Massive bill deregulating professions is scaled back

A massive bill deregulating everything from auto repair shops to hair braiders has been scaled back in response to complaints from consumer advocates. As filed, HB 5005 covered nearly 30 professions. As approved in its second committee stop Thursday, it affects 20. Supporters say the idea is to make it easier for small business owners to set up shop. Regulations, they say, are job-killers. Opponents say regulations are about health and safety and giving consumers a way to know if services are being provided by someone properly trained. Rep. Esteban Bovo, R-Hialeah, the bill's sponsor, said that in recent months he and others have looked at more than 60 professions, and narrowed the final list to nearly two dozen that will affect about 106,000 people and save the state $13 million a year in administrative costs. "We have tried to work as transparently as possible and have taken a lot of e-mails and testimony," Bovo said. "I think this will help get Floridians back to work." Cut from the original 318-page bill: deregulation of barbers, nail specialists, community association managers and surveyors. [Source: Times/Herald]

Legislative Roundup
» Today in Tallahassee: Union fight [Times/Herald]
» Lawmaker proposes cutting Florida funding for Egmont Key [Times/Herald]
» Lawmakers plan to work against bison reduction at Prairie [Ocala Star-Banner]
» Protesters awaiting Scott visit [Pensacola News-Journal]

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Hospital urgent care centers may charge big, like ERs

When Linda Romaniello's 8-year-old daughter Natalie got nipped by a dog, they went to a new urgent care clinic near their home in Davie.

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Antibiotic gel and a Band-Aid fixed her right up. Romaniello expected to pay $50 or $100, as at other walk-in clinics. But that urgent care center is owned by Baptist Health hospital system in Kendall. Baptist billed her a $275 "facility fee" and a $233 doctor fee for a total of $508 for a 15-minute visit. Her insurance refused to cover half of it. The family had run into a controversial trend: Some hospitals have opened urgent care centers off their campuses to attract walk-in patients with minor injuries and illnesses — but charge as if it were the emergency room. "It's misleading. It's almost bait-and-switch," Romaniello said. "I asked them three times how much it would cost, and they couldn't tell me. They should have to tell you the fees up front. There are two other urgent care centers up the street that I could have gone to instead ... and paid a lot less." Patients across the country have complained about big fees at hospital-owned walk-in clinics, contending they take advantage of cash-paying patients with no health insurance or high-deductible policies. Officials at Baptist defended the high fees, saying their urgent care centers have doctors on-site at all times and offer more sophisticated services than low-cost walk-in clinics. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

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322,724 foreclosures clogging courts, despite state's aid

Florida's judges have cleared 139,615 foreclosure cases since lawmakers gave the courts a one-time $6 million boost last year to help reduce a backlog. But there's still 322,724 cases to go. A report released today by the Office of the State Courts Administrator found that while adding senior judges, case managers and clerical assistants made a dent in the foreclosure log jam, the system is still struggling under the load. Although the foreclosure tally wasn't due to be reported until the end of April, court budget discussions in Tallahassee prompted an early release. On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott approved an emergency $14 million for the courts after Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady warned of a $72 million deficit for the remaining three months of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The deficit was caused in part by a drop in new foreclosure filings as banks pulled back to review and revamp their home repossession procedures. But experts believe the filing reduction is only temporary, and it's unclear if a 2012 budget will include another infusion of cash specifically aimed at the backlog. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

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The cost of keeping pedestrians safe

Largo's roads were about as deadly for pedestrians as they come in Tampa Bay. Five pedestrian were killed in a recent seven-month stretch. All were crossing mid-block. Previous years saw similarly high death tolls. Something needed to be done, police said. As part of a wider crackdown around Tampa Bay, Largo police launched the first pedestrian enforcement effort in the city's history last July, issuing over 2,200 warnings and citations in seven months. In the first two months, they issued nearly 400 tickets a month. The number dropped to 358 a month, then 305. Finally, in the last month, 264. One pedestrian was killed during that period. "There were still violations, but compliance was up," said Sgt. George Edminston said. They were saving lives. Tampa Bay is routinely ranked among the deadliest places for pedestrians in America. That's what residents tell family back home. What snowbirds quickly remember. What visitors rapidly realize. A pedestrian is injured every seven hours around Tampa Bay, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. Every five days, a pedestrian is killed. In 2009, the most recent statistics available, 1,154 pedestrians were injured and 76 were killed. The human impact can't be measured just by numbers. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

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Senators call for federal hearings on new drywall guidelines

