Foreigners still like Florida

Florida remains the most popular state for international buyers of U.S. residential real estate. But rising home prices and less favorable exchange rates reduced the number of sales to foreigners in the Sunshine State over the past year. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

As U.S. prepares to release 6,000 prisoners, many come from Florida

They are former smugglers caught tossing kilos of cocaine off the sides of boats, methamphetamine traffickers found with stashes in their homes, and marijuana dealers intercepted by federal agents. And next weekend, when prisons across the country open for the largest ever one-time release of federal inmates, many of them will be returning to Florida. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

U.S., Cuba eye offshore drilling possibilities

The thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations is raising prospects for new business opportunities for American companies in the island nation, among them energy. Given that the drilling would occur as close as 50 miles from Florida's coast, doing so safely and with the best equipment is critical to both Cuba and the U.S. [Source: USA Today]

Witches, zombies and lots of Star Wars: Halloween business is fantastic

Americans will spend $6.9 billion this year on Halloween costumes, candy, decorations and related items, the National Retail Federation estimates. The average person will spend about $74 on the holiday, about $3 less than last year's estimated spending, the federation says. Floridians may spend more, though. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Florida's weeklong bear hunt ends in just two days

Florida's first bear hunt in 21 years has fallen victim to its own success. Florida's hunters killed so many bears over the weekend that state wildlife officials shut down the hunt on Sunday night, ending what was envisioned as a weeklong season after only two days. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the Gainesville Sun.

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Construction of large chicken farm operation upsets Columbia County residents [Gainesville Sun]
A sizable chicken farm under construction in a rural, rustic area of south Columbia County has blindsided and upset neighboring residents.

› FPL wins national award for most reliable electricity in the U.S. [Press Release]
Juno Beach-based Florida Power & Light Company was named the winner of the 2015 ReliabilityOne™ National Reliability Excellence Award by PA Consulting Group, an international firm that analyzes electric utility performance across the United States.

› Feds call for phase-out of whooping crane ultralight flights [AP]
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is recommending an end to the use of ultralight aircraft to lead endangered whooping cranes from Wisconsin on their first fall migrations to Florida, and the phase-out could happen as early as next fall.

› Boca doc is first in Florida trained in novel rotator cuff repair [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
A new shoulder repair procedure promises to help older people more quickly resume their normal work and sports activities. Dr. Jonathan Hersch, a nationally known orthopedic surgeon based in Boca Raton, was the first Florida physician trained to perform the new rotator cuff repair procedure.

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› Cuban carriage drivers try a worker-managed cooperative [Miami Herald]
Visitors to Cuba who want to take a trip back in time can climb aboard a horse-drawn carriage for a narrated jaunt around the cobbled streets of Old Havana. But the horses, carriages and drivers are actually part of a very modern phenomenon — the economic reforms that are supposed to give the decrepit Cuban economy a new lease on life.

› Commercial production provides one bright spot in Orlando's film industry [Orlando Sentinel]
Orlando never turned into Hollywood East, a magnet for film and TV production. But the region is a strong lure for commercial production.

› Tampa Bay area pushes Canada trade [Tampa Bay Times]
Canadians don't make a distinction between Tampa and St. Petersburg. That was the message Friday from Tampa Bay political and economic development officials who just returned from a large trade mission in Toronto to build business ties north of the border.

› Goodwill stresses need to do even better hiring veterans and people with disabilities [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
CopyEmployers in the region are doing as well as, or better than, the rest of the state and the nation in hiring military veterans and people with disabilities, according to a survey commissioned by Goodwill Manasota./p>