Senate passes health insurance plan but opposition persists

The Florida Senate has passed a bill that would take billions of federal dollars to give health insurance to half a million Floridians and added new measures to address criticism from the House. More from the AP, the Tallahassee Democrat and the Times/Herald.

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» Florida Groups To Back Feds In ‘LIP’ Lawsuit

Florida Trend Exclusive
Learning curve: Attorneys deal with mountains of electronic data

As lawyers struggle to glean relevant information from mountains of emails and other electronic communications, e-discovery has created business opportunities for some software entrepreneurs who’ve created programs to help lawyers sift through documents faster. Access full story.

SpaceX has a radical new invention idea

According to an application filed with the FCC last week, the Hawthorne, Calif.-based space company wants to launch a network of satellites that will beam down Internet access to regions with little or no connection to the web. [Source: TIME]

How influential is business in Washington?

Washington has been awash of late in debates about the outsized influence of corporate money. Money certainly seems to buy access, but exactly how much influence is not altogether clear. New research is shedding light on these debates. [Source: The Hill]

U.S. auto sales breeze past forecasts in May

U.S. auto sales were stronger than expected in May, boosted by Memorial Day promotions and strong demand for new SUVs. Sales rose 2 percent over last May to more than 1.64 million cars and trucks, their fastest pace since July 2005. [Source: AP]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Travel convention brings 'all the players you need' to Orlando companies [Orlando Sentinel]
An estimated $5 billion in U.S. travel deals and sales will be negotiated in the five-day U.S. Travel Association IPW convention. Central Florida attractions, destinations and companies are doing what they can to capture a fraction of that revenue.

› Magic Leap opening its platform to developers, reveals manufacturing facility plans [Miami Herald]
Magic Leap has spent part of its $592 million in venture funding to build a 300,000-square-foot pilot manufacturing facility in Florida for its “photonic lightfield chip,”

› AutoNation sells 10 millionth vehicle, releases May sales figures [Miami Herald]
AutoNation, the largest car dealer in the country and based in Fort Lauderdale, sold its 10 millionth vehicle this month. AutoNation sales were up 5 percent this month compared to May of last year. Sales in the retail vehicle industry were up 12 percent in Florida and 2 percent overall.

› UF study shows benefits of multi-tasking on exercise [UF News]
A new University of Florida study challenges the notion that multi-tasking causes one or both activities to suffer. In a study of older adults who completed cognitive tasks while cycling on a stationary bike, UF researchers found that participants’ cycling speed improved while multi-tasking with no cost to their cognitive performance.

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› California group buys Mount Dora medical property [Orlando Sentinel]
A California-based real estate investment trust purchased a Mount Dora medical office building for $16.3 million.

› Miami-Dade OKs up to $5 million for police body cameras [Miami Herald]
Miami-Dade plans to start shopping for police body cameras this week after county commissioners on Tuesday endorsed spending up to $5 million during the next five years on technology aimed at sorting out the facts when citizens are hurt or killed by law enforcement.

› Attendance increases at 6 of Florida's 8 theme parks [AP]
Attendance increased at all but two of Florida's theme parks last year. Five of Florida's parks were ranked in the Top 25 worldwide in a report released Wednesday by the Themed Entertainment Association.

› St. Petersburg makes TripAdvisor list of 30 rising vacation sites [Tampa Bay Times]
St. Petersburg is one of the fastest-growing vacation destinations in the country, according to TripAdvisor, an online travel booking company.