A Revival in Southwest Florida Dining
A cadre of new restaurants is firing up southwest Florida dining with the flavors of many cuisines and big helpings of innovation -- despite the economic troubles that have pinched the area. It's still a year of dining prudently, or at least in small bites or small plates, and largely within the Old World comfort zone of artisanal foods, bistro favorites, tapas and, of course, frites. But Old World doesn't mean you have to live in the past, for some new restaurants on the Gulf have the kind of flash that would fit 21st-century South Beach. Keep reading Southwest Revival.
 Filet mignon, blue cheese butter, sherry and mushroom ragout [Photo: Greg and Spencer Pullen, HARBOR STYLE Magazine] |
Ripples in Japanese supply chain will be felt here
Japan makes a lot of cars and electronics. That's well known. It also produces 90 percent of the resin used on computer circuit boards. Seventy percent of a polymer used to make iPod batteries. About a fifth of the metal-cutting machine tools used by American manufacturers. It's a major player in ball bearings, power turbines, plastics and rubber. What does that mean for us in America? If you want a black Ford SUV you might not be able to find it. That's right, Japan also makes certain paint pigments. More importantly, the supply train problems triggered by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami could seriously drag on this country's economic recovery, starting with the auto industry. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]
FL House Speaker: Expect 'hard and unpleasant' budget decisions
Florida Speaker Dean Cannon said the Legislature will make tough budget decisions that will hurt — but without ending "essential" programs. "It's going to be very hard and very unpleasant," Cannon said. "We have to tell people 'No'." "Before it was not funding bad programs to fund good programs. Now, it's not funding good programs so you can fund essential programs," he said. Cannon reminded his audience that this is no longer the boom times of 2005 and Florida is facing a $3.8 billion budget shortfall. He repeated Gov. Rick Scott's mantra of the axis of unemployment: taxation, regulation and litigation. "We're trying to play defense and not do anything that raises taxes and fees," Cannon said. Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos said the Legislature will be cutting $3.8 billion and not raise taxes or fees in order to balance the budget. "It's going to be brutal," said Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island. [Source: Fort Myers News-Press]
Legislative Roundup
» Citizens rate increases marching to approval
» Scott plans cuts to services for developmentally disabled
» Pill mill stalemate looms
» Committee delays vote on Darden tax break
» Bill to limit multiyear contracts worries teachers
» Cuts to state budget likely will hurt many Floridians
» House plan to cut cancer research money keeps moving
Saga of eccentric playboy is up for sale
A sea serpent viking-ship bed from Norway, artifacts from the Indonesian island of Bali, a Dragon-headed gong stand from Tibet: the clues to the eccentric life of a Coconut Grove playboy and adventurer are up for grabs to the highest bidder on eBay. The estate of the late Baron Joseph de Bicske Dobronyi, better known as Sepy, is putting hundreds of worldly artifacts and personal items for sale online. The first to be listed include several items from his extensive collection from his trips to Bali, such as a dining set made from an antique door (asking for $11,999), a bronze Buddha statue ($9,950), and a royal family Peacock sculpture ($2,499). But it might be some time before the estate will sell the item that's gotten Dobronyi the most attention since his death: the 40-something-year-old underwear of Queen Elizabeth II. The globetrotting bon vivant, who died May 29, reportedly was gifted the royal drawers from a friend, who found them in a private plane when the Queen visited Chile in 1968, according to the estate. "One thing no one has disputed is the authenticity of the panties," said Louis F. Cruz, managing director of the estate's sales. The estate is working with Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers in England to sell the undergarment with approval from the British government. The expected selling price is $9,000 for the briefs trimmed with lace and marked with a monogram of the letter E topped with a crown. But the estate says the British government is stalling on sanctioning the sale. [Source: Miami Herald]
Survey: Businesses divided on Scott's role in economy
Central Florida business leaders consider Gov. Rick Scott to be both the leading reason the local economy is headed in the right direction — and the leading reason it's headed in the wrong direction, according to a new survey funded by Orlando-area business groups.
About 1,200 businesses and 100 government officials in an eight-county area participated in the March 16-24 survey by Strategic Guidance Systems of Gainesville. The survey was the first step for a new, regional initiative called "Open for Business," which aims to stoke the local business climate.
"We don't want recovery," said Michael Kidd, executive vice president of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, one of the group involved in the effort. "We want a better, more efficient way of doing business."
Survey respondents blamed Scott for torpedoing the region's business climate by killing plans for an Orlando-to-Tampa high-speed rail link and putting a commuter-rail project for the region on hold. And yet those surveyed also cited efforts by Scott and by Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs to make government accountable and to close government budget gaps as top reasons Orlando's economy is headed in the right direction.