Sens. Bill Nelson and Sen. Mark Warner have called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to allow the public to comment on the agency's controversial new guidelines for repairing homes with problematic drywall. "These protocols are an important piece of the solution for the thousands of homeowners across the country, especially in our home states of Florida and Virginia, suffering through the nightmare of problem drywall," the Democratic senators said in a letter to the commission on Wednesday. "The decisions homeowners make in response to these protocols will have a bearing on the future value and insurability of their homes. "With such economically significant decisions in the balance, it is critical that your agencies get this decision right for homeowners." As the Herald-Tribune and ProPublica reported last week, the guidelines shocked and confused people whose homes were built with tainted drywall, because they reverse the CPSC's earlier recommendation that all wiring inside the affected homes be removed. The new guidelines also conflict with those issued last year by U.S. District Court Judge Eldon E. Fallon as part of the drywall litigation he is presiding over in federal court in New Orleans. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Central Florida companies on display at wireless trade show [Orlando Sentinel]
The CTIA Wireless Association's international trade show is among the most watched events in the wireless world. For three days this week ending Thursday, hundreds of companies converged on the Orange County Convention Center to show off the latest technology in the fast-moving wireless world. About half dozen Central Florida companies were on display, representing a range of technology that included everything from a location-based social media service to a smartphone case that pops open a cold one.
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› Child welfare agency under fire after girl's death [Miami Herald]
Miami-Dade's 5-year-old privately run child welfare agency is paid $100 million each year to protect thousands of abused and neglected children. But in recent months, it has been forced to defend itself. Last summer, several children's advocates became incensed when Our Kids, a private contractor that oversees foster care and adoption in Miami-Dade and Monroe, paid more than $330,000 in employee bonuses — some totaling five figures — at the same time it cut the stipend given to newly aged-out foster kids by $300. Then, in February, an independent review panel criticized the agency for a series of missteps uncovered in the wake of 10-year-old Nubia Barahona's death. Bound, beaten and left for days in a bathtub, Nubia was found dead, stuffed in a garbage bag, in the back of her adoptive father's pickup truck. The panel accused Our Kids executives of "circling the wagons,'' rather than aiding their inquiry. To the state's most powerful lawmaker on social service issues, Sen. Ronda Storms, the lapses reflect system-wide failings in Florida's landmark move to shift all foster care and adoption programs over to private, local management.

› Legal battle begins over radio personality Neil Rogers' estate [Palm Beach Post]
Even in death, South Florida radio talk show great Neil Rogers is capable of whipping up controversy. Rogers, who dominated the local radio market for years with his biting wit, died Dec. 24 at age 68. It now has emerged that within weeks of suffering a stroke and a heart attack in October, Rogers signed two different wills. The competing wills are at the center of a brewing courtroom battle over Rogers' estate. How much money is at stake is unclear, with no mention of Rogers' assets in court papers. A will drawn up on Nov. 3 in Toronto — where Rogers had been living — leaves his entire estate to 21-year-old Christian Ramon Sanchez Hernandez. The other will, signed 20 days later in South Florida, divides the estate equally between Hernandez, who is described in it as Rogers' companion, and two of the broadcast personality's longtime friends, David Hine and Jonathan Julian.
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› Orange Mayor Jacobs delays job-growth plan [Orlando Sentinel]
Facing the highest mail-in ballot costs in Central Florida, Mayor Teresa Jacobs has abandoned a pledge to have a referendum this year on whether to give property-tax breaks to expanding Orange County businesses. Instead, Jacobs said she would ask voters to approve the centerpiece of her job-creation plan next year, during the state's spring presidential-preference primary. Jacobs said the delay was largely because of the projected $1.4 million cost from Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles for a vote this year. Putting questions on the 2012 primary ballot would add little or nothing to the cost of that election. Jacobs said it's also not clear how many businesses would line up quickly to seek the property-tax breaks. "Even if the number [from Cowles] came in lower than that," Jacobs said, "I would want to justify that the benefits received [by qualifying businesses] would outweigh those costs."

› Cancer kids could soon have school of their own [SOURCE]
Those six months of homework assignments, bus rides and sweaty PE classes were some of the best of Connor Hernandez's life. He won an art class award and picked up a new nickname, Yoda, from his third-grade classmates. He played hockey in the afternoon and ate from a lunch box. Then the cancer came back. "It was difficult for all of us — the teachers, the other students," said Connor's mother, Tracey Hernandez. "We had to go to school and explain why he had to leave." How wonderful it would have been to keep Connor in school longer, to have a sterile place to accommodate him while his weak immune system reeled from leukemia treatments. That's the idea behind a school for pediatric cancer patients being planned by the 1Voice Foundation, a local nonprofit.

› Amway Center contractors say they're still waiting for paychecks [Orlando Sentinel]
Nearly six months after the Amway Center opened its doors, some of the contractors who helped build it say they haven't been paid all the money they're owed. The Orlando-owned arena was held up as a model for its smooth and timely construction. And city officials and Orlando Magic executives hailed it as an economic powerhouse that provided work for a slew of construction firms. But now some of those same contractors say they're still owed money for work they finished months ago. "We're a decent-size contractor, but this is a lot of money," said Dean Whitcomb, director of operations for Alpha Insulation & Waterproofing Co. "It's got to be harder on the smaller companies to not be able to collect for so long."

