Friday's Daily Pulse
Florida Senate passes redistricting plan; critics cry foul again
The Florida Senate voted 31-6 Thursday to pass its response to a court rebuke of its once-a-decade chore of redistricting, despite objections that the Republican-controlled body was still attempting to engineer itself a permanent majority. Among the chief complaints: the revised map still protects an "oddly shaped appendage" that the Florida Supreme Court said was designed to keep future Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, in a safe district; and it breaks up Democratic-leaning Daytona Beach into two separate seats more likely to elect GOP candidates. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
» The Game of Redistricting
» Party Lines in Redistricting Florida
The Redistricting Game: (click the game board to enlarge)
 Click to Enlarge [Illustration: Jeff Papa] |
Tech tangle: Florida's computer systems are being consolidated
One of Gov. Jeb Bush's early moves after he took office in 1999 was to create a State Technology Office to oversee the modernization and consolidation of state government's computer and IT systems. The project stumbled almost from the start. Continue reading...
Market for luxury homes rebounding
The market for million-dollar-plus homes and condominiums is returning after being largely dormant in Southwest Florida for nearly five years. Real estate agents say the market's upper-end segment has nearly rebounded, based on sales and pending sales. Many compare the current streak of sales — and the number of homes on the market — to the boom times of 2005. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Latest tax fraud twist: Employees are in on the crime
Federal agents are receiving reports that employees at medical offices and Medicare claims processing businesses are using or selling private patient information to thieves. The thieves are using the information in a type of fraud that has exploded in the Tampa area in the past year and is believed to be a multi-billion-dollar drain of the federal treasury nationwide. [Source: Tampa Tribune]
Bank of America customers take payouts for short sales
More than 470 Florida homeowners have avoided foreclosure and taken cash payouts from Bank of America after agreeing to short sales of their homes.
The bank began dangling cash payouts of $5,000 to $20,000 last fall to financially stressed homeowners. So far, 471 homeowners have collected an average payout of $12,000, said bank spokesman Rick Simon.
[Source: Tampa Bay Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Windfarm OK'd to generate power, jobs in struggling Glades region [Palm Beach Post]
Florida's first wind farm can be built on 12,900 acres of agricultural land east Belle Glade, Palm Beach County commissioners unanimously agreed Tuesday.
The approval came at the urging of Glades officials and union workers who say the project will bring much-needed jobs to the region, where the unemployment rate is as high as 40 percent.
› Tampa may name 'Historic Tampa Cuban' as city's signature sandwich [Tampa Bay Times]
Cuban bread, ham, mojo roast pork, Genoa salami, Swiss cheese, mustard and three dill pickle slices.
No mayo.
These ingredients could get the City Council's imprimatur as the "Historic Tampa Cuban Sandwich," which evolved in Tampa, not Havana.
› Undersea cable to create direct Brazil-Miami link [Miami Today]
A Boston company plans to lay an underwater cable stretching more than 6,000 miles from South Florida to Brazil that will create up to 50 jobs at the end of the line in Miami.
Seaborn Networks LLC will install and operate the cable, which will run from São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, to Boca Raton and then down to Miami.
› Garbage guys to help watch out for crime in Broward County [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
They'll pick up your garbage — and help fight crime.
More than 225 workers hauling trash for Waste Management have been trained to keep an eye out for suspicious activities as they drive along their routes in the wee hours of the morning.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› Use of Coupons, Bargains for Purchases a Major Consumer Trend [Lakeland Ledger]
Searching for deals is expected to be one the top 12 crucial consumer trends this year, according to Trendwatching.com, a Web site that tracks consumer habits globally. Getting a bargain is no longer embarrassing and shoppers like Lakeland's Terri Harrison flaunt their savings.
› New rail link between Miami, Orlando planned by 2014
[Miami Herald]
A company whose affiliate operates a rail line for cargo trains announced plans Thursday to run passenger trains between Miami and Orlando by 2014.
Florida East Coast Industries, a Coral Gables real estate and transportation company, said in a statement that it intends to develop a $1 billion passenger rail service that would use existing tracks north to Cocoa and then build a new rail extension from Cocoa to Orlando.
› Circus performance in Venice aims to boost arena funding [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Cirque Italia will become the first international circus to open in Venice in more than two decades when a show named "Aquatic" makes its splashy debut Friday. The show will open in a new $2.3-million set donated by the famed Italian circus, the third-largest in the world, which extended a helping hand from across the Atlantic Ocean after owner Manuel Rebbechi learned the Venice circus arena could be torn down in lieu of repairs estimated at $10 million.
› Kings Point to celebrate $30 million insurance settlement [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
The Kings Point retirement community in Delray Beach, devastated by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, is receiving the last of $30 million in insurance payments next week. The 3,120 units in the Independent Condominium Association had major damage during Wilma. When the insurer, Poe Financial Group, went bankrupt, the association’s management company and a public adjuster pursued payment from a state-backed insurance fund that pays claims for insolvent insurers.
› Quebec businesses head to Miami to strike deals [Miami Today]
The Quebec-Florida Chamber of Commerce is bringing ten Quebec companies from all business sectors wishing to develop the Florida market or to expand during its third mission to the state.
?