Wednesday's Daily Pulse

Posted 4/1/2015

Updated 9 yearss ago

Home prices rise as inventory stays low

U.S. home price increases continued to rise at a steady pace in January, as the housing market deals with affordability problems and a lack of properties listed for sale. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index rose 4.6 percent in January compared with 12 months earlier. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune ]

State officials, students celebrate STEM Day

Students showed off their robots and gizmos in the Florida Capitol courtyard, a display of technological marksmanship to celebrate STEM Day. State officials touted studies in STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math, as critical Florida's economy and future. [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]

Florida senators meet with feds to talk about health care money

Amid growing discord that could derail this year's session of the Florida Legislature, Senate President Andy Gardiner dispatched two top Republican senators to meet directly with federal officials to talk about more than $1 billion in health care money the state could soon lose. [Source: AP]

Legislative Roundup:
» After a year, lawmakers try to fix medical marijuana plan
» Police assessment fee bill in the limelight
» Abortion rights activists object to waiting period bill
» School guns bill suffers setback in Florida Senate

Brick-and-mortar stores can survive and thrive in an e-commerce world

Experts predict that over the next few years, online retail sales in the U.S. will approach $400 billion. With more and more shoppers going online, plus the ability of large chain stores to offer deep discounts, is there still a place for the small brick-and-mortar retail business? [Source: Gainesville Business Report]

Millions of Americans have little to no money saved

Millions of Americans have no savings set aside for a rainy day, leaving them in serious jeopardy if financial calamity strikes, according to two new studies released this week. Roughly a third of American adults don't have any emergency saving. [Source: USA Today]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Disney debuts Polynesian's newest offerings [Orlando Sentinel]
Disney World has started showing off some of the changes it has made to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, one of its original on-property hotels. The new elements of the project range from hovering-above-waterfront bungalows to a remodeling of the Great Ceremonial House.

› FPL parent clears one hurdle to buy Hawaii utility [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
NextEra Energy, the parent company of Florida Power & Light, has received federal approval to buy Hawaii's largest utility for $4.3 billion.

› 'World's largest' sperm bank relocates near UCF [Orlando Sentinel]
Cryos International, which calls itself the world’s largest international sperm bank, has relocated its U.S. main office and inventory from New York to Orlando.

› Miami Science Barge wins Knight award [Miami Herald]
Ahoy Miami, make room for the Science Barge. The Miami Science Barge is envisioned as a marine innovation lab, a hybrid between a floating urban farm and environmental education center powered by renewable energy.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Doctors Hospital continues to grow [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Doctors Hospital will break ground this week on an expansion of its emergency department and construction of two new operating rooms, hospital officials announced Tuesday. The expansion and renovation are the final pieces of a $17 million overhaul for the hospital.

› Four Snake Species Added To Restricted List [WUFT]
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently designated four species of snakes as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act, making it illegal to import or sell them across state lines.

› Opinion: Florida prisons are in a state of perpetual crisis [Florida Times-Union]
Florida’s prison system is in deep trouble. The state’s management of its prisons has not kept up with best practices. And people have begun noticing.

› Researchers see significant reduction in fatal car crashes after an increase in alcohol taxes [UF News]
Increasing state alcohol taxes could prevent thousands of deaths a year from car crashes, say University of Florida Health researchers, who found alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes decreased after taxes on beer, wine and spirits went up in Illinois.