The Daily Pulse
Palm Beach County-owned Sugar Giant Goes Global
Two Palm Beach County-based sugar companies have just extended their reach to Europe. American Sugar Refining (ASR), owned by Florida Crystals Corp., based in West Palm Beach, and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, in Belle Glade, has signed an agreement to acquire Tate & Lyle PLC's European cane sugar operations. [Source: Palm Beach Post]
Blood Bank Denies Calls Gave Donors Phony Story
Donations to Metro Orlando's main blood bank have been falling for months, forcing the nonprofit to buy more blood from other operations and to close a branch office to save money. Florida's Blood Centers is so desperate that its phone solicitors have in recent weeks told a story that's not true to try to lure donors, according to a telemarketer who works for the agency. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Jacksonville Broker Confessed to Ponzi Scheme
After 22 years of telling hundreds of investors they were making healthy profits, Wayne McLeod finally admitted it was all a lie. The promised government-secured bonds had never existed. The FEBG Bond Fund had been a scam all along. Those were the confessions McLeod made to investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 17 about the fund he had formed in 1988. One day after the confession, he told investors he was closing the fund. Four days later, he killed himself. [Source: Florida Times-Union]
You Bet It's Hot - June Sets Florida Temperature Records
You want to argue about global warming? How about local warming? Your flowers are wilting, your car's roof gave you second-degree burns, and crowded elevators are a little gamey these days. You're not imagining it. What's more, the waters surrounding the state are 1.2 to 1.5 degrees Celsius above normal. What feeds on warmer water? Hurricanes. [Source: Palm Beach Post]
» Spill Now Worst in Gulf History [Palm Beach Post]
» BP Ignores Offers to Help Clean Spill [AP]
» Obama's BP Claims Czar Pledges Prompt Aid [St. Petersburg Times]
» Spill Pays Dividends for Crist [St. Petersburg Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Rubio: 'Our Government is Broken' [Times/Herald]
Bad weather grounded Marco Rubio's campaign plane Thursday, but it didn't stop the Republican U.S. Senate candidate from hearing bad economic news from Panhandle residents frustrated about the gulf oil spill.
› EDITORIAL: NASCAR Speeds Economy [Daytona Beach News-Journal]
Economists talk about "economic drivers." In Daytona Beach, flesh-and-blood drivers give new meaning to that abstract term. When race car drivers step on the gas at Daytona International Speedway, they do more than zoom down the straightaway. They also power the regional economy. So that thunderous noise you hear on International Speedway Boulevard is the sound of high-octane economic drivers. This weekend the local economy will get a supercharged boost from NASCAR and the Coke Zero 400.
› IRS Still After Mirabilis in Payroll-tax Fraud [Orlando Sentinel]
Once ground zero for one of the biggest payroll-tax frauds in U.S. history, Mirabilis Ventures Inc. of Orlando is now in bankruptcy court getting squeezed by federal prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service — but successfully squeezing back. The $200 million fraud, which led to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Mirabilis, pits the IRS and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Orlando against certified public accountant Bill Cuthill, a veteran bankruptcy receiver.
› Gainesville to Make Solar Feed-in More Available [Gainesville Sun]
Fifteen months after Gainesville's renowned solar feed-in tariff program began, the city's utility unveiled a plan Thursday to make it more accessible to homeowners. While the program — which essentially turns buildings into mini power plants by putting their solar-generated power back onto the grid and paying the property owners for it — has been a "resounding success," it hasn't been flawless.
› Dali Museum Founder Dies [Florida Trend]
Eleanor Reese Morse passed away last night at the age of 97. Mrs. Morse and her late husband, Reynolds Morse, moved their enormous collection of original Salvador Dali artwork to a permanent site in St. Petersburg in 1982, creating one of the state's largest and most renowned museums and visitor attractions.
