Thursday's Daily Pulse
Quiet on the Foreclosure Front . . . for Now
None of Florida's metro areas made it into the country's Top 20 list for foreclosure activity in February, according to a new report by RealtyTrac Inc.
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A Gallery of Visions |
Fla. Senate Set for Vote Thursday on Teacher Bill
The Republican-controlled Florida Senate set the stage for a vote on teacher merit pay and tenure by rejecting a proposal to soften the measure Wednesday. What's expected to be a partisan roll call on a modified version of the previously vetoed bill is scheduled Thursday. In Wednesday's debate, Democratic Sen. Bill Montford of Tallahassee tried to amend a ban on tenure for teachers hired after July 1. The amendment would have allowed a series of three-year contracts for highly rated teachers after their third year in the classroom, but it failed on a voice vote. "To me this was a good compromise that allowed those teachers who have been highly effective to be given a sense of job security over a three-year period," said Montford, also CEO of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. It would give them enough job security to get mortgages and keep them from leaving for other jobs, Montford said. Republicans said it would just be another form of tenure broken into three-year pieces. [Source: AP]
Legislative Roundup:
» Education and Unemployment Top Today's Tallahassee Agenda [Times/Herald]
» Proposal to Allow Guns on University Campuses Shot Down [Pensacola News-Journal]
» Legislature Takes Aim at Sharia Law [Florida Times-Union]
» Space Coast Priorities for Florida Legislature [Florida Today]
» Senate Panel Adopts McDonald's-backed Provision Preventing Toy Bans [Orlando Sentinel]
U.S. Sugar Land Could Be Leased to Another Grower
Citrus growers, not the Everglades, may get some of the earliest benefits from farmland acquired in an environmental restoration deal that cost South Florida taxpayers $197 million. The South Florida Water Management District in October bought 26,800 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. with plans to eventually put the mix of citrus and sugar cane land to use storing and cleaning stormwater that could help replenish the Everglades. Now the district faces budget cutbacks that threaten to delay the agency's construction projects longer than expected. On Wednesday, the district's board agreed to explore leasing out an almost 18,000-acre chunk of the land it bought to citrus growers or another agricultural operation. The citrus land in Hendry County was supposed to be some of the first of the U.S. Sugar property that the district put to use for Everglades restoration. When the land deal was approved in October, early estimates projected that Everglades restoration work could start on some of the property within two to five years. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Barbecue Is a Smokin' Hot Trend
The Great Recession has been a blessing for Tampa Bay barbecue lovers. While other restaurants closed or struggled to keep the doors open, barbecue flourished. It makes sense: Barbecue is casual, comforting, all-American and affordable.
 Picnics & More has a unique BBQ offering: mullet. [Photo: LARA CERRI | Times] |
Drugmaker Offers Florida $1M for Pill Mill Database
The manufacturer of the pain drug OxyContin on Wednesday offered Florida $1 million to set up a controversial computer system that would help crack down on pill mills.
Purdue Pharma's offer did not appear to sway Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Republican legislators who are moving to kill the database. Scott and allies said they still oppose the system because there's no long-term funding source and they fear it would intrude on medical privacy.
The company has lobbied lawmakers in many states to start databases to monitor pain-pill prescriptions. But Florida is the only place the company has offered money, officials said, partly because the state has a deep problem with rogue pain clinics supplying millions of narcotic pills to dealers and addicts across the South.
"We understand that the governor of Florida is facing difficult choices and financial constraints that may prevent the state from implementing its prescription drug monitoring program," said John H. Stewart, the company's president and chief executive.
"We appreciate the financial position, but at the same time, believe that a prescription drug monitoring program in Florida can help curb prescription drug abuse in that state and in other states as well," Stewart said.
[Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Miami No. 1 in Healthcare Costs [Miami Herald]
Once again a new survey shows Miami has by far the highest healthcare costs in the nation.
A study by Kaiser Health News of the latest available Medicare data shows that the costs of the average Miami senior's healthcare beats out any area of the country.
The Miami senior averaged $18,199 in 2008, according to the report. That's twice the national average. Adjusted for higher local wages and other factors, the Miami cost is $10,145 — 35 percent higher than the national average.
McAllen, Texas, which has occasionally rivaled Miami in high costs, showed an average of $14,940 in actual costs in the latest survey.
Fort Lauderdale came in at $11,677 (128 percent of national average) for actual costs and $9,016 (120 percent) for adjusted costs.
› Carnival Bringing Third Ship to Port Canaveral [Florida Today]
Carnival Cruise Lines, the world's largest cruise company, will base a third ship at Port Canaveral.
