'Finally!': 85 days later, BP stops oil gusher
The oil has stopped. For now. After 85 days and up to 184 million gallons, BP finally gained control over one of America’s biggest environmental catastrophes Thursday by placing a carefully fitted cap over a runaway geyser that has been gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico since early spring. Though a temporary fix, the accomplishment was greeted with hope, high expectations — and, in many cases along the beleaguered coastline, disbelief. From one Gulf Coast resident came this: “Hallelujah.” And from another: “I got to see it to believe it.” If the cap holds, if the sea floor doesn’t crack and if the relief wells being prepared are completed successfully, this could be the beginning of the end for the spill. [Source: AP]
CDC Issues Warning in S. Florida About Dengue Fever
Advisories were in effect in Broward and Palm Beach counties Thursday after health department officials announced that a Miami Beach man had come down with a suspected case of locally-acquired dengue fever. The announcement from the Miami-Dade Health Department follows word earlier this week of what was described as a small outbreak of the exotic, mosquito-borne disease in Key West. That prompted a warning from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the disease, which can be serious and even fatal on rare occasions, could spread. [Source: Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel]
Lockheed Seeks to Build 'Iron Man' Robotics for Army
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Orlando Missiles & Fire Control operation has thrown its high-tech hat into the race to build the military's first "Iron Man" robotic battlefield uniform. That effort received a big boost this week when an Army research unit awarded Lockheed Missiles a contract for $1.1 million to develop, test and evaluate next-generation "wearable robotics" for soldiers. Lockheed officials said the project that has been under way for nearly a decade. "We recognize the importance of perfecting the exoskeleton technology to redefine what is possible for our soldiers," said Rich Russell, Lockheed Missiles' advanced programs director. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Special Session May Provide Way to Restore Shands' Funding
A special legislative session next week on oil drilling might give lawmakers an opportunity to reverse Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of $9.7 million in funding for Shands at the University of Florida. State Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Cross Creek, is filing a bill to be considered during the session that would restore the funding, according to his staff. Lawmakers also could override the veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. [Source: Gainesville Sun]
» With gusher capped, preparations continue.
» See Live Oil Spill Cam here.
» Related Commentary: Legislature should let voters have say on drilling
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Hospitals fight to lure primary-care physicians
In three years, Jessica Klieger will be one of only 77 doctors to graduate from a Florida family-medicine residency. Those programs prepare doctors to treat patients comprehensively, from babies just out of the womb to older patients struggling with end-of-life care. Florida faces the third-largest family-physician shortage in the nation. During the next decade, the state will need 1,200 to 1,800 new primary-care physicians to keep pace with its aging-population growth.
› St. Johns fish kill points to need for care
Something was destroying red blood cells in the big redfish that died en masse in the St. Johns River recently, a state scientist said Thursday.
"This was a very different sort of environmental catastrophe for the St. Johns," said Jan Landsberg, who is studying the fish kills from May and June for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"It's really a big mystery," she said during a public meeting about the river's health at Jacksonville City Hall.
› NW Fla. man stole millions in Ponzi scheme
When Harrison Jones told people he was a Christian, they thought he meant it, but now that he is accused of stealing millions from dozens of local investors, those people aren’t so sure.
› Crist trails Rubio in latest fundraising, but has much more in the bank
Gov. Charlie Crist got swamped by rival Marco Rubio in the latest round of their fundraising battle for U.S. Senate, but Thursday's reporting deadline revealed a major upside for Crist:
He has nearly twice as much cash on hand as Rubio — $8.2 million to $4.4 million.
The numbers take a bit of the shine off Rubio's record-breaking $4.5 million haul for the past three months. In comparison, Crist raised $1.8 million, which exceeds the $1.1 million from the last period, before he left the Republican Party to run with no party affiliation.
› Two Florida businessmen indicted in prison kickback case
Former Florida Corrections Secretary James V. Crosby Jr. and Allen W. Clark, a regional manager for the prison system, collected more than $130,000 in kickbacks and gifts from two North Florida businessmen, according to a federal indictment released Thursday.
The two North Florida businessmen — Edward Lee Dugger, 63, of Gainesville and Joseph A. Deese, 37, of Fort White — were charged with paying the bribes so they could get into a business relationship with Keefe Commissary, a company that services grocery-style canteens at all state prisons. The two men own American Institutional Services, also known as AIS.
› Newspaper asks readers to spend more money on local economy
Spend $30 on the 30th. It’s really that simple. And that’s what the Northwest Florida Daily News is asking readers to do. Spend $30 on July 30.
The newspaper’s effort seeks to jump-start the area’s economy by encouraging consumers to spend $30 they wouldn’t normally spend on local goods and services on Friday, July 30.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
› Taxes paying for new Florida Marlins stadium ahead of the game
As the steel girders and concrete ramps of the new Florida Marlins stadium reshapes the view of Little Havana, the taxes paying for the project are ahead of the game.
When construction began last summer on the new $642 million ballpark, the hotels funding most of the tab wondered how much worse their business could get. A year later, a steady recovery by the tourism industry has left Miami-Dade County with more hotel-tax revenue than expected to pay back about $320 million of the stadium debt.
› State Senate candidate Jim Norman mum on wife's $435,000 house
The financial disclosure form filed by state Senate candidate Jim Norman lists his Carrollwood home and a handful of retirement and savings accounts.
What the form doesn't show is a home in Arkansas owned by his wife and bought in 2006 with $435,000 in cash, as well as two boats parked at the home's dock.
Jim Norman is included on the titles of the two boats. Under state law, that means he must include them on financial disclosure forms if they are worth more than $1,000.
› Former Compass Bank executive in Jacksonville pleads guilty to fraud
A former Compass Bank senior vice president in Jacksonville pleaded guilty Thursday to altering numerous bank documents so he could inflate the value of commercial real estate loans and thereby get a bigger annual bonus. Donald W. Linville of Ponte Vedra Beach pleaded to one count of altering a document and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. Linville is among the defendants being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a crackdown on mortgage fraud that occurred during the real estate boom.
› 1800Hotels.com files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect customer reservations
An Internet hotel booking company in Tampa has filed for bankruptcy protection to stop room suppliers from canceling customer reservations.
Irish-owned 1800Hotels has a dispute over debts it owes to several companies for hotel rooms it resells to travelers online. On Sunday, 1800Hotels learned that two suppliers, Gullivers Travel Associates and Tourico Holidays, had canceled as many as 3,600 reservations.
› Apartment industry news is better for apartment owners than tenants — rents head back up
The latest report from apartment market information company Real Data shows that apartment vacancies continue to slowly head down, but rents are increasing again for the first time in two and a half years.
That's good news for those who own apartment rental properties on the First Coast, because it means the glut of apartment construction left over from the mid-decade real estate boom is finally being soaked into the market.
And while 12.9 percent vacancy still isn't much to get excited about, consider the fact that in December, 2008 it was at 16 percent. It's dropped slightly in every twice-a-year Real Data report since.
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Feds want Florida to reduce train-car collisions
Often-deadly collisions between trains and automobiles have dropped by more than 50 percent in Florida during the past four years, but that's not good enough for the Federal Railroad Administration.
"We want to strive for zero. That's our goal," said FRA spokesman Rob Kulat.
Though that aim may be unattainable, the FRA has ordered Florida and the nine other states with the highest rates of train-vehicle wrecks in the nation to develop five-year plans to reduce such crashes, most likely by installing gates on roads that do not already have them.