Fla. Might Try to be First State to Withdraw from Medicaid
The lead author of a proposal to overhaul the state Medicaid program said Tuesday that if the federal government rejects the plan, Florida might become the first state to withdraw from the program and instead craft its own, pared-down alternative.
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What Charlie Crist Wants with St. Joe
The news is still swirling around St. Joe Company. On Monday, investor Bruce Berkowitz announced that he and his partner Charlie Fernandez were stepping down as St. Joe directors after serving for little more than a month. It appears as though Berkowitz was defeated by the board in his attempt to become chairman and shake things up at the $2 billion Florida landowner. What that means is still unclear, but all signs point to a proxy fight. Berkowitz's firm Fairholme Capital owns nearly 30% of St. Joe's shares, and six other institutional shareholders including BlackRock control another 40%. Now that he's relinquished his role as a director, Berkowitz can nominate a slate of his own directors and put them to a shareholder vote in as little as 45 days from now. Among the most interesting of his proposed directors: former Florida governor Charlie Crist. Crist, a longtime acquaintance of Berkowitz's partner Charlie Fernandez, lost his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in November and has since worked at a private law firm in Florida. Fortune caught up with the former governor Tuesday afternoon. He talked about how he got involved with Fairholme, why he wants to be part of St. Joe, and what he's doing after a life in politics. [Source: Fortune]
» Rummell Transformed St. Joe Co.
» Northwest Fla. Yearbook 2010
» Driving Growth
Other related:
» Berkowitz to Propose Replacing St. Joe's Board
Fla. Chamber CEO Calls Upcoming Legislative Session "Our Time"
Forgive Mark Wilson, head of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, if he sounds supremely confident that his pro-business agenda to "realign the way government works" will largely sail through Tallahassee this upcoming session.
| UF imprints on Gainesville the intellectual life, arts and culture of a larger metropolitan area — with relatively little traffic or other problems associated with a big city. [View All Community Portraits] |
30-Story Wind Turbines Could Be Coming to Glades Sugar Fields
A St. Louis company hopes to build Florida's first wind farm, on thousands of acres of sugar land east of Belle Glade. Wind Capital Group is looking to convert the breezes blowing off Lake Okeechobee into energy that could power homes and businesses across South Florida. The company met with Palm Beach County planners last week to begin work on changes to the county's development rules that would be needed before its turbines could be built. The $250 million project could be a boon for the area, creating 250 to 300 construction jobs, the company estimates, in a depressed region where unemployment rates in November ranged as high as 44.9 percent in South Bay and 30.4 percent in Pahokee - well above the countywide average. "That is tremendous," Brenda Bunting, Executive Director of the Belle Glade Chamber of Commerce, said of the project. "We would be excited to see something like that come. We are always looking for things that benefit this community." Wind Capital would lease land around the base of the turbines from area farmers and sugar growers, who would continue to farm the remaining property. Each turbine would stand between 262 feet and 328 feet tall, roughly the height of a 30-story building or the Statue of Liberty, which stands 305 feet from ground to flame. [Source: Palm Beach Post]
State Farm: We Need Rate Increase to Stay Afloat
State Farm Florida defended its proposal to hike homeowners' insurance rates an average of 28 percent during a public hearing Tuesday as necessary because the company's finances have dwindled amid recent hurricane-free years.
"Our financial condition has deteriorated over the last two years," State Farm pricing manager Adam Swope told the Office of Insurance Regulation panel. "Over the last almost three years, we've lost over $500 million of surplus. This company has lost a substantial amount of surplus in years with no hurricane events."
The state's largest private property insurer claims it needs increased premiums for its roughly 700,000 homeowners in Florida to pay for rising non-catastrophic claims, such as sinkholes.
The company has also proposed raising premiums for commercial multiperil policies an average of 96 percent. That plan generated little discussion Tuesday, as it affects an estimated 5 percent of State Farm's clients.
Steve Alexander, actuary for the Office of the Insurance Consumer Advocate, did not suggest rejecting the rate increase, but had a few tweaks. He recommended bringing State Farm Florida's premium costs closer to the national average and doubling the average sinkhole discount policy.
Belinda Miller, general counsel for the Office of Insurance Regulation, said some people would be surprised to see their premiums increase by 40 to 50 percent if the rate passes. She asked Swope if State Farm considered capping rates to "prevent the shock in the marketplace." The carrier did, he said, but decided against it.
[Source: Times/Herald]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Electronic Waste Easier to Recycle in Jacksonville
Got an old computer or television collecting dust? Wondering what to do with it? You can always take it to the curb and have trash collectors haul it to the landfill - where it may leak harmful waste for decades.
But there's money in e-waste - for someone - and that helps expand your options.
