March 28, 2024

Tuesday's Daily Pulse

What You Need to Know About Florida Today

Will Short Gorham | 1/17/2012

› Florida Legislature could give Rick Scott more power
Gov. Rick Scott, the outsider who at one point railed against the political establishment, may soon start getting the kind of control that was never bestowed on Florida's previous chief executives. It's still early in the 2012 session but the Republican-controlled Legislature is starting to move ahead with proposals that would give Scott more hands-on power to shape the judicial branch and control regional job development agencies.

› Miami Beach gauges developers' interest in convention center
Miami Beach will learn soon just how much interest there is in redeveloping the city's aging convention center. After courting private investors for more than a month, Miami Beach Commissioners voted last week to request that interested developers submit their qualifications for the project.

› Bartow Now Must Decide What to Do With Cigar Factory
Now that the county has signed the historic cigar factory over to the Bartow City Commission, what's next? That's the question facing city commissioners, and City Manager George Long said there are several issues the commissioners need to address. "The first step has to involve sealing the building to keep out the elements and the critters," Long said, "and to clean up the exterior so it's not the eyesore it is today. We have the $75,000 for that, but we need to plan now for what's going to happen after that."

› Florida Workers' Compensation Rate Hike Irks Businesses
Florida small businesses seeing their second workers' compensation rate increase in as many years are calling on the state to reduce the increase because they fear it will harm the economy. A small business group is asking that the increase be reduced by $62 million — an amount equal to the extra costs to the system of physician-dispensed drugs.

› Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam treads carefully with new energy policy
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam wants lawmakers to develop a comprehensive energy policy for Florida — a topic they've shelved for several years. Putnam is pushing 11 proposals that he says will start the state on a path to energy diversity by reducing its dependency on natural gas. But he's moving with caution.

› Classical musicians test ways to appeal to younger audiences
The acoustically pristine concert hall of the New World Symphony's New World Center will resound with the vibrant playing of its young classical musicians Friday night — and will also throb with the kind of electronic dance music that fills South Beach nightclubs. Instead of sitting silently, listeners will be able to wander about, chatting and sipping cocktails, getting up close to peer at the DJ or the sawing arms of cellists and violinists.
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