Poll: Majority of Florida voters support casinos

A day after a Senate committee grudgingly passed a bill to bring destination resort casinos to Florida, the first independent statewide poll on the issue shows that Florida voters narrowly support the idea but an overwhelming majority believes casinos would be "good for Florida's economy." The poll also asked voters how they felt about the job being done by Gov. Rick Scott and the state Legislature. [Source: Times/Herald]

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CEO Sounding Board Florida CEOs answer: What's your outlook for 2012? Juan Ortiz, CEO of Navarro Discount Pharmacy tells us: "Very optimistic, let me tell you, very optimistic. We will be adding to employee headcount. We're focused here entirely in south Florida. We're expecting a 1% to 2% growth on a same-store basis. We're also adding new stores." » Read more from Ortiz and other Florida CEOs.

After Sanborn leaves, sound stage looks for actors

The family that owns the 20,000- square-foot sound stage abandoned recently by Sanborn Studios will continue to offer it for film, television and advertising production. The owners of the Florida Sound Stage, as it is now named, also are considering enhancements that would allow more advanced video and still-photo production there. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

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Orlando: Not the renters' market it used to be

One group that has not benefited from Orlando's precipitous drop in housing prices is renters. In the past six years, existing-home prices have been slashed in half in the metro area, yet monthly rental rates have actually increased slightly. With demand for rentals high in an area laden with foreclosures, rents have edged up even though landlords are paying far less than they did in the past to buy rental properties. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

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Kelly Slater launches clothing line

Kelly Slater has teamed up with his sponsor, Quiksilver, to launch a menswear line. The champion surfer and Cocoa Beach native is offering VSTR, pronounced "visitor," which its website describes as "modern travel essentials for the ocean, road and the journey in between." Read more from Florida Today and visit VSTR.

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Interest grows in creating new business incubator in Jacksonville

A flurry of interest among Jacksonville business leaders in creating a new small business incubator has featured meetings with Mayor Alvin Brown and the tour of an Austin, Texas, program called Tech Ranch. Downtown is one of the sites being eyed for a place where entrepreneurs could share workspace and get "one-stop shopping" assistance from various agencies helping small businesses. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

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Event/Adventure Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition One thousand miles. That's how far a group of people will be walking through the heart of Florida. And they'll do it for 100 days straight - through swamps, cattle pasture and subdivisions on the creeping edge of suburbia. They're not just doing it to get their feet wet. They're doing it to focus public attention on protecting connected wild areas to create a wildlife corridor from the Everglades to Georgia. Read more from WUSF, see the Expedition official site and see our Florida Forever Nature Photo Gallery.

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