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Friday's Afternoon Update

FL League of Women Voters: 'No' on all 11 proposed constitutional amendments

The League of Women Voters of Florida is advising voters to shoot down all 11 proposed constitutional amendments placed on the November ballot by the legislature. "From beginning to end, these amendments are bad ideas," Florida league president Deirdre Macnab said. "We are strongly opposing all of the 11 amendments on the ballots and we are encouraging voters to give them a thumbs down." For more, go to the League of Women Voters website. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

More on this topic from Florida Trend:
» The Amendments


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Florida at-a-glance

Business Florida

At BusinessFlorida.com, you'll find an interactive map of Florida with demographics by region. Stats include population, labor force, households, income, retail sales, airports, seaports and more.

» Go to map, with regional reports

Buchanan backer pleads guilty to illegal contributions

Tampa real estate developer Timothy F. Mobley, a campaign donor to U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, could face up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to funneling $94,300 to Buchanan's campaigns for Congress and the Republican Party of Florida. The Justice Department only identified the representative as “Federal Elected Official A.” But the Sarasota Herald-Tribune determined that the federal official is Buchanan, a Longboat Key Republican running for re-election in November.


Visit Florida's CEO hired as new chief of Brand USA

Chris Thompson, president and chief executive officer of Visit Florida, is taking a job on the national stage, as chief executive of Brand USA. Thompson was appointed Thursday as president and chief executive officer of the Corporation for Travel Promotion. The year-old public-private organization, which does business as Brand USA, was established by the federal government to promote and advertise the U.S. abroad as a travel destination. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]


» FRIDAY PREVIEW:
Coming next week to FloridaTrend.com
:

  • Home grown: Profile of a real estate firm turned lending source
  • Banks thinning ranks: Florida's going to lose at least another 70 banks
  • Tax planning: What may happen if Bush tax cuts expire
  • Dining: Caviar dreams of "roe, roe, roe" from Mote

» You'll find all these stories first on the Daily and Afternoon Pulse e-mails.


Saturday events
Free museums and parks tomorrow

  • Many Florida museums are free on Saturday
    The annual national Museum Day was created by Smithsonian magazine in the spirit of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., which offers free admission daily. List of participating Florida museums is here. You'll need to register to print out a free pass, good for two people.
  • Free entrance to national parks on Saturday
    Hard to choose between three fabulous national parks in Florida:
    Biscayne National Park‎ , the Everglades National Park and the Dry Tortugas National Park. (Yes, you may need a seaplane to get to the Tortugas, but one can dream. Oh, and you'll save $5!)

Today's Afternoon Update was compiled by Joyce Edmondson