You might be able to get store credit for taking old electronics to retailers such as RadioShack or Best Buy. E-waste can also be taken to the city's hazardous waste dumping site or to remote collection events the city holds periodically.
Now there's another alternative: Florida E-Waste Recycling, a for-profit recycler that recently opened a site in Jacksonville, its 100th Florida location.
› Davie PD Paying Officer Not to Work — for 7 Years
The Davie Police Department hasn't let Officer Kevin Kilpatrick report to duty for seven years — but still pays him $80,275 annually.
He has made more than $550,000 for not working.
Kilpatrick, 41, has been investigated on accusations involving a domestic abuse call cover-up as well as a DUI charge. The department fired him twice, and twice he won his job back — once from an arbitrator, once from a federal judge.
"There was nothing wrong with him," said Romin Currier, Kilpatrick's attorney. "This guy was completely railroaded by the department." Under the settlement in the federal case, Kilpatrick was supposed to return to work and get a job behind a desk.
Kilpatrick, who was hired in February 1994, has said all along that he wanted to come back to work. But his attorney says the town has put "hoops" in Kilpatrick's way, insisting that he complete a polygraph even though that was not part of the settlement.
› Miami Beach Realtor Finds Niche with Athletes, Entertainers
Darren Weiner had already been through one life-changing experience -- unexpected, traumatic and entirely beyond his control. So when a friend suggested a gentle course correction in his career, a natural extension of his endeavors as a sports agent, it was worth pulling out a pen.
The friend, a Miami Beach real estate broker, told him to jot down all the real estate referrals that he'd given to his contacts over the past six months, during the pre-construction boom.
By the third one, Weiner got the point.
"When I was representing these guys, and when they moved from one city to another or even overseas, I was the one dealing with the mother, the wife, the player, the team, the Realtor," said Weiner, a Boca Raton resident for 12 years before moving to Miami in 2005. "But I'm seeing how everyone is capitalizing off my relationships. I was like, 'Why aren't I doing this?' So I got my license."
So a unique business was born, one built on the part of sports that fans think little about as they're proposing trades for their favorite teams on the Internet -- the real-life consequences of relocation for the players involved, whose lives can be altered with little to no warning.
›CEO Assures Employees that St. Joe Is on Track
In response to media speculation about the future of The St. Joe Co., CEO Britt Greene sent a letter to employees Tuesday assuring them that the company remains 'financially strong.'
"I am proud that despite challenges and through the downturn we have continued to execute on our long-term plan. I remain confident in our business, as today St. Joe is leaner and more efficient than ever and we have several exciting initiatives in progress," the letter said.
›"Dirty Jobs" Goes Sponge Diving in Tarpon Springs
› State-Paid Credit Cards Not Cancelled After Workers Leave Jobs
Need another example of the state being careless with your money? WFTV discovered workers had state-paid credit cards that were not cancelled after they left their jobs. Inside offices like your local driver's license facility or Florida Highway Patrol's Orlando headquarters, more than 1,000 employees statewide hold purchasing credit cards that were not being quickly cancelled when workers left the department, and it's your tax money.
"There is a lack of oversight. Somebody needs to get in there and say, OK, this is what we need to do," said Lou Treadway of County Watch.
Treadway reviewed the audit for WFTV, over one recent 20-month period.
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles employees spent a total of $4.1 million on the cards for things such as travel, vehicle repairs and office supplies. But auditors found some former employees' cards were "not promptly cancelled or deactivated for periods ranging from 113 to 961 days"
That's more than two and a half years. Dozens of more cards stayed active for weeks, or even months.
› Home Depot to Add 400 Seasonal Workers in Orlando Area
Never mind the snow. Home Depot Inc. is ramping up for spring, with plans to hire more than 60,000 seasonal workers to help with its busiest season of the year.
That will mean about 400 opportunities in Central Florida, the company told the Orlando Sentinel today.
It should mean about 350 jobs in South Florida. No statewide numbers were available.
Spokeswoman Jean Niemi said the seasonal staffing level is on pace with last year, when its Spring Black Friday promotion first started. With the promotion heading into its second straight year, the world's biggest home improvement retailer is looking to fill its seasonal positions prior to the event.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› Winn-Dixie Gains in Customer Satisfaction, Publix Remains on Top
Consumers are becoming more and more satisfied with Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., according to an annual customer satisfaction survey. But even though Publix Super Markets Inc. slipped a bit last year, the Lakeland-based company is still by far the favorite among major U.S. supermarket chains.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index, a research organization formed at the University of Michigan, found that overall satisfaction with supermarkets fell by 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 from the fourth quarter of 2009, mainly due to higher food prices. But Winn-Dixie bucked the trend as its satisfaction score rose by 2.7 percent, its third straight annual gain.