Businesses cited Central Florida's quality of life and cost of living as the region's top two advantages. The biggest barrier to business expansion: limited access to capital and talent.
[Source: Orlando Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Gainesville loses bid for Google's fiber-optic network
Topeka, Kan., was renamed Google for a month last year in an effort to lure the Web giant to build its ultra-fast Internet network there. Instead, the network ended up going to a city an hour east on Interstate 70.
Gainesville officials had opted not to employ publicity stunts but said they thought they had a legitimate chance to land Google's service, which promises Internet access speeds 100 times faster than the connection in the average American household.
But Gainesville, Topeka and more than 1,100 other cities that applied were beaten out by Kansas City, Kan., the company announced Wednesday.
"In selecting a city, our goal was to find a location where we could build efficiently, make an impact on the community and develop relationships with local government and community organizations," Milo Medin, Google's vice president for access services, wrote in a blog post. "We've found this in Kansas City."
› Crowded highway no fairway for North Fort Myers golf shop
Lloyd Currie has landed in a rough patch.
It's a bit ironic, since he owns a tiny, acid-green shop in North Fort Myers that's crammed floor to ceiling with thousands of aging golf clubs.
"I'm under water. I've got bills to pay," said the 86-year-old former Marine combat pilot who's bought, sold and repaired new and used clubs in Southwest Florida since the mid-1970s.
Most days, he thinks it's time to get out of the business. Other times, Currie thinks he'd stay on if he got his inventory under control.
Currie estimates he had 100,000 clubs in the shop until about a year ago, when he started to sell some for scrap. He's sold about 40,000 clubs to a recycler, grossing about $3,000.
How does that feel?
"It's cutting my heart out," he said.
Running Master Golf was fun until a few years ago, said Currie, who in his teens caddied at Northland Country Club in Duluth, Minn.
It's not just the economy that's crippled business: The almost-instant obsolescence of golf clubs these days - and a wider and speedier road -are at play.
"Cars go by so fast," Currie said. "A lot of my customers are older. People are afraid to stop."
› Gator Bowl would welcome another shot at BCS
If the controversy surrounding the Fiesta Bowl results in a structural change for the Bowl Championship Series, the Progressive Gator Bowl will be poised to make its case for Jacksonville being a part of the system that decides a college football national champion.
Gator Bowl Association president Rick Catlett said it would be premature to begin lobbying for a spot in the BCS. However, the BCS issued a statement indicating the possibility of expelling the Fiesta Bowl from the bowl cartel on Tuesday, pending the results of its own investigation.
The Fiesta Bowl fired chief executive officer John Junker on Tuesday after an internal report found "an apparent scheme" in which employees made political contributions and were then reimbursed or given bonuses by the bowl. The Arizona Attorney General's Office is investigating to see if the contributions violated state and federal campaign finance laws.
› UF displays its clout in Tallahassee
The University of Florida has advantages over other interests in battling state budget cuts, including an active student body and alumni in positions of power.
Both those advantages were on display Wednesday with Gator Day at the Capitol. The event brought UF students in Florida Blue Key, the exclusive UF honorary, to Tallahassee to meet lawmakers who included former members of the group, other alumni and even one university instructor.
"This is not going to be a pretty year," Senate President Mike Haridopolos, a Merritt Island Republican and UF political science instructor, told the group.
Haridopolos was referring to an estimated $3.8 billion state budget deficit that could bring another round of cuts to university funding. But despite the gloomy budget forecast, UF President Bernie Machen told the students that he was hopeful the university would fare well as the budget is finalized in the coming weeks.
"One thing that I'm pretty sure about is the Legislature is going to treat UF very well," Machen said. "We have worked very hard through our networking and with our lobbying to make sure that our needs are understood by the Legislature."
› Despite crackdown, mobile food keeps on trucking
Every day, gourmet food trucks dishing up everything from mini-cupcakes and gelato to organic grilled cheese sandwiches crisscross South Florida streets, attracting long lines. You can find them in downtown Miami at lunchtime, and grouped in parking lots at night.
They go by clever names — Miso Hungry, CheeseMe, Nacho Mama's — and have multiplied from a handful less than a year ago to more than 40 today. Tens of thousands of fans follow them on Twitter and Facebook, tracking their moves and menus.
But as the region's unfettered food truck scene has taken off, so have tensions. Between the trucks and residents concerned about noise and litter in their neighborhood. Between trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants, whose operators pay rent and don't like losing business to here-today, gone-tomorrow competitors. And between the trucks and city officials, who have taken to shooing them away for lack of proper permits.
