Americans' pessimism on economy has grown

Americans are more anxious about the economy now than they were right after the Great Recession ended despite stock market gains, falling unemployment and growth moving closer to full health. [Source: AP]

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Florida ready to challenge federal testing rules

Gov. Rick Scott is ready to take the federal government to court over testing rules for students learning English. The U.S. Department of Education says Florida must count those students’ results after one year in school. [Source: StateImpact Florida]

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Commentary: Time to reform Florida’s broken medical liability system

In 2013, nearly 19 million Floridians paid up to $40 billion per year in defensive medicine costs so that 75 medical malpractice cases could go to a jury trial to compensate 18 injured patients. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

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Florida Supreme Court asked to rule on gay marriage

A Southwest Florida appeals court on Wednesday asked the state’s Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of Florida’s gay-marriage ban. The Supreme Court has not indicated when — or if — it will hear the case involving a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts but seeking a divorce in Florida. [Source: Miami Herald]

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Inside the Dangerous (and Lucrative) Business of Alligator Farming

Alligator hunting and farming is big business in the southeastern United States. Alligator skin, which is sold for handbags, coats, shoes, and other mostly-fashion-industry items, is a $50 million industry in Louisiana alone. [Source: Inc.]

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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Activist fight will complicate search for new Darden chief [Orlando Sentinel]
An activist investor's efforts to wrest control of embattled Darden Restaurants will make the search for a new CEO even more difficult, industry analysts say.

› What do five new hotels mean for Gainesville? [North Central Florida Business Report]
It’s no secret that out-of-towners flock to Gainesville for fall football weekends and that hotel rooms in the Swamp vicinity get scarce. It’s also no secret that this town is budding with innovation and business opportunities, attracting more corporate travel.

› Volusia defense firm gets $100 million for training simulator work [Orlando Sentinel]
Raydon Corp., a military training systems contractor based in Volusia County, has secured nearly $100 million to build scores of training simulators for the Army National Guard.

› FAU chooses to be smaller, more selective [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Florida Atlantic University has decided it's time to get better rather than bigger. For the first time in eight-years, the historically fast-growing university will be a little smaller, down 457 students from last year.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› NASA Says New Heavy-lift Rocket Debut Not Likely Until 2018 [Business Insider]
NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, designed to fly astronauts to the moon, asteroids and eventually Mars, likely will not have its debut test flight until November 2018, nearly a year later than previous estimates.

› Sarasota, Manatee Realtors' groups may merge [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The Sarasota Association of Realtors and the Manatee Association of Realtors said Wednesday that the two groups may merge, a move they say could trim costs and improve efficiencies.

› Senior scams more prevalent as population ages [Miami Herald]
A 2011 study by MetLife estimated that the annual loss to elderly victims of financial fraud (perpetrated by strangers) and abuse (perpetrated by family, friends or neighbors) was at least $2.9 billion, a 12 percent hike over its 2008 estimate.

› Airlines mull first-class future after success of business beds [Bloomberg News]
The word's top airlines are questioning the need for first-class cabins as flat-bed seats cradle corporate customers in once-unimaginable comfort, making the premium on front-row seats harder to justify.