› LongHorn Steakhouse Opens First 'Green' Restaurant in Orlando
LongHorn Steakhouse, owned by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, has opened its first "green" restaurant at 8398 Vineland Ave., in the Lake Buena Vista area.
This is the first LongHorn Steakhouse, and one of 10 Darden restaurants overall, designed to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It is designed to earn silver certification.
The 6,400-square foot restaurant will employ more than 85 workers and seat 240 guests. Scott Megill, a restaurant industry veteran of 22 years, will serve as managing partner.
› 96 More Layoffs at Plantation Office of Stern Affiliate
Another 96 people who work for a company that provides paperwork services to the operations of mortgage foreclosure attorney David J. Stern in Plantation were laid off Tuesday, a company spokesman said.
That was about two-thirds of the remaining work force at DJSP Enterprises, a publicly traded company that serves Stern's law firm, said DJSP spokesman Chris Simmons. A notice of the layoffs filed with the state indicates that about 50 company employees remain.
Approximately 1,000 DJSP employees have been laid off since last fall, Simmons said. Stern's law firm — once the largest foreclosure firm in Florida — has been rocked by reports of fraudulent court documents being filed in foreclosure cases, and it is one of seven foreclosure law firms being investigated by the Florida Attorney General's Office.
"Obviously, this is a difficult time for the business," said Simmons, who said he could offer little more information. "We are taking the steps we need to take."
› COLUMN: Daytona Speedway Getting Back to Its Roots
Ten years later, I still remember the deafening but exhilarating engine roar as the cars made their first pass around Turn 3, where I was watching from the infield of Daytona International Speedway.
I didn't know much about racing. My only interest in NASCAR was that it seemed like a fun assignment for a young reporter new to Volusia County.
But when Dale Earnhardt Sr. crashed at the end of the Daytona 500 that day, I knew the sport was irreversibly changed.
Less obvious at the time was how the business of stock car racing would change, too. In the decade since the sport lost its biggest star, NASCAR has gone from reaching far beyond its Southern moonshine-running roots to the penthouses of Manhattan and back again.
› Art Market Rising in Brevard
Artists have seen fewer sales during the recession, but it appears buyers are coming back to the art market.
"It's not anything drastic, but I think there's a little bit of an upturn," Therese Ferguson, president of the artist-run Art and Antiques Studio in the Eau Gallie Arts District of Melbourne, said.
The art market, like the economy, has been depressed for nearly three years.
"So the uptick doesn't even bring it back to where it was," Ferguson said. "There's even a lot of artists that have stopped doing shows."
› Orange County Holds Off on Paying for Private Rail Fixes
Orange County leaders balked for now at helping to pay for $18.4 million in upgrades for a private railroad line from Orlando to Lake County after concerns arose Tuesday that the deal could increase the costs of running a commuter train there in the future.
The Florida Central Railroad lines have fallen in such disrepair, the company that operates them says holding on to existing or attracting new freight customers would be difficult and could hurt the economy.
Federal officials declined to help, so the Florida Department of Transportation agreed to pay $13.8 million of the costs needed to improve about 35 miles of rail line used for freight. The company would pay $1.2 million for the fixes. Taxpayers in Orange and Lake counties would shoulder the rest, or about $3.4 million.
Orange's likely share would be up to $650,000, records show.
› Ryder to Add Vehicles to Meet Growing Demand
Ryder System will expand its North American fleet to nearly 30,000 vehicles by adding 6,700 new trucks, tractors, trailers and vans, the Miami company said Tuesday, to meet the demands of a rebounding economy.
The new vehicles, which include multiple sizes of tractors and trailers, refrigerated trailers, box trucks and light-duty vans, will allow Ryder to retire some older vehicles, the company said.
The influx of vehicles this year is on top of 4,900 that the company bought last year. With the new trucks, more than 40 percent of Ryder's fleet will be from the 2010 model year or newer, the company said.
The company studied use across North America to figure out how many trucks to order, Mark Cicchini, vice president of rental for the company, said in the statement.
› Space Center Director Sees No Huge Programs
With a dramatically smaller work force, Kennedy Space Center in 2012 will begin preparing for life after the shuttle under the president's proposed $18.7 billion NASA budget.
Center Director Bob Cabana said Monday he expects a combined contractor and civil service work force of about 8,500 next year, down from about 13,000 now and 15,000 two years ago.
After three more shuttle missions planned this year, Cabana said KSC would begin to lay the groundwork for a future that should be less dependent on a single program like the shuttle or Apollo. "Are we going to build up to some huge program again?" he said. "I don't see that happening. I think our challenge is to provide diversity in the work that comes here to the Kennedy Space Center."