau to clutch pedal. Although they are all in running condition, they motor only in brief parades and, owners hope, to the winner's circle. It is not for the average car buff, but for the Jay Lenos and others who can afford $3.5 million for a 1961 Ferrari Superamerica and its care and feeding. Read more Getaways: Auto Attraction.
Lennar Said to Seek $800 Million in Funding for Distressed Unit
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Lennar Corp., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, is seeking to raise about $800 million from private investors to add funds to its distressed real estate unit, according to three people briefed on the matter. A first tranche of the offering is being marketed to U.S. and Canadian investors and is expected to close by the end of November, said two of the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Lennar has been expanding its distressed real estate arm, Rialto Investments, as demand for new houses slumps. The company bought a 40 percent stake in a $3 billion portfolio of loans auctioned by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in February, and said last month it acquired an additional $740 million of distressed loans and property from financial institutions. [Source: Bloomberg]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› HSN Faces Challenges to Sustaining Healthy Sales Growth
After reporting continued healthy sales growth through the summer, HSN executives on Wednesday said they face a challenge keeping up the pace through the holiday season.
For starters, consumers remain frugal. Just as important, however, the TV shopping network must beat last year's holiday season which was the best in its 33-year history.
"We're cautiously optimistic," said Mindy Grossman, chief executive officer. "And we're going after the business."
Indeed, the network has planned several events and lined up more new celebs eager to launch their product lines. The latest are Kate Walsh, of Gray's Anatomy and Private Practice, and Mariah Carey, the pop singer who launches her lifestyle brand of fragrance, music, jewelry and footwear on Nov. 19.
› Women's Business Event Set for Miami Next Week
A two-day event designed to help female professionals sell, market and promote themselves is scheduled for next week in Miami.
The Empowered Woman's Success Summit & Expo Miami, which drew more than 600 professional last year, is scheduled for Nov. 11-12 at the Miami Museum of Science.
Confirmed speakers and panelists as of Wednesday include: Jessica Kizorek, founder of BadassBusinessWomen.org; Dr. Jodi Stoner, author of Good Manners are Contagious; Jennifer Sabin, who co-authored Leading the Way to Success with Chicken Soup For The Soul's Jack Canfield; ex-SoBe modeling mogul Irene Marie on the "Reinventing & Rebranding Yourself'' panel; and Ricky Arriola, CEO of Inktel, on "The Male Panel'' and Bridget Carey, technology and media reporter for The Miami Herald on "Build Buzz On A Budget: How To Generate Media For Yourself, Your Business Or Your Cause.''
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RELATED: Best Practices in Hiring
› COLUMN: Bullying Costs Employers Good Workers
After a workplace bullying experience that left him physically sick, Brad Grinde quit his job as a South Florida executive and became a teacher.
Grinde, 53, says he spent three years being told by a boss that he was "stupid" and "didn't know how to manage people."
"Why did I put up with that? I didn't know what I was going through," says Grinde, who was always a top performer and didn't understand until changing careers that he had been the target of a workplace bully. That's common says Gary Namie, who operates the Workplace Bullying Institute with his wife, Ruth, once the victim of an office bully. "The person doesn't know they're being bullied. They just accept it — 'it's just more of the same.' We rationalize it," Namie says.
› Pinellas Tourism Launches New Ad Campaign
Gone are the fire-breathing lady and Tarpon Springs sponge diver.
A new advertising campaign that Pinellas tourism officials will launch next year pitches the county as a family-friendly destination with both beaches and cool cultural activities like the Dali Museum. It replaces the "ambassadors'' campaign that for the last two years featured a cast of eccentric characters representing Pinellas attractions.
The new focus aims to grab the attention of visitors arriving at Tampa International Airport. The campaign will include the first-ever paid advertising in shuttles that run between the main terminal and four gate terminals. Ads play on air travel themes. One shows a beach chair and the message, "Our seats never have to be returned to their upright position.''
› US Reps. Challenge Florida's Redistricting Law
Two members of Congress on Wednesday challenged a new amendment to the Florida Constitution that sets rules for drawing congressional districts in Florida, just hours after it was approved by voters.
U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., and Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., filed a lawsuit challenging Amendment 6 in federal court in Miami. The lawsuit asks that the amendment be declared invalid and stopped from being enforced.
Florida voters on Tuesday approved Amendments 5 and 6 by 62 percent of the vote. Amendment 5 sets rules for drawing legislative districts but it is ignored in the lawsuit.
Brown and Diaz-Balart claim the new standards set out in Amendment 6 could threaten Florida's six congressional districts where blacks and Hispanics are either the majority or close to being in the majority, a contention strongly disputed by the amendment's supporters.
"I can't imagine how this can be anything other than more effort by politicians to try and have districts drawn with no rules," said Ellen Freidin, campaign chairwoman of FairDistrictsFlorida.org, the group leading the push for the amendments. "There is not even a redistricting plan proposed, yet, much less drawn. The idea that there could be a lawsuit is kind of strange to me."
› New Questions Raised About Court Filings in Foreclosure Cases
The expanding investigation into Florida's foreclosure crisis has turned up a new problem that may involve a number of cases: Individuals hired by law firms to notify struggling homeowners when their foreclosure cases are to be heard in court may have filed faulty or false documents.
Foreclosure defense attorneys and consumer advocates say they have documented a number of foreclosure cases where "process servers" filed questionable paperwork. State investigators who are examining foreclosure documentation problems -- involving law firms that employed "robosigners" to rapidly process claims -- are also taking a close look at process servers, court documents show.
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