BAY COUNTY —
» The Florida Public Service Commission approved Gulf Power’s six-year contract with Bay County in the Pensacola-based electric utility’s first "waste-to-energy" project. Gulf now buys power generated by Bay County’s incinerator at a set price of $72.50 per megawatt hour for four years and $75 per megawatt hour for two more years, a shift from previous spot-market purchases at fluctuating prices. Gulf estimates the contract will save customers more than $1 million.
GULF BREEZE —
An unidentified Connecticut zookeeper has paid $100,000 to The Zoo Northwest Florida for right of first refusal for the zoo’s purchase. The 50-acre, 24-year-old animal park is $4.5 million in debt, partly due to $600,000 in largely unreimbursed damages from 2004’s Hurricane Ivan. Escambia and Santa Rosa counties recently each pledged $125,000 to help sustain the private, non-profit zoo.
MILTON —
» A fire that destroyed a large building downtown that housed a dozen offices and stores also damaged the interior of the 96-year-old Imogene Theater, a community icon. Fire officials said the theater, restored by the Santa Rosa Historical Society in 1984, can be salvaged.
OKALOOSA COUNTY —
» County commissioners approved plans by Ozean Development for the Hilton Emerald Coast, a 450-room resort on Okaloosa Island. Project startup is scheduled for early this year, pending a permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Planned amenities include a 140-slip marina.
PENSACOLA —
» Developers of PNS Hotel Group are suing the city over the lease of 11 acres at Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport to developer Julian MacQueen for a $24-million hotel project. They want the lease voided, accusing city officials of hastily and fraudulently approving it despite the surfacing of a property appraisal giving the land a higher value than that used for the contract.
» Citing economic conditions, developers scrapped plans for Hawkshaw East, a $20-million project that was to include housing, retail and office space.
» The University of West Florida will name the planned Community Maritime Park amphitheater in honor of retired insurance executive Randall K. “Skip’’ Hunter and his wife, Martha Ann Hunter, who donated $1 million toward construction of the amphitheater and the adjoining Maritime Museum and Research Center.
QUNICY —
» An $8.4-million reconstruction project is under way to turn a portion of the county-owned Gadsden Community Hospital into a rural emergency hospital, to open by early summer. The hospital was closed in 2005 by the Agency for Health Care Administration because of operational shortcomings of the then-management company.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY —
» A judge ordered school district officials to stop promoting religion and prayer in the classroom and at school events. The decision resulted from a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two unidentified Pace High School students.
TALLAHASSEE —
» The Hotel Duval — formerly the Park Plaza — opens this month following a $15-million renovation.
» The Gannett-owned Tallahassee Democrat newspaper cut 25 positions in December and took other cost-cutting measures in January, including elimination of the “Sunday TV Book,” to help balance losses in advertising revenue. The newspaper has downsized from four to two sections on Mondays and Tuesdays.