Monday's Daily Pulse
Florida colleges become more selective
Students may find that being average is no longer good enough if they want to land a spot in a Florida university. Even schools once considered easy to get into are turning away students who would have been admitted in the past. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
See also:
» Why Florida Educators Want To Change Arts Accountability In Schools
» Five myths about Common Core school standards
» Bennett Takes Job Selling Tests To Schools
Related Florida Trend Content
» Core Wars: Why are Floridians objecting to Common Core State Standards?
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» The lessons I learned as a young Marine officer I use today. No. 1 is you understand what your mission is and you’re clear about it and you adhere to it. You pick good people, and you give them responsibility to do the job. Then you let them do the job, and then you hold them accountable and don’t interfere.
Conservation-land sale likely to fall well short of goal
Florida's effort to sell off unneeded conservation lands is off to such a rocky start that it is unlikely to produce anything close to the $50 million envisioned by lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott. Trying to kick-start the state's stalled land-conservation program, Scott and legislators agreed last spring to spend $70 million on environmental land-buying. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
NASA picks SpaceX to run KSC launch complex
SpaceX – the rocket company that last year became the first ever to ship cargo to the International Space Station — now is on the verge of taking over one of the old space shuttle launch complexes at Kennedy Space Center. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Opinion: U.S. considering deal to expand trade in Americas
The Obama administration, which is negotiating separate free trade deals with Asian and European countries, is “exploring” a regional trade plan for the Americas that would be the most ambitious hemispheric initiative in years. If the United States wants to effectively compete with China and other emerging economic powers, it needs to build manufacturing and services supply chains in Mexico and other Latin American countries. [Source: Miami Herald]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Boca Raton's TherapeuticsMD finds the right formula [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Amid what critics consider South Florida's boondoggled biotech venture, Boca Raton-based TherapeuticsMD Inc. is thriving. In five short years, the women's health products company has leapfrogged from a startup prescription and over-the-counter vitamin vendor to a popular Wall Street-traded company.
› Miami nonprofit brings veggies to urban core [TBO.com]
Miami's Liberty City residents will soon have the opportunity to receive free fresh produce from a new local garden. The nonprofit Health in the Hood provides low-income neighborhoods in South Florida with access to fresh produce and fitness programs.
› Data security firm to create jobs in Fort Lauderdale [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Hollywood-based data security firm Prolexic Technologies announced plans late Friday to create 118 jobs and retain 120 jobs in a new 35,000 square-foot space it is leasing in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
› Florida artifacts sealed away for the future [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
While the stone marker may not look like much, the artifacts entombed inside could puzzle scholars in 60 years. The Viva Florida 500 campaign, celebrating the state’s Spanish heritage and the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s arrival here, gave each Florida county a time capsule to commemorate the occasion.
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› Consortium says no to moratorium on additional aquifer pumping [Orlando Sentinel]
A consortium tasked with guiding Central Florida to a new era of water decided Friday to double down on scrutinizing the doling out of the last available water in the Floridan Aquifer. But the group ruled out a moratorium on issuing permits that would allow utilities and other users access to what's left in the aquifer,.
› Virtual currency surrounded by enthusiasm, skepticism and confusion [Fort Myers News-Press]
Bitcoin is gaining national attention, and with this spotlight comes a cloud of possibility, controversy and confusion. Some envision this virtual currency as the future. Others see it as risky and volatile. But most view Bitcoin as a bit baffling.
› Cities adding and losing the most jobs [USA Today]
Economic progress isn't even across the nation, and in some areas, jobs are still being shed. In some parts of the country, however, job growth is especially strong. Such is the case in the metro area of Naples-Marco Island, Florida, where the number of jobs jumped by 7.59% over the past year.
› All Aboard Florida train could hire French company that transported Jews to concentration camps [Orlando Sentinel]
Holocaust survivors and their families fear the train system that would link Miami with Orlando could hire a French company that delivered tens of thousands of Jews to concentration camps during World War II.