Miami-based Carnival will bring its ship, the Ecstasy, to Port Canaveral and begin cruises possibly as early as this November, officials said today. The ship, currently based in Galveston, Texas, has a 2,056-guest capacity and a crew of 920.
Initially the ship will go to cruise terminal No. 3 and then later be moved to cruise terminal No. 6, which should be completed by June 2012.
The Ecstasy would be Carnival's third home-ported ship at Port Canaveral, joining the Sensation and the Dream.
"It has the potential of generating between $4 million to $5 million in annual revenues for the port," said J. Stanley Payne, the chief executive of the Canaveral Port Authority.
Port Canaveral, which bills itself as the world's second busiest cruise port, has spent the last few years burnishing its cruise operations and making capital improvements to accommodate larger vessels.
› No Ann Scott First Lady Doll in Pasco's Pioneer Florida Museum [St. Petersburg Times]
The dolls are decked out in period dress, from bonnets and hoopskirts to slender black gowns, with every detail authentic down to the fabrics and the corsets.
Florida's Finances
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 Florida's Budget: An Interactive Flash presentation - Find out where Florida's money comes from, where it goes and learn about the state's cash cows. » The State's Budget |
› Disney Will End Grad Nite for High Schoolers [Orlando Sentinel]
This spring will see the last Grad Nite celebrations at Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World announced Wednesday.
Disney World says the increase in theme park attendance in the spring has made scheduling the after-hours, separate-ticket event for high school seniors increasingly difficult. As an alternative, Disney will offer Florida school groups a special one-day, one-park ticket for $55 valid any time during the year.
"Over the years, we've signficantly increased the frequency and types of programming offered specifically for students," Walt Disney World spokeswoman Andrea Finger said. Sports competitions, performing art workshops, festivals and educational programs give students access to Disney "virtually any time of the year," she said.
Live performances have been a hallmark of the event. Musical acts have included Britney Spears, Miami Sound Machine, Katy Perry, Oingo Boingo, Ne-Yo, New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, Paramore and Boys Like Girls.
› Expert: Miami-Dade Might Get Nothing for Jackson Health [Miami Herald]
One of Miami-Dade's top financial minds is warning that the Boston healthcare company that has expressed interest in buying Jackson Health System may be offering to take over the public hospitals without paying the county anything.
In its letters to Miami-Dade leaders, Steward Health Care Systems of Boston has said the deal would yield an investment by the company of "over $1 billion directly to the communities of Miami-Dade County."
But Leo Guzman, head of Coral Gables-based Guzman & Co., points out that "nowhere in the 'proposal' does it spell out that Steward intends to pay for these assets." Guzman & Co. specializes in institutional brokerage and investment banking and is a member of the New York Stock Exchange.
Steward spokesman Bruce Rubin characterized the talks differently: "Steward's latter of interest proposed, subject to due diligence, putting a total of $1.1 billion into the hospital, which is losing hundreds of millions of dollars every year and is a growing burden on the residents and taxpayers of Miami-Dade County."
Specifically, Steward's letters says it might "absorb" Jackson's debt — about $500 million — and invest $600 million in capital improvements.
› Georgia Asks Appeals Court to Overturn Water Ruling
[AP]
A long-running dispute threatening metro Atlanta's main water supply for 3 million people went before appellate judges Wednesday who suggested they could revise or overturn a looming order that would severely restrict the city's use of water from Lake Lanier.
Georgia wants the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling that would restrict metro Atlanta's access to water drawn from the dammed lake on the Chattahoochee River to levels last seen in the 1970s, when the city was far smaller. That order from U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson takes effect in July 2012 unless Georgia reaches a settlement with neighboring Alabama and Florida.
Georgia's neighbors argue that metro Atlanta takes too much water upstream, leaving too little for people and businesses farther south and harming shellfish beds fed by Florida's Apalachicola River, which is formed by the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› Florida House Moves Bill to Cut Unemployment [AP]
Florida's jobless may soon find the going even tougher as the Florida House moves quickly toward passing a bill that would sharply reduce state unemployment benefits.
The House is set to vote Thursday on its proposal (HB 7005) that is designed to reduce unemployment compensation taxes that businesses pay, and reduces the limit on state benefits from 26 to 20 weeks. The state pays a maximum of $275 monthly in addition to federal unemployment assistance, which lasts up to 99 weeks.
"These are people who have to feed their families, clothe themselves and they are trying to not lose their homes to foreclosures," said Rep. Geraldine Thompson, an Orlando Democrat who offered an amendment aimed at getting more federal grant money.