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Largo's GeoPharma files for bankruptcy reorganization [St. Petersburg Times]
GeoPharma, a once high-flying Largo pharmaceutical company that has been ailing for years, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The company, which does business as Innovative Health Products, reported debts between $10 million and $50 million in a filing with the U.S. Middle District Bankruptcy Court. Its assets are between $1 million and $10 million. It listed more than 300 creditors. Founded in 1985 as Energy Factors Inc., what is now GeoPharma has evolved through a number of name and product changes. Once in 2004, the maker of dietary supplements and generic drugs briefly saw its stock soar after announcing a product approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

› Barry Minkow to plead guilty to securities fraud against Lennar [Miami Herald]
Barry Minkow, the convicted Ponzi schemer turned FBI informant, has been charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud in a scheme the U.S. Attorney's Office said he used to deflate Lennar stock by 20 percent in January 2009. According to the charges filed Thursday, Minkow and an unnamed California-based conspirator attempted to extort money from Lennar by making false allegations of fraud against the Miami-based homebuilder, depressing its stock price. Minkow, 44, plans to plead guilty to the charge, according to his lawyer, Alvin Entin. Lennar's lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli said Entin identified the California-based co-conspirator as Nicolas Marsch, a San Diego developer who engaged in a bungled development deal with Lennar. The co-conspirator felt he was owed money by Lennar, and hired Minkow to pressure Lennar into making payments to him, the charge by the U.S. Attorney's Office alleges.

› Adult film company sues South Floridians over illegal downloads [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Attention, married men who illegally downloaded the movies "Bootylicious Girls" and "Brazilian Babes": There's a chance you may have a really awkward conversation with your wife. Adult entertainment company Elegant Angel filed a series of federal lawsuits last week against 58 "John Does" in South Florida who allegedly pirated its movies. Elegant Angel, based in Canoga Park, Calif., has the Internet addresses of the computers used to illegally download the movies and wants judges to allow it to subpoena the computer owners' names through their Internet providers. The lawsuits seek up to $150,000 in damages from each of the people accused of copyright infringement. "I firmly believe that everyone has the right to protect their intellectual property," said M. Keith Lipscomb, one of the Miami attorneys for Elegant Angel. "Right now, the adult entertainment industry is being tremendously damaged by the infringement of its copyrights over the Internet."

› Onetime Silver Springs exec skeptical about county takeover [Ocala Star-Banner]
You might think one-time Silver Springs executive Bill Ray would be an avid supporter of the Marion County Commission's proposal to take over the iconic nature park and turn it into a premier ecotourism destination. The park is struggling, after all, and some county officials believe they could breathe new life into it and, in the process, stimulate job growth locally. But Ray, who worked his way up from busboy to lifeguard to executive at the park before leaving in 1959 to start a business, is skeptical of local government's ability to run the park efficiently and protect the world-famous springs adequately. "I am very concerned about the spring's future," he said. "I am afraid too little investigation and consideration is being given to a potential purchase without truly knowing the actual operating and promotional costs. We could end up with the taxpayers doing each other's laundry to pay the bills, and the preservation of Silver Springs endangered."

› Miami-based Pacific National fined [Miami Herald]]
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Thursday that it has assessed a $7 million civil money penalty against Miami-based Pacific National Bank for violations of an OCC Consent Order, the Bank Secrecy Act and the USA Patriot Act. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also assessed a concurrent $7 million penalty against the Bank. Pacific National, without admitting or denying the allegations, consented to the penalties, which regulators said they are allowing to be satisfied by a single payment of $7 million. The OCC said it based its penalty on the bank's failure to comply with an OCC Consent Order issued in December 2005, and continued violations of the Bank Secrecity Act's regulations. Regulators said that the bank took some steps to bring itself into compliance with regulations, but those steps taken fell short of what was required.

› Dueling beach walks to pack Siesta Key [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Thousands of people will fill the roads Saturday morning en route to Siesta Public Beach, where those mourning the recent string of teenager deaths will collide with an estimated 3,000 people walking in support of a cure for diabetes. The dueling beach walks will almost certainly snarl parking and traffic that already proves challenging on any typical day. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fears participants will be stuck in their cars and deterred from joining the walk in the future. "Hopefully, this will all be an unnecessary concern," said the Foundation's Executive Director, Jeannie Kawcak. "Our hearts definitely go out to these families, but it's just unfortunate that with all the other days of the year and all the other hours of the day that the memorial walk couldn't have been done at a different time."

› PBSJ takes on the name of its new parent, WS Atkins [St. Petersburg Times]
Say goodbye to PBSJ Corp. on April 1. That's the day the Tampa engineering and construction firm takes on the name of its new owner, British design firm WS Atkins. Atkins bought PBSJ for $280 million in August, making the employee-owned firm part of a conglomerate that employees some 18,000 people across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America. At the time, PBSJ had about 3,500 workers in 80 offices, including 350 in its Tampa headquarters. Shareholders approved the deal in October, making Tampa the U.S. base of Atkins' operations.