Florida's nuclear power: Concrete decisions
Faced with a nuclear power plant that hasn't worked since 2009, Progress Energy executives considered 22 scenarios, including shuttering the 34-year-old Crystal River Nuclear Plant. They announced this summer that they would fix the plant, instead, pledging between $900 million and $1.3 billion to repair cracks in a concrete containment wall. "The sooner we can get it back in service, the sooner our customers are going to realize the benefits of that lower cost power in our system," says Vincent Dolan, president and CEO of Progress Energy Florida. But the Crystal River Nuclear Plant isn't Progress Energy's only concern these days. Read more about Progress Energy's Concrete Decisions.
 Progress Energy plans to replace much of the containment structure's 42-inch-thick concrete walls where cracks were discovered at the Crystal River nuclear plant. [Photo: Will Vragovic/St. Petersburg Times] |
Hurricane Andrew would cost Citizens insurance $14 billion today
If another Hurricane Andrew or the eight hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 hit Florida again, state-run Citizens Property Insurance would face paying $14.7 billion or $7.6 billion, respectively, in claims. That's according to a Senate insurance committee report released today. Bills to eliminate or drastically shrink Citizens didn't fly last year, but lawmakers may float them again during the legislative session that starts Jan. 10. Nearly all Floridians are subject to paying fees on their insurance policies to support Citizens, the state's largest home insurer, if a major disaster triggers deficits. Read more from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and read the committee report.
More poor Floridians turning to food pantries
It's a Wednesday morning, and a row of people are standing outside Food of Life Ministries in Homestead. It's a queue that forms twice a week, lately more men than in the past, increasingly formed by men, the working poor, more of the kind of folk who never before waited in line for free canned corn. By the end of the month, some 4,000 people will have tapped into the ministry's food pantry in a desperate pursuit to make ends meet. Petitfrere's predicament is being replayed across South Florida, as more middle and working class people find themselves either out of a job, making less or working fewer hours. [Source: Miami Herald]
Charter school by day, adult club by night
By day, the Balare Language Academy is an A-rated charter school, home to children in kindergarten through middle school. But when the kids are tucked into bed, Balare apparently becomes a playground of a different kind. Party fliers, printed and on the Web, indicate that the campus at 10875 Quail Roost Dr. has been hosting raunchy, booze-soaked bashes into the wee hours. One flier for an upcoming party features a voluptuous, scantily clad woman posing with champagne bottles. Another shows a woman in a string bikini bending over suggestively and a man with flashy jewelry sitting on a stack of currency in front of a gold sports car. [Source: Miami Herald]
Ex-pro wrestler turned Bible teacher helps shelter residents
Michael Davis used to slap his head and run in circles. He wore a top hat and a cowbell. He once hurled a pie at Miss Brenda — his enemy's fleabag girlfriend — and waded into a bloodbath with the Great Kabuki. He laughed like a ticklish serial killer.
But on a recent Friday night, the former wrestler known as Bugsy McGraw has only one battle: getting someone to remember the assigned Bible verses.
He turns to a man wearing an AC/DC T-shirt. "AC/DC, Scriptures!"
AC/DC admits he doesn't know them.
"Well, at least you're consistent. You never know the Scriptures," says Davis.
[Source: St. Petersburg Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Sarasota's new purchasing manager plans 'war room' approach
It is Mark Thiele's first week on the job as Sarasota County's new purchasing manager, and he is already trying to help put out fires.
A bid for a construction company to replace the roof on the county courthouse was cancelled after it was found to be written in a way that was vague and confusing — a holdover from earlier this year when problems with the way the county handles contracts surfaced.
Thiele said it is clear the department will have to start from scratch.
"I'm looking at it as if we're going into a think tank in a war room," Thiele said. "Change has to happen."
› Perdido Key to host Soccer Showcase
Perdido Key will be one of the hosts for an estimated 4,000 soccer players and family members attending the 2011 FloraBama Soccer Showcase Sept. 17 and 18.
Perdido Key Chamber of Commerce officers are expecting the events to have a significant post-Labor Day economic impact on Key businesses and condo rentals.
› "The Situation" partners in tan business
MTV reality star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is turning his hobby of tanning into a business venture in Florida.
Sorrentino has been named a partner of Boca Tanning Opportunities, Inc. He's expected to attend an event at the Boca Tanning Club in Miami on Thursday.
Boca Tanning Club has 20 outlets in Florida, Texas and New York. Sorrentino says he hopes to see one in every single state, especially so that when he travels he can "always have a great place to tan."
› Search for Citrus Chief Begins
The new executive director at the Florida Department of Citrus will come primarily from a marketing background.
Or not. The Florida Citrus Commission, the department's governing body, on Wednesday seemed divided on the point.
"The industry has told us pretty loudly the No. 1 priority is marketing," said Commissioner Jay Clark, a Wauchula grower.
"I agree the core focus of the department is marketing, but we have a marketing staff and a marketing director," said Mike Garavaglia, a Fort Pierce packinghouse executive. "I would be really concerned if the executive director were just a marketer."
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› Trucking companies' quandary
More than 100 people apply every day to Comcar, a trucking company based in Auburndale.
But from that big pool of potential truck drivers, only two or three make the cut.
For trucking companies, the slow pick-up of the economy has revived an issue left on the back burner during the recession.
There's a shortage of qualified truck drivers.
› Pubbelly bringing two new brothers to Sunset Harbour
Pubbelly seems an unlikely South Beach success story. The gastropub's owners don't try to lure tourists and celebrities to eat their gourmet pork belly dishes. They shun the exposure that comes from large-scale marketing. What they want to do, they say, is to create a haven for locals in their Sunset Harbour neighborhood, and they want to keep it simple.
Their strategy seems to be working. A year after Pubbelly's opening, diners at peak dinner hour wait to grab a table at the 45-seat, chef-driven restaurant with a cozy pub vibe.
› Miami Hurricanes football gets $4.2 million gift almost 30 years after donor's death
The University of Miami's athletic program received a $4.2 million donation Thursday, the largest endowment ever for football scholarships at UM.
The gift comes from Mary B. Hecht, fulfilling a promise she made 35 years ago in her last will and testament.
› TV pilot shot in Florida gets first screening
The first TV pilot to film in Manatee County got its first public screening this week, but its creators admit that's just the first small step in getting it to your living room.
"It's definitely exciting, but it's just the start of a long journey all over again," said Harrison Sanborn, the 19-year-old director of "Workers' Comp," who shot the comedic episode in Sarasota and Bradenton over seven days in April with actor and co-writer Castille Landon.
The creative team — which includes Landon's mother, Dori Sperko — said they will begin pitching the half-hour pilot to network and cable television outlets beginning Sept. 10.
› Year-over-year construction job losses 2 percent in Jacksonville
The Jacksonville area lost 700, or 2 percent, of its construction jobs between July 2010 and July 2011, while overall, construction employment rose in 136 of 337 cities.
Jacksonville's construction employment sank from 28,800 to 28,100, ranking Jacksonville 204th nationwide, according to data released Wednesday by the Associated General Contractors of America.
› FIU faculty members help Norwegian Cruise Line go from "Good to Great."
Combine the vision of Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Kevin Sheehan; a team of academics in the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (FIU); consultants and practitioners who partner with the business school; and Jim Collins' stimulating book Good to Great and you have the makings of an exciting, effective program to enhance the leadership skills of Norwegian's 240 directors.