Thursday's Daily Pulse
Disclosure rules causing banking uproar
Over the objections of Florida lawmakers, the U.S. Treasury Department has issued a new rule that will force banks to disclose the identity of foreigners who deposit their money in America. The regulation -- which represents a major shift in policy -- goes into effect next January and has alarmed the entire Florida congressional delegation, which is concerned the requirement will prompt foreigners to move their money to countries that require less disclosure. Read more from the Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Profile of storm tracker Bryan Koon
As director of emergency management at Walmart for five years, Bryan Koon had to deal with five tornados that hit Walmart stores, ice storms, hurricanes, a bridge collapse in Minneapolis and myriad other crises. Today, as the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Koon is responsible for ensuring that Florida is prepared for disasters.
» Read our interview with Koon.
 Bryan Koon addresses emergency operations officials and county commissioners in Hillsborough County. [Photo: Willie J. Allen Jr./Tampa Bay Times] |
Arguments begin over redistricting Florida's congressional districts
With the election clock ticking, a Florida circuit court judge said Wednesday he will decide quickly on whether to throw out the Legislature's congressional redistricting map, develop a new map in a matter of weeks or leave it alone. "I am very much aware of the logistical problem we have,'' said Judge Terry Lewis of the 2nd Judicial Circuit, referring to the prospect of invalidating all or part of the congressional map and creating a new one in time for candidates to qualify to run in June. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
The Florida Chapter of the American Institute of Architects declared Miami Beach’s Fountainebleau Hotel the winner of a month-long public competition to pick the best in the state, from a list of 100 buildings nominated by the group. [Source: Miami Herald]
Mummies invading the Sunshine State
The dead arrived on a moving truck Wednesday, and the living could barely disguise their glee.
"These are rare and ancient time travelers," said Marc Corwin, president and CEO of American Exhibitions, Inc., moments after men finished unloading the truck.
The more than 40 mummies, along with related artifacts, are part of the Mummies of the World exhibition. The exhibit draws from collections of 21 world-renowned museums and institutions in seven countries. Mummies of the World is making a three-year U.S. tour. MOSI in Tampa is the only Florida stop.
[Source: Tampa Bay Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Quebec firms troll three South Florida counties for sites [Miami Today]
The Quebec-Florida Chamber of Commerce brought eight businesses from Quebec to South Florida this week to expose them to professionals who can help them start businesses in the region.
Canada is Florida's main international economic partner, with the Quebec market responsible for approximately a quarter of the $8 billion annual trade between Canada and Florida.
› Rediscover recycling with ARC Broward's e-cycling center [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
For 55 years ARC Broward, a nonprofit organization, has provided services to children and adults with autism, Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. Eleven years ago it opened an e-cycling center, which now holds a contract with the county as the exclusive contractor for electronics recycling.
› It's back to square one for St. Petersburg police station project [Tampa Bay Times]
It's been less than a month since St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster cancelled plans for a proposed $64 million police headquarters, and the future of the city's next police station is more uncertain than ever.
› Explore a health-care job with new online tool [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Health care jobs continue to top the job listings in South Florida, but many workers don't know how to pursue a job in the field.
A new online tool from the U.S. Department of Labor may help. The Virtual Career Network, available here, is new platform designed to help connect people with the knowledge and training they need to qualify for available health care jobs.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› Orlando penthouse prices are soaring [Orlando Sentinel]
Five years after local real-estate professionals wrote off the downtown Orlando condominium market as a dark-windowed wasteland of half-empty towers, urban lifestyles and downtown views have sparked bidding wars on upscale units.
› USF heart institute gets $2 million from Hillsborough County [Tampa Bay Times]
Hoping to help make Tampa a hotbed for genomics research, Hillsborough County commissioners awarded up to $2 million for a new heart institute at the University of South Florida Wednesday.
The vote came a day after Gov. Rick Scott approved giving USF $6.9 million in state tax money toward the initial design of the USF Health Heart Institute.
› Feds sue to shutdown five South Florida tax preparers [Orlando Sentinel]
Federal officials filed a lawsuit to shutdown five South Florida tax return preparers, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Among the accusations, the suspects increased tax refunds through false claims for the first-time-homebuyer tax credit, phony business expenses, false education expenses and earned income tax credits, officials said
› Major League Baseball's Hialeah youth hub still benched [Miami Today]
Major League Baseball still pledges its commitment to the long-stalled Urban Youth Baseball Academy in Hialeah, says a league executive.
But big league baseball says it is currently awaiting a green light from the Miami-Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Development and for the land to be transferred from a private developer to the city.