SpaceX Rocket Launches in Test for Commercial Space Industry
The first of what NASA hopes will someday be a fleet of privately built rockets and capsules to supply the international space station launched from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday morning in a major test for the commercial space industry. The Falcon 9 rocket built by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, is on its first full test flight. Its Dragon capsule is empty and unmanned but with plans to be filled in the months ahead for cargo - and ultimately astronaut - transport to the space station. The flight is an important moment for President Obama and his administration's hopes to expand commercial space efforts in low-Earth orbit as a way to free up NASA funds for missions to send astronauts much deeper into space and ultimately to Mars. [Source: Washington Post]MUST-KNOW FLORIDIAN
Meet Sylvia Blackmon-Roberts, president and chief executive officer of Blackmon Roberts Group. Her Lakeland-based company has been hired by Florida Rail Enterprise to help create opportunities for businesses owned by minorities or women and businesses that are certified as disadvantaged. » Full story from the Lakeland Ledger |
Lawmakers Begin Talks on Education Reform
Florida lawmakers got their first taste Tuesday of what is projected to be a long and contentious debate over the future of Florida education reform, attending a screening of "Waiting for Superman," a pro school-choice documentary that largely blames teachers' unions for failures in public schools.
The Legislature's screening of the movie largely underscores what is likely to be a major part of the spring legislative agenda, a bill that will attempt to abolish the current contract standards for teachers and implement merit pay systems that would base teacher pay partially on standardized tests.
Republican lawmakers attempted to push through a similar measure last year, but it was met with a firestorm of criticism from the Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, which said the bill was unfair to teachers, particularly special education teachers who could not be evaluated in the same fashion as their colleagues.
[Source: News Service of Florida]
Hollywood Mom Completes Holiday Shopping for $6
Katiria Colon shelled out $6 cash for all her holiday presents.
That's gifts for her husband Jose, 8-year-old son Kyle, grandparents, mother, two sisters, two nieces, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, her boss and his wife, a cousin and the cousin's daughter, a neighbor family, and her son's teacher. Plus, an extra present, just in case.
How did she do it? There's no question the 31-year-old Hollywood woman is an avid deal shopper. She strategized all year to take advantage of Black Friday deals.
"I am totally done with all my Christmas shopping and I'm super happy and proud to say I only actually paid around $7 out of pocket for everyone on my list!," she wrote in a celebratory comment on the SunSentinel.com's Shop-o-matic blog.
She detailed her expenses to the Sun Sentinel, and it turns out she spent even less, $6.32.
[Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Tampa Bay Workers Less Prepared for Retirement than They Think
Tampa Bay residents may be somewhat confident about looming retirement, but they're relatively ill-prepared for it, a new survey by Ameriprise Financial finds.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater ranked 27th among 30 metro areas rated by Ameriprise in terms of preparation for retirement. But the region ranked 12th in confidence, raising its overall "Retirement Readiness" score to 19th.
The national survey released Tuesday measured consumers' likelihood of determining the amount of money they will need in retirement, their actual savings habits, whether they've planned for a variety of activities, and confidence in reaching their goals.
[Source: St. Petersburg Times]
NextEra to Spend Millions to Replace Wind Turbines
NextEra Energy Resources LLC, the largest U.S. producer of wind power, agreed to replace thousands of outdated turbines in California, ending a five-year legal battle with environmental groups that claimed the spinning blades are killing endangered birds.
Under a settlement announced yesterday, NextEra, a unit of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc., said it would install newer, more efficient turbines at its Altamont Pass wind farms. Using fewer systems will pose less of a risk to wildlife, the company said.
NextEra said it is too early to tell how much the project would cost. Michael Hennessy, a wind analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said the replacement costs could reach $350 million.
“We will replace a fraction of what we take out, and we’ll still have the same capacity of about 240 megawatts,” Steve Stengel, a NextEra spokesman, said.
[Source: Bloomberg]
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