Florida Senate OKs $70 billion budget plan
The Senate approved its budget plan for spending nearly $70 billion today, positioning the plan for negotiations with the House beginning next week. The vote was 33-6, with a half-dozen Democrats objecting that cuts to education, health care and state employee benefits were unduly harsh. But budget chairman JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said the Senate did the best it could, under prevailing economic circumstances. "We're asking a lot from our state employees," said Alexander. "But in my district, virtually every business that I know of has done layoffs and reductions." Both the House and Senate versions of the budget eliminate state jobs and are expected to cause layoffs by July 1, when the new fiscal year starts. The pending bills will also require employees to pay into the Florida Retirement System for the first time since the 1970s, and have no pay raises for the work force -- which has not had a general pay hike in five years. [Source: Florida Today]MUST-KNOW FLORIDIAN
Meet Dorrie Hipschman, Executive Director of the Cade Museum for Innovation and Invention. Hipschman has more than 15 years of experience in creating, building and managing community organizations. The Cade Museum - located in Gainesville, Florida - is named for James Robert Cade, the physician, musician, researcher and inventor best known for leading the University of Florida team that created Gatorade. Read more in our North Central Florida Economic Yearbook. |
St. Petersburg gets a beer of its own
The Ale and the Witch, the new American craft beer bar in downtown St. Petersburg, pours the first offering Thursday from another new company, St. Pete Brew.
The brewer's inaugural beer is St. Pete Orange Wheat, an ale made with orange peel and coriander seeds (4.7 a.b.v.).
The Orange Wheat reflects St. Pete Brew's goal of creating beers that reflect the area, said Michelle Williams, president and CEO.
"The whole point behind it was to provide a beer choice that really exemplifies the essence of St. Pete,'' said Williams, 38. Her husband, Tom, is managing member of the company and brewmaster.
The company's philosophy also is reflected in its colorful logo, created by artist and St. Petersburg native Carrie Jadus. It features iconic images of the city, including the Pier, the Tony Jannus airboat, sea gulls and sunshine. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]
COLUMN: Law gives Florida's electric monopolies control of solar energy
Two opposite ways to approach solar energy in Florida, long overdue:
The first way:
Let a million flowers bloom. Dedicate ourselves to the goal that X percent of our energy has to come from solar and other alternative sources.
Pass aggressive laws to encourage solar. Create an open market that rewards the better mousetrap. Throw open the state to competition, innovation and jobs.
The second way:
Just put Florida's electric companies in charge.
Let the traditional electric monopolies build (or not build) centralized, larger-scale solar projects as they see fit.
Let them automatically bill their customers as they choose, outside normal regulation, putting hundreds of millions if not billions into their pockets in coming years.
Don't require the electric companies to deal with anybody else, or at least not much.
Which will Florida choose?
[Source: St. Petersburg Times]
Food trucks draw crowds during downtown Orlando gathering
Rock bands aren't the only things that draw crowds at Firestone Live.
Korean tacos can do it, too.
Hundreds gathered outside the downtown concert venue Wednesday night for a food-truck roundup that featured six of Orlando's best-known mobile vendors. Dubbed a Food Pod, the event allows diners a chance to sample the offerings of several food trucks without cruising around the city.
Staring at 6 p.m., the trucks began slinging everything from bacon-filled hush puppies to frosted cupcakes. Tony Adams, owner of Big Wheel Provisions, had a constant line outside his food truck. A longtime chef, Adams and his crew opened the truck less than a month ago.
"We realized there was an ever-growing demand for food trucks in Orlando," Adams said.
Other trucks parked at Firestone Live included the Korean BBQ Taco Box, Red Eye BBQ, the Yum Yum Cupcake Truck, The Crooked Spoon and the Treehouse Truck.
Organizers plan to make the food-truck roundup at Firestone Live a weekly event.
[Source: Orlando Sentinel]
UF pharmacy technician training broadens career options
Pharmacy technician jobs, once sought after by younger workers, are attracting older workers as new licensing laws take effect. While economic uncertainty and unstable job markets linger, many workers, not ready to retire, now see these jobs as stable and fulfilling second careers.
The change in demographic became apparent after the first year of the University of Florida College of Pharmacy's 14-week training program for pharmacy technicians. Program Development Coordinator Judy Riffee began teaching pharmacy technicians at the college's Gainesville campus in 2008 — before new legislation was proposed.
An experienced pharmacy educator in the UF College of Pharmacy division of continuing education, Riffee expected a class of young adults. Now, she is finding most of her students to be 40- to 60-year-olds, well-educated and eager to get back into the job market in a meaningful way.
"The education and work experience of my current class ranges from librarians and engineers to health care and finance professionals. The common thread seems to be a downturned economy that is greatly affecting job retention and taking many people out of the workplace for which they were originally trained," Riffee said.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts pharmacy technician jobs to increase substantially, by 31 percent nationally over the next seven years. The department's 2010-11 Occupational Outlook Handbook also noted a favorable job market for those with formal training or certification.
[Source: UF News]
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