Tuesday's Top Stories

TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008

Piper Aircraft Inc. CEO Jim Bass is recommending the company's board of directors accept the $32 million incentive package approved by Indian River County commissioners Monday by June 30, ensuring that the company's facilities and future would stay in Vero Beach. "Right now, it (the incentive package) will go with my recommendation to the (Piper) board of directors for final review and ratification," Bass said after the meeting. Bass added that Piper's board ultimately will decide whether to accept the state and local offer. He stopped short of dismissing other incentive packages offered to Piper by Oklahoma City and Albuquerque, N.M. [Source: TC Palm]

More on this topic from Florida Trend:

• Industry Outlook: Manufacturing 2008

BOCA RATON:
FAU Gets Funding for Ocean Energy Research

State lawmakers have earmarked $8.75 million for Florida Atlantic University's ocean energy research project and included the Boca Raton school in a new consortium charged with finding alternative energy sources for the Sunshine State. Researchers said the money will help further the center's main projects, which include placing a turbine in the Gulf Stream to create energy, using deep ocean water as an air conditioner for coastal areas and generating energy from extreme temperature differences that naturally occur in the ocean. Although harnessing ocean energy has been considered for more than a century, no system has been installed in the Gulf Stream for more than a few hours. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

JACKSONVILLE:
Rummell Transformed St. Joe Co.

Peter Rummell steps down as CEO this month. In his 11 years at St. Joe., he created a real estate powerhouse. [Source: Florida Trend]

JUPITER:
Could Gasoline Cost $10 a Gallon?

Get ready for another economic shock of major proportions — a virtual doubling of prices at the gas pump to as much as $10 a gallon. That's the message from an analytical energy industry tracker who sees considerably more pain at the pump than most drivers realize. Sean Brodrick, a commodities tracker at Weiss Research in Jupiter, projects a range of $8 to $10 a gallon. Brodrick's oil forecast is largely predicated on a combination of pretty flat supply and rip-roaring demand. Other key catalysts include surging demand in China and India, where auto sales are booming, and major supply disruptions in Nigeria and also in Mexico. [Source: New York Sun]

Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, Gov. Crist is pitching for a gas tax holiday this summer.

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:


›UCF Med School Makes it Official: Full Rides for Inaugural Class [Orlando Sentinel]
All 40 entering students for the medical school's fall 2009 class will receive scholarships worth $160,000 each -- $20,000 for tuition and $20,000 for living expenses and fees per year.

›Health Premiums Outpace Incomes [Miami Herald]
Family health-insurance premiums climbed 29% in Florida over a five-year period while median family income remained almost flat, a national survey is reporting Tuesday.

›Publix Steps into Gas Sales [Florida Today]
Publix will open its first Brevard County gas station this summer in a move the company hopes will drive more customers into its supermarket aisles. Publix has a bulk purchase agreement to fuel its fleet of tractor trailers it uses for food transportation and will use the same distributors for its gas stations.

›Service Touts Cure for Doctors' E-Mail Prescription Allergies [St. Petersburg Times]
It might seem quaint that in this day of instant communications, prescriptions are still handwritten to be hand-carried, faxed or called in to be filled. But after eight years of getting its act together, SureScripts, a nationwide secure e-prescription service, thinks it is time to juice up acceptance by e-mail.

›Sen. Nelson: White House Race Holds Key to Future of Space Program [Sentinel]
"The next president is going to decide a lot," Bill Nelson said Monday. "And East-Central Florida has an opportunity to influence the next president because, at the end of the day, Florida is going to be important this November." Related: State giving $15M to help Space Coast economy adjust after shuttle era

›Most Newspapers See Circulation Declines [St. Petersburg Times]
The St. Petersburg Times remains Florida's largest newspaper with a circulation of 316,007, a 2.1% decline from a year ago, and 432,779 Sunday, a 0.44% increase. Florida's second-largest newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel, gained 0.33% daily, making it the only other major Florida newspaper to record a gain daily or Sunday.

