Tuesday's Daily Pulse

Posted 4/15/2014

Updated 1 decade ago

Psst… Tax day is here

As Tuesday's income-tax deadline looms, experts have a word of caution for procrastinators: Filing your return at the last minute can be hazardous to your financial health. Nearly 10 million Floridians are expected to file federal income tax returns this year, and plenty of them are racing to meet Tuesday's deadline. More from the Sarasota Herald Tribune, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, and the Tampa Bay Times.

To prevent data theft, businesses race to adopt new technology

Recent high-profile data breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus have accelerated plans by banks and retailers to implement technologies they say will prevent hackers from stealing consumers' account information. [Source: McClatchy ]

Supreme Court could take up drug-testing policy for state workers

More than three years after Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order seeking across-the-board drug testing for state employees, the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to decide whether to weigh in on the policy. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Cost, rules stop some farmers from going organic

In Florida, the number of certified organic farms has more than doubled in the past two years, to 315 farms last year. But organic farming can be more expensive because it's more labor intensive, and because the animals, though healthier, don't always grow as big. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Column: Invest in Florida’s future by investing in its entertainment industry

A good investment is measured by its return; and, a 5.6:1 return on investment is undeniably a winning proposition for Florida’s workforce, businesses and families. This return on investment is exactly what Florida’s entertainment industry is offering – for every $1 the state invests in the entertainment industry, $5.60 is returned and infused back into our state’s economy. [Source: Gainesville Sun]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Tampa Bay Times wins Pulitzer for Hillsborough Homeless Recovery investigation [Tampa Bay Times]
The Tampa Bay Times won a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting Monday, earning national recognition for stories that exposed a government agency's inhumane treatment of Hillsborough County's homeless population.

› Florida ag department seeks growers for Colombian trade mission [The Grower]
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is co-sponsoring a trade mission to Colombia in September and is taking applications for participation from Florida or Georgia agricultural producers.

Andy Corty's Column
Learning from 'A Land Remembered'

Last year, a friend at Mosaic Co. gave me the book“A Land Remembered,” which I’d heard much about but had never read. The author, Patrick Smith — nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize — was the subject of this magazine’s “Florida Icon” profile last September...
The column continues here.

› Q&A with AutoNation’s Mike Jackson [Miami Herald]
As the chairman and CEO of AutoNation, the largest retailer of vehicles in the United States, Jackson oversees a vast sales system that operates 269 new-vehicle franchises from 228 stores in 15 states, with revenues that reached about $18 billion last year.

› Businesses can pitch ideas for cash, services [Orlando Sentinel]
Entrepreneurs with a unique idea to sell can indulge their fantasies of winning over the judges next month, as Orlando gets its own, local version of the pitch show "Shark Tank."

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› UF urged to appreciate student employees this week [UF News]
The University of Florida Office for Student Financial Affairs urges offices on campus to show their appreciation to student employees this week. Student employees play a key role in UF’s educational, research and operational excellence.

› Florida road work at risk as federal gas-tax money runs dry [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
After years of running on empty, the federal gas-tax fund that helps pay for road work could go dry this fall, putting hundreds of Florida transportation projects and thousands of construction jobs in jeopardy.

› Florida Polytechnic University selects first president [WTSP]
Florida Polytechnic University's Presidential Search Committee has selected Dr. Randy K. Avent, an accomplished academic leader and current Associate Vice Chancellor of Research Development at North Carolina State University (NC State), to be the University's first president.

› Guess where Florida is field testing its new standardized tests? (Not Florida) [Washington Post]
Most states field test their standardized tests in their own state. Not Florida. Florida’s new tests are being field tested in, of all places, Utah.