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FRIDAY, OCT. 19, 2007
SPECIAL SESSION:
Lawmakers Go Back to the Drawing Board [Tallahassee Democrat]
With initial agreement on an $11 billion property tax cutting plan in tatters, House leaders threw in the towel Thursday and decided to start all over.
With that, negotiations moved from the House and Senate floor to the back rooms, as most lawmakers prepared to go home for the weekend.
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FORT PIERCE:
Citrus Land Yielding Fast to Housing and Tree Diseases [AP]
There seem to be more tractors tearing up St. Lucie County's old citrus groves than tending them these days. The county once had more orange and grapefruit trees than almost any other place in Florida. Now it's one of the fastest-growing counties in one of America's fastest-growing states, and that land is fast giving way to housing tracts.
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AVE MARIE:
Former Professors Sue Ave Maria School of Law [Wall Street Journal]
They are suing the Michigan law school, its dean and its founder, Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, after they were in essence fired earlier this year. The controversy took off in 2006, when the school’s board of governors began to look seriously at moving the school to Florida. Some professors, lecturers and a few dozen students have since left. The school will relocate to Florida in 2009 anyway.
CORAL GABLES:
Global Warming Has a Financial Upside [Miami Herald]
Fixing the problems of a global climate crisis could mean billions in profits for some companies. Venture capitalists, investment bankers, accountants, climate-change consultants, a garbage expert, executives from a cruise line and even a guy selling tractors attended a renewable energy event Thursday in Coral Gables sponsored by an arm of the British government.
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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
›Virtual Home School Enrollment Soars [Orlando Sentinel]
Florida Virtual School, an Orlando-based online school, celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall. In the past decade, it has grown from a small pilot project to a public school that has put Florida at the forefront of online learning.
›Battle Brews Over Florida's Idle Inmates [St. Petersburg Times]
The state prison chief says he can run inmate work efforts better than a St. Petersburg nonprofit.
›Should We Tap N. Fla. Rivers for Urban Florida's Thirst? [Gainesville Sun]
The St. Johns River Water Management District is preparing a proposal to withdraw as much as 155 million gallons a day from the St. Johns River and 107 million gallons a day from the Ocklawaha and transport it, via long-distant pipeline, to several urban areas.
›Port Deal Went from Whisper to Welcome [Florida Times-Union]
Port observers say Jacksonville's pact with the Asian shipping line is excellent news for the region.
›Major Tomato Grower Says it's His Final Crop [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Some experts describe industrywide woes, from competition to costs.
›NAACP Plans Tuesday March in Tallahassee [Tallahassee Democrat]
Members of the NAACP from around Florida will march from the Capitol to the U.S. Attorney's office Tuesday in an attempt to bring pressure for federal charges against those cleared in the boot-camp trial in Panama City last week.
›Palm Beach Area Rental Rates Stay Level [Palm Beach Post]
Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast - two of the hottest real estate markets in the nation during the housing boom - kept relatively high rental rates steady in the third quarter of this year, according to a RealFacts study.
›2 South Florida Teachers Team up in New Business [Sun-Sentinel]
Teachers Amy LaPointe and business partner Melissa Stines have launched S & L Concepts, LLC, maker of ChairHuggers. ChairHuggers are modified tennis balls designed specifically for use on the ends of classroom chair legs.
›Democrats Want Katherine Harris Drafted for President [AP]
The Florida Democratic Party is launching a parody Web site that will feature videos of Republican presidential candidates’ statements on issues like immigration, foreign policy, taxes and others. The idea is if they want someone on the far right on any of those topics, Harris is their candidate.
›Tampa-Orlando Pipelines Key but Plan B Is Vital [Orlando Sentinel]
Few Central Floridians realize how dependent we are on two pipes that run underground from the Port of Tampa to Orlando.
›Economist: Only Place for SW Florida's Housing to Go Is Up [Naples Daily News]
Southwest Florida has reached the bottom of its housing slump, but a significant turnaround may take some time.
That’s the message economist Henry Fishkind delivered at the Regional Economic Outlook Conference in Fort Myers on Thursday.
›Hillsborough Seeks More Input in USF's Tech Incubator [St. Petersburg Times]
Eyebrows are raised by a privacy software firm that has the Internet porn industry as a client.
›Fla. Lawmakers Offer Kids' Insurance Plan [Florida Today]
Sen. Mel Martinez and Rep. Tom Feeney offered an alternative proposal to a children's insurance plan vetoed by President Bush, seizing upon the House's failure Thursday to override the White House's rejection of the bill.
›Was DCF Too Quick to Close Child-abuse Cases? [Miami Herald]
A child's death has sparked renewed interest in claims that child-abuse investigators in Miami routinely cut corners and left children at risk.
›Polk Building Permits Dip in September [Lakeland Ledger]
But experts seem pleased the decrease wasn't in double digits.
›Gate Petroleum Says Demand Drives Plans for Ethanol Plant [Florida Times-Union]
The company wants a biofuel terminal built in Jacksonville in three years.
›Martin County's Half-cent Sales Tax Buys First Land for Conservation [TC Palm]
Thanks to the sales tax, which was passed by voters in November and took effect Jan. 1, a oceanfront property will now be protected from development and remain open to the public. |
