Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 10/1/2013

Study: Expanded gambling would do little for Florida economy

Doubling down on gambling by turning Florida into the next Las Vegas would have just a minimal impact on the state's economy and wouldn't do much to create new jobs, according to an analysis by Spectrum Gaming Group set to be released today. More at the Orlando Sentinel.

Traditional, charter schools seek common ground in South Florida

They compete for students, space and funds. But there’s hope that Florida’s charter schools and traditional public schools can move past the friction that defines their coexistence and collaborate to better benefit students. More at the Miami Herald.

South Florida sees August home prices jump 14%

Florida Banking

Customer Satisfaction in the Financial Sector

Credit unions, to the dismay of banks, have gained consumer deposits. Now, some have increased their market share in poor service, too.

Among financial institutions with the most complaints at the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, the two with the highest number relative to their market share in 2012 were both credit unions.

» Full story

Home pricing including distressed sales jumped a whopping 14 percent in each of South Florida’s counties, with Miami-Dade leading the charge as usual, according to CoreLogic. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices increased by 17.6 percent in August 2013 compared to the same time a year ago. [Source: South Florida Business Journal]

See also:
» Home Price Growth Is Cooling Off

Health insurance marketplace opens to overwhelmed websites and phone lines

As many warned, the online insurance marketplaces that are the centerpiece of President Obama's health reform law got off to a slow start Tuesday, with websites moving at a crawl, or not at all. Users of the federal site for Floridians reported difficulty logging in, and waited more than an hour to speak to a representative who apologetically explained that the system was down. More at the Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald.

Prominent Florida business leader to work with UF students

The founder and chairman of the largest privately held construction company in Florida will share his expertise and experiences with University of Florida students for the next month as the first Knight Fellow in-Residence. Preston Haskell founded Haskell Co., an integrated design, engineering and construction firm headquartered in Jacksonville, in 1965. More at UF News.

Florida Architecture
Gallery

For those interested in form following function, there's a wide array of architectural gems in the Sunshine State. The organic design that graces the campus of Florida Southern College is the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, hailed by the American institute of Architects as "the greatest American architect of all time." As the largest collection of Wright architecture on a single site, the campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.