Friday's Daily Pulse

Posted 5/21/2010

Updated 1 decade ago

sTATEWIDE
Change in Loop Current Could Give Florida a Break from Oil Spill

Scientists are tracking a potential shift in the Gulf of Mexico loop current that could dramatically reduce the amount of oil carried to Florida or the East Coast over the next several months. Essentially, the loop current would reroute itself, no longer sweeping up oil from the massive spill in the central gulf and carrying it south to the Keys and beyond. Instead, the current would remain well to the south, with surface oil out of reach. "This could be great news for Florida, at least for now,'' said Frank Muller-Karger, biological oceanographer at the University of South Florida. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

See infographic: The Gulf of Mexico loop current
Infographic shows the current at the time of the disaster, now, how it will likely play out, and how it will impact Florida.

MIAMI
Gov. Crist Backs Ban of Gerrymandering

Here's proof that Gov. Charlie Crist is flexing his muscles as a candidate not tethered to a party platform: This week, he endorsed two redistricting amendments that attempt to ban incumbency protection when the Republican-controlled Legislature rewrites the political boundaries starting next year. "Some people have gotten so rigid about their adherence to the party before doing what's right for the people, it's hurting our country,'' Crist told the Miami Herald editorial board this week. He said he met with the director of Fair Districts Florida and supports Amendments 5 and 6, which would require lawmakers to adhere to redistricting standards that don't favor incumbents or the party in power when they redraw legislative and congressional lines. [Source: Miami Herald]

STATEWIDE
Fewer Floridians to Travel Memorial Day Weekend, AAA says

Travel over Memorial Day weekend will be up 5.4 percent from last year nationally, but fewer Floridians will hit the road, AAA said. The travel organization projects that travel originating in Florida will drop 4.8 percent from a year ago, likely because of the state's stubbornly high unemployment, said Jessica Brady, spokeswoman for AAA Auto Club South in Tampa. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

GAINESVILLE
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Awards $1.2 Million to UF for Undergrad Education

Imagine a chemistry professor and a neuroscientist working together to test a new drug to fight Alzheimer’s disease, or a biomedical engineer working with an orthopedic surgeon to help patients walk again. That idea became reality on Thursday when the Howard Hughes Medical Institute awarded UF a $1.2 million grant to support this collaborative approach through a dual-mentorship initiative within the UF-HHMI Science for Life Program. The grant is UF’s second undergraduate grant from HHMI. [Source: UF News]

STATEWIDE
Dave Aronberg, Candidate for Florida Attorney General, Faces Questions About Campaign Finance Laws

A Democratic candidate for attorney general is facing questions about whether his campaign skirted election laws to pay staffers. A former fundraiser for Dave Aronberg received payments from the campaign and a little-known federal political committee called Citizens for Effective Government, according to campaign finance records. Ryan Hampton, a South Florida-based money man, made more than $10,000 from Aronberg's campaign and $1,000 from the federal committee. The committee — dubbed a 527 under IRS code — was closely tied to Aronberg, a state senator from Greenacres, before it closed shop in April amid questions. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Naples Airport Authority takes step to keep bigger aircraft out of city — for now [Naples Daily News]
The Naples Airport Authority took a step Thursday to alleviate fears about larger aircraft landing in Naples. But in voting unanimously to honor a 75,0000-pound plane weight restriction, authority board members also left the door open for a future change. Residents in recent weeks protested expanding the runway, which would have enabled heavier planes to land.

› IRS investigates Miccosukee tribe's former chairman [Miami Herald]
The IRS is investigating Billy Cypress, the former longtime chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe, for alleged income tax violations linked to the tribe's multimillion dollar gambling operation -- a probe that coincides with a major shake-up in the tribe's leadership and the ouster of its longtime lawyer. The Internal Revenue Service has issued a civil summons to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the tribe's Miami bank, seeking Cypress' credit card statements and other records from 2003 to 2005. The April 6 summons also demands the tribe's credit card records and the names of members authorized to use the Morgan Stanley account for the same three-year period.
Note: The Daily Pulse will have links to the database on Friday.

› Tallahassee Auto Dealer Celebrates 100 Years in Business [Tallahassee Democrat]
The Proctors, Tallahassee's first family when it comes to cars, are celebrating 100 years in the automobile business this weekend. The family business began in 1910 with a franchise to sell Cadillacs, together with auto parts, accessories and tires. The company went on to sell and service General Motors vehicles for 98 years and has even outlasted some of GM's hallmark brands, including Pontiac.

