Central Florida "Very Likely Location" for Virgin Spaceflights — Someday
San Francisco and Los Angeles may not be the only destinations from Orlando for Richard Branson's Virgin-brand aircraft. Outer space could be in the flight plans eventually. Branson, the British billionaire, said this week his Virgin Galactic spaceflight subsidiary "would seriously consider" Central Florida for an East Coast spaceport within the next decade. Branson, who was in town Wednesday to inaugurate domestic air service to Orlando by his Virgin America affiliate, noted that space travel, thanks to Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center, is a big part of the region's history, making the area "a very likely location" for Virgin Galactic once a state-owned spaceport in New Mexico is up and running. The company, whose VSS Enterprise spacecraft completed its first manned free flight earlier this week from an altitude of more than 45,000 feet, is now just days away from unveiling Spaceport America, located in Truth or Consequences, N.M. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Sept. 11 Hero Fights for His Job Back
For years, Orlando customs Agent Jose Melendez-Perez was hailed as an American hero of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Now, after making what he contends was his first major mistake in 44 years of public service, Melendez-Perez is fighting to get his old job back. He faces a disciplinary hearing Tuesday in Orlando. Melendez-Perez, 64, an immigration officer at Orlando International Airport, stopped the 20th terrorist hijacker from entering the United States in August 2001. He won national acclaim for grilling international passenger Mohamed al-Qahtani for 90 minutes and then denying him entry. But now Melendez-Perez, who lives in east Orange County, is facing discipline for driving a U.S. Customs and Border Protection van home for the weekend, violating agency policy. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
St. Pete's BayWalk Is More Vacant than Ever
It's an anniversary members of St. Petersburg's City Council aren't celebrating. One year ago — in one of the most controversial votes in recent city history — they narrowly approved ceding the public sidewalk in front of BayWalk to rid it of the protesters and loitering teens who were blamed for the near dormancy of the shopping and entertainment complex. But with the complex nearly 90 percent vacant, the council members who sided with Baywalk say they are frustrated. "The BayWalk folks all said that the sidewalk was the stumbling block and if we took care of that, they'd get all these tenants to sign,'" said Bill Dudley, whose brother scuffled with a protester at the meeting. "We stuck our necks out for them, and I'm very disappointed because it looks like the leasing company doesn't have a clue to what's going on." [Source: St. Petersburg Times]
Gubernatorial candidates Rick Scott and Alex Sink made their campaign pitch to the Florida Farm Bureau Federation Thursday, bringing up rural land and tax issues. Democrat Sink, telling how she was raised on a North Carolina farm, discussed rural-development policy and federal environmental policies affecting farms. "I intend to bring my proven fiscal conservatism, my ability to run a business and my deep love of the land of this state," she said. Republican Scott fine-tuned his campaign talking points of jobs and the economy for the farming audience and added a few words on immigration policy. "I believe in the American Dream, that anything is possible," Scott said. "We should not be the state of high unemployment. We should be the state of high opportunities." [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Florida Once Sued Rick Scott, Accusing Him of Insider Trading
Rick Scott wants to be governor of a state that once filed suit accusing him of insider trading. In 1997, as the FBI unleashed a massive criminal investigation of Scott's hospital chain, Florida's State Board of Administration filed a civil lawsuit accusing Scott and his fellow hospital directors of profiting from a culture of corruption and selling stock 23 days before federal agents raided the company's offices in Texas. Ultimately, a judge dismissed the insider trading complaint without trial, but an appeals court said there was a chance that Scott should have known "of the arrangements that allegedly violated health care laws and regulations." [Source: Times/Herald]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› A Green Design Sought for Jacksonville's Hemming Plaza
Take away the hot-dog vendors at Hemming Plaza, take away the lunching workers and the street people hanging out, and you have a sea of bricks.
Add a hard rain, and you have sheets of water washing those people's debris into drains pointed at the St. Johns River.
"Our runoff into the storm water system from Hemming Plaza is almost 100 percent," said Robert Schuster, an engineer who sits on Jacksonville's Environmental Protection Board.
That made the landmark park outside City Hall an easy site for a contest for development professionals to design something greener.
If the City Council agrees, the board will invite local development teams to lay out visions for a Hemming Plaza that uses principles of low-impact design, a construction style the city sees as a new hope for lowering both water pollution and water use.
› Stimulus Aids Three Energy Businesses; State Not Much Help
A horse barn in Bonita Springs.
An air-conditioning business in Naples.
A biofuels producer in Fort Myers.
In Lee and Collier counties, these are the businesses that have benefited directly from clean energy grants awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. So far, none have received money from the state, though each had hoped to.
The state has stopped offering grants for renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects because of budgetary concerns.
› South Florida Counties Get $4.5 Million for Planning
An alliance of seven counties including Palm Beach County has won a multimillion-dollar federal grant to create a unifying vision for Southeast Florida.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday that the Southeastern Florida Regional Partnership will receive $4.5 million from its new Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program.
The partnership intends to use the money to create a plan that would improve regional housing, land use, economic and workforce development and transportation.
› Job Grants up for Grabs
City officials this week put the finishing touches on a grant application they hope will bring hundreds of high-paying manufacturing jobs to Titusville.
But Titusville knows there will be plenty of competition for a share of the $35 million in federal economic development grants aimed at helping the region cope with the end of the shuttle program and the loss of thousands of high-paying jobs.
The grants were recommended by President Barack Obama's space task force, a panel of Cabinet secretaries and agency chiefs tasked with helping the Space Coast diversify. The deadline for applying is today.