» RELATED: Tampa Bay's Change of Art
HEALTH FOCUS
› Florida Hospital Performs Frenzy of Transplants [Orlando Sentinel]
It started with a phone call at 4 p.m. last Friday. There's a heart, liver and kidney available from one donor, the organ-procurement coordinator told Florida Hospital transplant surgeon Dr. Bobby Nibhanupudy. Come get them. Last weekend, Florida Hospital's dream team of four transplant surgeons — and a supporting cast of more than 80 volunteer nurses and physician assistants — set a hospital record for the most number of transplants ever done in a weekend.› From Treating Hearts to Tending Spirits [St. Petersburg Times]
Cardiologist John Dormois is taking a leap of faith. On July 16 he will close his thriving South Tampa medical practice to attend divinity school at Duke University. After 35 years of caring for patients' bodies, Dormois, 65, wants to broaden his focus to caring for their spirits. He believes he can best do that by teaching medical students something he feels is lacking in the current curriculum: compassion.
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› Home Sales in South Florida Buck Trend [Miami Herald]
Thanks to the ongoing appetite of international and cash buyers, South Florida's real estate market was shielded from a national drop-off in sales. Because those buyers were not eligible for a tax credit, their desire for real estate didn't taper off after the benefit expired at the end of April, like it did for others who rushed to get in on the deal.
› Last Shuttle Flights Delayed, Final Trip in 2011 [Palm Beach Post]
The space agency made it official Thursday after weeks of hints of launch delays: More time is needed to get the cargo ready for the final two shuttle flights. What's more, a decision regarding a possible third — and really last — mission is off until at least next month. Managers agreed to postpone the next-to-last shuttle launch until Nov. 1. Discovery had been scheduled to fly to the International Space Station with a load of supplies in September. The very last mission now has a Feb. 26, 2011, launch date. Endeavour will close out the 30-year shuttle program by delivering a major scientific instrument to the space station.
› RailAmerica Acquiring Engineering and Construction Firm [Florida Times-Union]
Jacksonville-based RailAmerica Inc. will acquire Atlas Railroad Construction Co., a Pennsylvania-based railroad engineering, construction, maintenance and repair company that operates mainly in the Midwest and Northeast. RailAmerica will pay $21.5 million in cash plus closing adjustments for working capital, estimated to be about $2.5 million. The company expects Atlas to generate $25 million in revenue and $3.5 million in operating income over the next 12 months.
› Man Works to Rid River of Smelly Algae [Florida Today]
The stringy weed that mucks up Mullet Creek may someday fuel more than just fish kills and sewer smells. Clark Giangarra hopes to turn the seaweed into biofuel for power plants, and maybe one day even cars. And there is an extra benefit for noses countywide: Scooping up the weeds would mean fewer outbreaks of the rotten-egg blasts from the Indian River Lagoon.
› MyUS.com Moves to Sarasota County [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Fast-growing Internet company MyUS.com says it will move from Manatee County into expanded offices in Sarasota County by September. With the move goes the 60 current employees of the international package forwarding business and the prospect of future growth. MyUS.com says it expects to add 20 to 30 workers per year. In all, the company says it could add as many as 165 jobs during the next five years.
› Legoland Florida Hires Three Executives [Tampabay.com]
"The bricks are falling into place" reports the builders of Legoland Florida as its transforms Cypress Gardens into a theme park and miniature city crafted from the popular kids building blocks. Under construction in Winter Haven for a fall 2011 opening, the $100 million-plus park tapped some Florida tourist market vets to head its 20-person marketing team.
› Hopes High for Gainesville-Miami Flight [Gainesville Sun]
Will airline service between Gainesville and South Florida fly this time? It should, according to dignitaries who spoke at a ceremony welcoming American Eagle Airlines to Gainesville during a ceremony at Gainesville Regional Airport on Thursday. The regional carrier for American Airlines announced that it will offer two round-trip flights daily between Gainesville and Miami starting Oct. 1, with one-stop links to 50 other U.S. cities and 63 international destinations, including several major European centers and dozens of cities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
› Millions of Swine Flu Vaccine Doses to Be Burned [AP]
About a quarter of the swine flu vaccine produced for the U.S. public has expired — meaning that a whopping 40 million doses worth about $260 million are being written off as trash. The outdated vaccine, will be incinerated. The amount, as much as four times the usual leftover seasonal flu vaccine, likely sets a record. And that's not even all of it.
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