› Miami Herald unveils original 1980 Mariel boatlift names database
Mariel refugee Celso Mosquera of West Kendall wants to find the family that took him under their wing during the 1980 boatlift. He was 8 years old and made the harrowing sea voyage alone. He hopes leads will be generated through the Mariel database unveiled Friday by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. For George Garcia, of New Jersey, the database will provide a record for his daughters of his departure from Cuba and his entry into exile in the United States. "It's family history,'' he said. Luis Hidalgo of Miami wants to see if his daughter, who was born on a boat in the middle of the Florida Straits, is included. "She was born on an American boat, so she's an American,'' Hidalgo said. Browse the database at the link above

› ANALYSIS: Which health and human services items are budget targets? [Health News Florida]
From the Panhandle to Miami, the state budget approved last month is dotted with millions of dollars in spending on senior-citizens centers, medical-education programs and health services that are targeted at specific areas. In some cases, the spending also is tailored to the districts of powerful legislative leaders. Gov. Charlie Crist will issue budget vetoes next week, giving him final say about whether he thinks lawmakers have engaged in the old game of pork-barrel spending --- known in Tallahassee as passing budget "turkeys.'' But with state tax revenues shrinking in recent years and lawmakers making cuts to a wide range of programs.

› Miami-Dade students excel in national reading test [Miami Herald]
Miami-Dade fourth- and eighth-graders tallied high marks on the national reading exam, outperforming their peers in New York, Boston, Atlanta and Los Angeles. In particular, Miami-Dade's Hispanic students shined. They scored higher than their counterparts in any other large city and well above the national average for Hispanic students. Black eighth-grade students also bested the average among their counterparts in other big cities, according to data released Thursday by the federal Department of Education. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/20/1639045/miami-dade-students-excel-in-national.html#ixzz0oZG7iwWw

› Updates about Oil Spill in the Gulf:

› FPL promotes Silagy and demotes Litchfield, who headed failed rate case [M iami Herald]
Florida Power & Light announced Tuesday that it is promoting Eric Silagy (photo) to senior vice president of regulatory and state government affairs, replacing Wade Litchfield, who was demoted from vice president of regulatory affairs to vice president and general counsel, a position he held previously. Silagy led FPL's successful lobbying efforts for FPL during the legislative session, although he was never registered as a lobbyist. FPL worked to prevent the passage of ethics reform legislation that would have required all communication between utility officials and the Public Service Commission staff to be open and recorded.

› GOP chairman visits Tampa to prepare for 2012 convention [St. Petersburg Times]
Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele paid a visit Thursday to formally recognize the selected host of the 2012 Republican National Convention. Steele's visit served as a pep rally for local organizers, as well as the kickoff of the more than two years of work that will go into pulling off the event. Steele promised a convention that will feature local and state culture prominently, hire small minority- and female-run companies and enable the public to participate. He also said it will bring jobs and a much-needed boost to a Florida economy, and predicted it would exceed past conventions.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› EVENT: Wells Fargo, Wachovia begin mortgage help sessions today [Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel]
Wells Fargo and Wachovia have invited thousands of mortgage customers to meet in person to work out loan modifications at a three-day workshop that opens Friday in Miami Beach. "We know South Florida is one of the areas hit hardest by the foreclosure problem," said bank spokeswoman Kathy Harrison. Of the 15,000 borrowers invited to the home preservation workshop, "some are in foreclosure, some are at least two months past due and some have already started working with someone," Harrison said. The home preservation workshop takes place 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Hall D, 1901 Convention Center Drive.

PRODUCT LIABILITY

› Tobacco trial jury awards Hollywood widow $29 million [Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel]
A Broward County jury on Thursday handed down a $29.1 million verdict to a widow who said her husband started smoking as a teenager. Connie Buonomo, 77, of Hollywood, said the decision to sue had little to do with recouping losses. She wants to punish and send a message to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the corporation she blames for her husband's illness and death. Based in Winston-Salem, N.C., R.J. Reynolds is the country's second-largest tobacco company.

› Florida man awarded $14 million in asbestos case [Miami Herald]
Jurors in Miami found Union Carbide negligent for selling asbestos fibers that caused William Aubin's cancer.

› COMMENTARY: Where's relief for homeowners who played by rules? [Orlando Sentinel]
The misdeeds on Wall Street that worsened the financial crisis have created a legion of angry homeowners asking, "Where's my bailout?" Some homeowners feel justified in walking away from their mortgages. After all, banks and other financial companies gave loans to anyone who had a pulse, handed out big bonuses to top employees — and then were rescued by government bailouts. They have a point. We can debate whether walking away from an underwater mortgage — even if you can afford to pay it — is right or wrong.

› Live Nation posts `significant loss' on The Fillmore [Miami Herald]
As speculation over the fate of the former home of the Jackie Gleason Show runs rampant, financials submitted by the venue's current operator suggest the company may not be clamoring to re-up its contract when it expires. Figures submitted Wednesday by Live Nation, the concert promoter running the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, show that once again the company lost money on the venue in 2009.

› VIDEO: Floridians left hanging on solar rebates [Orlando Sentinel]

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