›Riley Steps Down, Names Spoelstra New Coach [Miami Herald]
Pat Riley, 63, has twice stepped away from the Miami Heat bench since 2003 only to return in dual roles as president and coach. But he said this time he is done for good; this time, it's for real.

›Orlando Cabbies Fight Fees, Hours, Conditions [Orlando Sentinel]
About 50 cabdrivers protested working conditions they compared with "slavery" on Monday, driving in a caravan down Interstate 4 before demonstrating in front of Orlando City Hall.

›Unable to Raise Cash, Ave Maria Law School Scraps New Building [WSJ]
The school — which has been sued by some of its professors, undergone student defections, and was compelled to change deans this month after U.S. News ranked it in the lowest tier — has now found itself unable to sell the naming rights to its planned new building in Ave Maria, near Naples.

›Plan for Venice Airport Draws Criticism [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
When Mayor Ed Martin traveled to Washington, D.C., last month to talk with federal officials about Venice's airport, he carried a surprise in his briefcase: a plan that called for discouraging jets from landing in the city.

›Everglades Funding Returns [Tampa Tribune]
Top negotiators put an austere state budget to bed Sunday afternoon without a traditional $100 million allocation for Everglades restoration. By Monday morning, money was once again flowing to the River of Grass.

›USF Lakeland Name Change Passes Hurdle [Lakeland Ledger]
The name change from USF Lakeland to USF Polytechnic passed a major milestone Monday when the USF Board of Trustees in Tampa voted to approve the plan.

›JaxPort OKs Land Buy in Mayport [Florida Times-Union]
The Jacksonville Port Authority agreed Monday to purchase about 4 acres of land in Mayport that will allow it to move forward with building a cruise terminal in the village.

›Burger King Gets Farmworkers' Petition [Fort Myers News-Press]
Farm worker advocates sought to present more than 80,000 signatures to Burger King officials Monday urging the fast-food giant to join McDonald’s Corp. and Taco Bell and help boost the wages of Florida tomato pickers and improve working conditions.

›Glades General CEO Leaving for New Job [Palm Beach Post]
After less than year on the job, Glades General CEO David Zechman has resigned to accept a job as CEO of Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains, Mo. He is the second Glades General chief executive to leave after a short tenure.

›3,000 Homes Near Approval for Loxahatchee Farmland [Sun-Sentinel]
Almost one year after rejecting a 10,000-home "new town" on Callery-Judge Grove, Palm Beach County commissioners on Monday set the stage for a collection of new subdivisions with almost 3,000 homes to spread across the same Loxahatchee farmland.

›Coping With Pollution, Curbing It Both Costly [Florida Today]
The hidden costs of powering the region -- health-related problems, lost productivity and property damage -- have been falling onto the shoulders of North Brevard residents for decades. Solutions exist, but cleaner air comes at a price, and there are no answers as to who should pay.

›Investors Lose Despite Florida City Official's 'Guarantee' [Miami Herald]
Some couples cobbled together $100,000 to invest in the financing of a private housing development in Florida City. It was a risky business venture, cushioned by a supposed security blanket of promised government intervention: A Florida City public official had guaranteed, in writing, to bail out the project if it stumbled.

›Evolution Bill Clears House; Senate Approval Unlikely [Palm Beach Post]
Florida House lawmakers approved a bill Monday that would require teachers to point out the flaws in evolution. The measure, however, is unlikely to get past the Senate, which has its own plan to supplement science classes.

›WellCare On a Hiring Spree [St. Petersburg Times]
WellCare Health Plans Inc. is growing, despite the pressure of an unresolved federal investigation into its operations.

›Senate Won't Let Palm Beach Kennel Club Add Card Room [Sun-Sentinel]
"This bill is disgusting, it's nauseating," said Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden. "I don't even think we ought to vote on this. It is an expansion of gambling.... It's ridiculous we're taking this up."

›Fort Lauderdale's Fleet Week Begins With 2,500 Sailors Expected [Sun-Sentinel]
The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will be well represented when six military ships and a submarine chug into Port Everglades for five days of shore liberty, community service and sports competitions.