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WEDNESDAY, AUG. 15, 2007
Wagering On Hurricanes [St. Petersburg Times]
Let the betting begin.
When tropical storms like Dean start churning in the Atlantic, a small cadre of hurricane speculators springs into action.
They're out to make money by predicting the path, the strength or the damage from the season's big storms.
Related articles:
SOUTH FLORIDA:
Tax Cut Effect Muted; Savings Slight [Miami Herald]
As local governments send out their early property tax notices, some South Florida property owners will learn they won't get as much tax relief as others.
TALLAHASSEE:
Who Pays When No-Fault Insurance Law Changes? [St. Petersburg Times]
Rates may drop, but someone still has to pay. Drivers need to check their policies now. After being on the books for 36 years, Florida's no-fault auto insurance laws that require all drivers to buy personal injury protection, or PIP, are set to end.
JACKSONVILLE:
Florida Rock Shareholders OK Merger [Florida Times-Union]
But a Justice Department review is delaying the deal with Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan Materials. Vulcan is the nation's largest producer of highway construction materials. Florida Rock, which produces construction aggregates, cement and concrete for buildings, highways and other projects, will remain headquartered in Jacksonville.
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
›AirTran Bids Even Higher for Midwest [Orlando Sentinel]
Orlando-based AirTran Holdings Inc. made a last-ditch play for Midwest Air Group late Tuesday, unexpectedly offering $445 million in cash and stock for the smaller airline -- just 24 hours before Midwest was expected to finalize a deal with a rival bidder.
›FAU's Image Seen As Hurdle In Hunt for Fund-Raiser [Palm Beach Post]
Lawrence Davenport's April exit with $577,952 in severance pay left Florida Atlantic University with more than a public relations problem and a drain on its vending machine revenue.
›Martinez Chides GOP Candidates [St. Petersburg Times]
He wants voters to demand concrete ideas on immigration. Related from Florida Trend: Narrated bio of Sen. Martinez
›Lake Okeechobee Dike Is Strengthened [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
News that Tropical Storm Dean was churning toward the Caribbean came by Blackberry on Tuesday morning to supervisors of the bulldozers and dump trucks working to stabilize one of the weakest portions of Lake O's dike.
›NASA Tests Shuttle Gouge, Repairs In Lab [Florida Today]
The test will help engineers decide whether the 3-inch gouge will become too hot and damage the shuttle when it reenters the atmosphere.
›Miami-Dade, Broward On Top-10 List for Foreclosures [Miami Herald]
The counties made the top-10 list of metropolitan areas with the nation's highest foreclosure rates in the first half of 2007, according to RealtyTrac. Related: Foreclosures rise in Tampa area
›Pinellas Group to Mine Colombian Gold [St. Petersburg Times]
For years, political violence kept foreign investors at bay, but it's safer now.
›Crist Takes a Lot More Vacation Than Jeb [Tallahassee Democrat]
Gov. Charlie Crist has taken 18 work days off from the job in the first seven months of his administration.
The new governor took another nine work days where he clocked in for less than half the day.
›Florida Rejects Insurance Rates [Daytona Beach News-Journal]
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation denied the rate requests of three companies this week for not substantially lowering their property insurance rates in accordance with new state law.
›One Lender Dominates at UM [St. Petersburg Times]
Four months after Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum asked, the University of Miami provided responses Tuesday to his questions on student lending practices - the last school out of 46 in Florida to do so.
›Alzheimer's Center Worries About Budget Cuts Next Month [Associated Press]
A center looking for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease could lose two-thirds of the money it gets from Florida’s government and be forced to lay off most of its staff and cut nearly all its research under proposed spending reductions.
›GOP Chair Urges Allen to Consider Party [Tallahassee Democrat]
Rep. Bob Allen, a Merritt Island Republican, has maintained his innocence since he was arrested in July for allegedly offering to perform oral sex on an undercover police officer.
›State's College Bound Keep Slipping On ACT
[Tampa Tribune]
Florida high school graduates are scoring worse on the ACT, even though more of them are taking the college entrance exam.
›Hunters Go Gaga Over Fla. Gator Harvest [Fort Myers News-Press]
Gator hunters will hit the swamps tonight in record numbers for the statewide public waters alligator harvest. Permit holders are up 1,500 over last year to 4,300.
›Recipients of FEMA Aid Notified of Publication [Fort Myers News-Press]
More than 650,000 Florida households began receiving recorded calls from the government Tuesday telling them their addresses are being turned over to newspapers.
›Bigger Cruise Ship to Call Jacksonville Home [Florida Times-Union]
But it means the port will be without a cruise ship the preceding spring and summer.
›Torrey President: Venture Cash Is Key [Palm Beach Post]
Richard Houghten is watching his institute's $40'million headquarters rise in Port St. Lucie, 10 employees have settled into his temporary lab in Fort Pierce and he's working with research outfits around Florida.
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