But Republicans hold an 81-39 advantage in the Florida House and used that muscle Wednesday to reject a handful of amendments aimed at softening the blow to those jobless workers who depend solely on their unemployment checks to pay bills.
› Mike Haridopolos ('The Senator from the 26th') Admonished by Senate [St. Petersburg Times]
For the first time anyone can remember, a Florida Senate president was admonished by his own Senate in the first week of session for breaking ethics rules — specifically failing to fully and accurately detail his finances as required by the state Constitution.
Rules Chairman John Thrasher never mentioned the president by name Wednesday and instead referred to him as "The Senator from the 26th" District. Thrasher mentioned that the errors, from 2004-2008, were "inadvertent." Haridopolos signed a consent degree that said the errors were "neither willful nor intentional."
The decree was read on the Senate floor as Haridopolos sat with his arms slumped forward. A letter of apology from Haridopolos, who said he wasn't "trying to hide" anything, was also read.
› COLUMN: Re-Energize Workers through Cross Training [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
When presented with the idea of switching jobs at his employer, Jeff Eddinger admits it was something he had to think about, because he thoroughly enjoyed his current job.
"Change is always uncomfortable. You have to balance the positives with the disruption you're going to cause," says Eddinger, who recently was asked to switch jobs with another manager at NCCI, a data analysis firm in Boca Raton.
But Eddinger recognized that he could use a new challenge. "You start a new job with a lot of passion. After 10 years, it becomes more of a routine," he says.
› Economists Say Green Energy's a Silver Lining on the Space Coast [Florida Today]
There likely are few people in Brevard County not aware of the long-term economic threats facing
the county as the shuttle program winds down.
But the situation also is creating economic opportunities, according to participants in the first day of a Florida Tech seminar on sustainable energy.
"Recessions do create opportunities, not just threats," Alex Vamosi, an economist and associate dean of Florida Tech's College of Business, said Tuesday in the opening session. The key to taking advantage of those opportunities is creativity and innovation, Vamosi said.
With a shrinking supply of fossil fuels -- coupled with a dramatic increase in energy demands from emerging economies such as China and India -- many economists point to the development of "green energy" technologies as the 21st century equivalent of the space race.
› Urban Flats Files for Bankruptcy but Stores Open [Orlando Sentinel]
Urban Flats (Orlando) LLC has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in federal court, but some restaurants remain open.
Lori Shew, a former vice president at Urban Flats who resigned late last year, said she now independently owns the downtown Orlando Urban Flats so her restaurant is not affected by the bankruptcy.
Shew, who heads up the new Pine 22 restaurant in downtown Orlando, founded a company called Church Street Flats last month at the same address as Urban Flats.
Urban Flats owner Suzanne Bonham could not be reached for comment.
In its court filing, Urban Flats listed estimated assets of $0 to $50,000 and estimated liabilities of $1 million to $10 million. Employees at Urban Flats' other Central Florida restaurants in Winter Garden and the Villages said the stores are independently owned and will not close.
› OP/ED: The Anachronism Of State Income Taxes [Forbes]
Nine states survive perfectly well with no state income tax at all. These include large states such as Texas and Florida, medium-size states such as Tennessee and Washington, and smaller states, in terms of population, such as New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Alaska. This policy should now be extended to the other 41 states.
Income taxes are the most economically destructive of all taxes. That is because income levies tax directly the reward for work, savings, investment, and entrepreneurship. With the reward reduced, the incentive for pursuing these economically productive activities is reduced. The result is less work, less saving, less investment, fewer new businesses, less business growth, less job creation, lower wages and income, and lower overall economic growth.
› Feeling Lucky? Airline Lets You Gamble on Fare [Florida Today]
If Allegiant Air gets its way, you might be able to purchase a ticket where the final cost would rise and fall with the price of jet fuel.
For the Las Vegas airline, with service into Orlando International Airport and others in Florida, it's another way, besides higher fares and fees, to guard against rising fuel costs.
For travelers, it's a chance to gamble on a cheaper fare.
When booking a flight, passengers could choose between a traditional fixed-price ticket and a discounted, variable-price one. If the price of jet fuel falls by the departure date, customers with a variable ticket would get some cash back. If the price climbs, they would pay more, up to a pre-disclosed cap.
› Sarasota's PPi Wins Award for Stewardship [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Sarasota's PPi Technologies Group has won the EarthCharter US Sunstainability Award for the small business category.
The company met or exceeded all 16 of the major principles of the EarthChater, a guide developed by the non-profit Earth Charter US Inc.
PPi makes stand-up pouch machinery as well end-of-the-line systems.
One of the pouches is made from petroleum and then used as fuel once it has served its drink-bearing purpose.