?
› Sarasota-Manatee business sales see sharp upswing
It has been more than four years since the Sarasota-Manatee market has posted as good a month as it did in January, when sales reported by businesses in the two counties hit $1.65 billion, a 13 percent increase from the same time last year. Businesses in Manatee County — slower to recover than their counterparts in Sarasota County — led the way with a 19 percent spike. That is the best monthly gain in Manatee County in 65 months, or more than five years.
"The reality is the economy is recovering," said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith. "I think the cold winter is playing a part in boosting spending."
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› Huizenga's hygiene firm expands in South Florida
Swisher Hygiene announced Wednesday its subsidiary has agreed to acquire Miami-based Lawson Sanitation, expanding its waste management business in South Florida.
Swisher, a Charlotte, N.C.-based provider of commercial cleaning products and services, in February purchased Choice Environmental, a Fort Lauderdale waste management company that now is acquiring Lawson.
Lawson, which has been in business since 2003, was founded by John Lawson Jr., who will join Choice Environmental.
Swisher Hygiene also announced it has acquired the hygiene and chemical business of Chicagoland Hygiene, one of its Northern Illinois franchises.
› Spurned by Ocala, car show drives to Castro land
John Duggan will conduct a car show in the fall, after all. Having met resistance from Ocala downtown business owners, who were concerned that the sidewalks would be closed off and their customers would have to pay in order to get access to their businesses during the festivities, Duggan scrapped his plans and decided to go elsewhere.
But Duggan said that Matt Dunn, the Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau tourist development manager, worked hard to keep the show in Marion County. As a result, Duggan was able to strike a deal to hold the show on the Castro farm property off U.S. 27 west of Interstate 75.
"Now that we have our show venue and location, let's have fun," Duggan said Wednesday.
› Inc. 500 company doing mortgage modifications without license
A Lake Worth financial services firm that made Inc. magazine's 500 Fastest Growing Companies list last year has been operating without a valid license for three months, state regulators say.
The Florida Office of Financial Regulation said Reliance Inc., which markets mortgage modification and debt settlement services, did not submit its application for a mortgage loan originators now required by law by the Dec. 31 deadline.
The state received Reliance's application two weeks ago and is reviewing it, said Flora Beal, spokeswoman for the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. Beal said Reliance founder and CEO Enrique Bruno Rodriguez and several other Reliance employees have individual mortgage broker's licenses. But companies must be licensed also.
› Master's degree project designed for surveillance
Under eight rotors, the microcopter would rise undetected, carrying a camera-equipped smartphone.
Sending images back to soldiers or SWAT team members of enemy territory, the machine could help out in operations increasingly reliant on autonomous surveillance.
In the meantime, the project will help Florida Tech grad student Patrick Lewis earn his master's degree as he provides research for the Melbourne technology company also involved in the work.
Basically, Lewis will program the smartphone camera to transmit video to a laptop running software that calculates the GPS coordinates of objects or people on the ground.
Sounds pretty simple. The complicated part will be merging the video signal with a computer program so the coordinates can be viewed.
› High-profile St. Johns County builder hit with fraud charges
A St. Augustine builder who rose to prominence as an affordable-housing developer now stands accused of fraud, according to police reports.
Lisa Drudi, 57, of the 100 block of Nesmith Avenue, St. Augustine, turned herself in March 13 at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. She faces two felony counts of organized fraud and obtaining property valued between $20,000 and $50,000.
At the height of the housing boom, Drudi, who operated Covenant Homes, was known for providing a rarity of sorts in St. Johns County: homes priced below $100,000.
Drudi fell on hard times of late. A judge granted her indigent status in the fraud case and agreed to lower her bail from $100,000 to $5,000, court records show.
› Venice men buy Freedom Boat Club
A Cincinnati investment group has sold the Freedom Boat Club to two Venice residents, Bob Daley and John Giglio, for an undisclosed price. The club, which bills itself as "the world's largest," has offered its members access to boats without the hassles of boat ownership for 22 years.
Daley -- who moved to Venice from the Catskills a decade ago -- would not disclose the purchase price, but said he financed the acquisition with a U.S. Small Business Administration Business Express loan from BankUnited.
"It's not a complicated business," Daley said. "Members pay a one-time entry fee and $149 to $199 per month for unlimited boating for the rest of their lives."
That gives them the right to use any of the club's 165 boats at 12 ports in Florida and limited access to 450 boats at 48 franchisee sites across the country.