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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007 Former OJ Plant to Pump Biodiesel Orange juice once coursed through this factory's stainless steel veins. Now in its place comes a new kind of juice: biodiesel. Over the next two weeks, Pensacola-based Agri-Source Fuels will start production of the clean-burning alternative fuel in a 60,000-square-foot space at Dade City Business Park, which is in the shuttered Pasco Beverage citrus factory. The plan: Convert chicken fat hauled in from Georgia and Alabama and palm and cottonseed oils shipped from South America into as many as 125-million gallons of the alternative fuel a year. More on this topic from Florida Trend: Child care on or near campus, domestic-partner benefits and improved job security for non-tenured faculty are on the minds of Florida State University professors. FSU faculty members are paid $10,000 below their U.S. counterparts on average according to some studies, and 83 percent of FSU faculty in the survey said cost-of-living raises are a top priority, followed by merit and market-equity increases. Related articles: Talk in Tampa of Regional Transit Going Nowhere Fast There's plenty of enthusiasm for rail these days, but getting even the simplest system built in Tampa will take a monumental effort and be at least a decade in the making. Federal money is limited, and dozens of cities are ahead of Tampa in the quest for rail money. In addition, local governments that typically don't get along must unite behind a single plan that in all likelihood will hinge on a significant amount of local tax money to succeed. Number of Women on Company Boards Still Meager In Northeast Florida, a lower proportion of women served on the boards of the region's largest public companies in 2006 than in 2004, according to a statewide survey released last week. In Florida, as a whole, there were slight gains made by women, albeit at a slow rate. Of the 162 board seats of the top 17 public companies headquartered in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, only 13 were held by women as of October 2006, according to the biennial census, the second released by the nonprofit Women Executive Leadership and the University of Miami. Pollution Questions Dog Garbage Plant Plans in St. Lucie Lucie County may set its own set of pollution standards, stricter than the state's, that a company must meet while operating a plant to vaporize garbage at the local landfill, county commissioners said. The discussion came amid one commissioner's skepticism about Geoplasma LLC's environmental claims and the company's admission that it has no data from a similar plant in Japan to show what pollution the local plant will produce. Geoplasma hopes to build a $420-million plant that eventually will process 3,000 tons of solid waste a day at the landfill by heating it to 10,000 degrees and pulling the molecules apart, instead of merely burning it. Report Warns of 'Perfect Storm' in U.S. Economic Future The convergence of inadequate education, changes to the labor force and demographic shifts caused by immigration have created a ''perfect storm'' that threatens the nation's economic future, according to a report released last week. The combination of these factors is ''imperiling our long-term prosperity, undermining our political cohesion and literally tearing at our social fabric,'' said Kurt Landgraf, president of Education Testing Service, which conducted the study. Home Depot Moves in New Direction HD Supply wholesale division may be sold or spun off as separate company. Little more than a year after buying home-grown Hughes Supply Inc., one of only two Fortune 500 companies in the Orlando area, Home Depot said Monday it is thinking of selling the professional/wholesale division that Hughes was to anchor. The division, now called HD Supply Inc., was to have its national headquarters in the downtown Orlando building previously occupied by Hughes Supply; that's what Joe DeAngelo, then chief executive of the wholesale division, said in March 2006, after the Hughes purchase was completed. Related articles: More on this topic from Florida Trend: St. Petersburg health insurer under investigation Universal Health Care Inc. of St. Petersburg, which has attracted Medicare enrollees to its managed care plans by offering everything from zero premiums to money back, is under investigation by Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. According to a division spokesman, state officials are concerned the privately owned insurer has grown too rapidly and does not have sufficient financial reserves as required by law. Water-Bottling Plant Faces Setback A proposed water-bottling plant near Wakulla Springs received a setback Tuesday when the Wakulla County Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of the project. The commission apparently was persuaded by opponents who said approval could encourage companies to locate other bottling plants in Wakulla County and could add to truck traffic on roads near schools. About 110 people attended the public hearing. More on this topic from Florida Trend: A Canadian Takes the Big Cat to Key West You can get to the string of islands that ends in Key West by car – a lovely drive along elevated bridges that span little islands and aquamarine water. But the final island, Key West, is so tiny – just three kilometres by six kilometres – you don't need a car once you arrive. Flying is faster, but also pricey and involves changing planes at a Florida gateway airport. So, to save time over driving and money over flying, I opted for the time-honoured choice of sailing down to the island, hopping a ride with Key West Express, the only company offering daily ferry service to and from the island aboard a 47-metre Big Cat Express from Ft. Myers.
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