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› Renowned Cancer Doctor Speaks at UF
The No. 1 problem with the American health care system is we don't get what we pay for. That was the warning Wednesday from Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, during a visit to the University of Florida.
Brawley, who defines himself as "an orthodox conservative when it comes to the interpretation of data in science," spoke during oncology grand rounds at the UF Shands Cancer Hospital.
› Crisis Yields a New Brand of Flipping
Emerging from the Great Recession's foreclosure crisis is a new class of flipping aimed at luring home buyers looking for bargains. Homes that fell into foreclosure during the housing collapse are being marketed as bank-owned, even though the homes have been purchased by private sellers who are flipping the property for a profit.
In its most common form, private sellers -- in some cases the Realtor listing the home -- still state "foreclosure" and "bank-owned" in yard signs, on websites and in the official real estate listings database.
It is unclear precisely how widespread this new brand of flipping is. But Realtors have a name for it -- "fauxclosures" -- because it centers on homes that once were bank-owned.
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› Does Orlando's Future Include European-style Train Network?
With both a commuter and high-speed train on the way, Orlando is on the verge of emulating Europe, where mass-transit options abound.
If my recent trip is any indication, car-happy Central Floridians could discover that traveling by train is a pleasant alternative.
My journey involved two weeks in Europe and England, and my wife and I traveled extensively there. All of our major trips, six to be exact, were by train. All were on time, clean, comfortable, safe and cheaper than travel by car.
Still, critics maintain Orlando residents won't ride the trains, which include SunRail, scheduled to start rolling in 2013.
› Economic Woes Don't Drown Out Band Programs
School bands keep marching along despite Marion county's 14 percent unemployment rate, which has left many families struggling to keep children in extra-curricular activities. These activities cost money — especially when it comes to band — and school administrations are finding more and more students needing financial help.
School faculties and community members often respond. At Dunnellon High, an anonymous donor writes a $499 monthly check that the school often uses to help students defray costs of extra-curricular activities.
Principals say they are seeing more students raising their hand when it comes to needing financial help, but because of that kind of generosity, officials are not seeing as drastic a drop in participation in extra-curricular activities as might be expected.
› Major Construction Planned at Patrick AFB
The Department of Defense will spend nearly $200 million next year to build a new headquarters for the Patrick Air Force Base surveillance organization that tracks nuclear-weapon detonation and testing worldwide.
Construction of a new Air Force Technical Applications Center complex, which would include at least three buildings and a parking garage, is expected to begin in the spring, with completion targeted by the end of 2012, said Brig. Gen. Burke "Ed" Wilson, the commander of the 45th Space Wing at Patrick.
Wilson, who in February assumed command at the base, announced the project during an interview Thursday with FLORIDA TODAY at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
"It's actually the largest construction project in the United States for the Air Force," Wilson said.
› Tourism Industry Clash: NFL Super Bowl vs. Miami Boat Show
The Miami Dolphins have resumed their campaign for a $190 million stadium renovation, warning that future Super Bowls are at risk without a modern facility.
But the push comes in the face of a new hurdle for the region's Super Bowl dynasty: a potential scheduling conflict with the Miami International Boat Show.
While never a problem in the past, the NFL is considering a longer season that would push Super Bowl into Presidents' Day weekend, home to the boat show since 1948.
That leaves Miami-Dade's tourism industry in a bind.
› Broward to Add More than 800 Jobs, Alliance Announces
More than 800 new jobs are slated for Greater Fort Lauderdale over the next three years, Broward County's economic development partnership announced Thursday night at its annual meeting.
The new jobs could help reduce unemployment in Broward, which reached 10.7 percent in August, up from 9.5 percent in August last year, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.
The biggest job growth is expected at BRS Aerospace, which makes emergency parachute systems for planes. It plans to add 400 jobs and invest $500,000 in Pompano Beach.
› Revision to Jacksonville’s Sign Law Would Clarify 3-minute Rule
The Jacksonville City Council is headed for a vote over limits on how frequently electronic signs visible to motorists — operated by businesses, nonprofit organization and churches — can change messages.
A proposal before the council would revise language in the city’s sign ordinance to say those signs cannot change messages more frequently than once every three minutes. A sign that only displays the time or temperature could not change more than once per minute.
In practice, virtually all electronic signs posted along Jacksonville’s commercial thoroughfares change messages in a matter of seconds, not minutes.
› Parade of Homes Goes On
Starting Saturday, 21 new homes around Brevard county will be open to the public as part of the fall Parade of Homes.
Sponsored by the Home Builders and Contractors Association of Brevard, the event is one of a few around the state that has managed to continue despite the prolonged downturn in the housing market.
But the slump does have an effect: The parade here is scaled back from ones earlier this decade when 40 to 50 model homes were the norm. Still, given the current economic climate, the Brevard event is doing well, association CEO Franck Kaiser said.
› Longtime Horseman Bowling Moves Operations to the Panhandle
Longtime Marion County horseman Carl Bowling has sold most of his land here, including his 100-plus acre Straightaway Farm in Reddick, and is relocating to Monticello near Tallahassee.
Bowling and his wife, Joan, sold the farm to Richard and Teresa Helms for $2.9 million in late May and another 43 acres near Fellowship to Romagnole Produtos Electricos for $950,000 on Oct. 8, according to Marion County property records.
The Bowlings purchased more than 110 acres of land in Jefferson County near Tallahassee between January and May for nearly $1.2 million.
"I'm cutting down a lot, as far as broodmares," Bowling said. "I was in the broodmare business really heavy until two years ago. I gave away a bunch of mares and got down to two or three, which is really where I wanted to be."