Wednesday's Daily Pulse
Florida's Redistricting Free-for-All
Florida's Constitution says the Legislature must redraw the state's congressional and legislative district boundaries every 10 years, based on the most recent Census.
 [Illustration: Roger Chouinard] |
» As always, the line-drawing will be ultra-politicized:
Redistricting is so political that members of Congress hire their own lobbyists who glue themselves to the committee meetings in Tallahassee and scrutinize every proposed boundary adjustment.
Predictably, the GOP, now dominant in both the state House and Senate, will attempt to structure the congressional and legislative districts to preserve as many safe seats for Republicans as it can. This year, because so much of Florida's population growth over the decade was Hispanic, leaders from the Hispanic community will try to land better representation in Washington and Tallahassee, particularly along the Interstate 4 corridor. Meanwhile, counties in southwest Florida already are speculating that they'll snag additional representation because of higher-than-average population growth over the past decade. "The interest groups will be out en masse, political interest groups and local groups that don't want to see their cities and counties divided," says Marian Johnson, senior vice president of political strategy at the Florida Chamber of Commerce. "And then you'll still have one little county drawn 70 different ways for 70 different reasons." Read more about what to expect from the redistricting process.
Florida's Indian Casinos Raked in $2 Billion in 2009
Indian casinos in Florida raked in about $2 billion in 2009, the first full year the Seminole Tribe operated Las Vegas-style slot machines and dealt blackjack under a deal with the state. Florida was the fourth-richest state for tribal gambling, behind only California ($7.7 billion), Oklahoma ($3.1 billion) and Connecticut ($2.2 billion), according to the 2011 Indian Gaming Industry Report. The Seminole Tribe owns seven of Florida's eight Indian casinos, including Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood. The Miccosukee Tribe has a Miami casino but offers only bingo-based slots and poker. Statewide, Indian gaming revenue increased $193 million, or 10.4 percent, in 2009 from a year earlier. That was a strong performance in a year when the sour economy forced gamblers to rein in spending, wrote economist Alan Meister, the report's author. Revenue at Indian casinos nationally were flat. Gaming revenue in Nevada fell 10.4 percent, the largest single-year loss in state history. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]
Florida Jumps into Fray over Online Hotel Taxes
Two years ago Florida joined dozens of other states and municipalities in suing online travel companies for a bigger chunk of local hotel taxes.
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UCF Video-Game Graduate School Ranks No. 2 Nationally
University of Central Florida is home to a new medical school, a top-ranking research group and graduate programs for the region's business leaders. And now it will be known nationwide for its ability to turn a group of people once seen as society's slackers — video gamers — into professionals capable of making big bucks in a multibillion-dollar industry. On Tuesday, the Princeton Review, which puts out a host of college rankings each year, released its first-ever ranking of video game graduate schools. And UCF ranked No. 2 behind the University of Southern California. UCF's program is small but its students have seen success, university officials said. Since the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy opened in 2005, it has awarded master's degrees to 191 students who went to work for companies such as Disney, Google and Electronic Arts, which creates games for the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, and Zynga, creator of the Farmville video game popular with Facebook users. The Review ranked schools based on data collected during a survey of administrators at 150 schools in the U.S. and Canada. It considered factors such as curriculum, faculty and financial aid. "For students aspiring to work in this burgeoning field, and for the companies that will need their creative talents and trained skills, we hope this project will serve as a catalyst for many successful connections," Robert Franek, a senior vice president at the Review, said in a prepared statement. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Jackson Lab Picks Sarasota County, Sources Say
Jackson Laboratory has picked Sarasota County as the site for its new personalized medicine institute, sources familiar with the two-month-long talks between lab and county officials confirmed late Tuesday.
 The chief factors that define Sarasota's personality are the median age of its population and its wealth—attributes that have produced a community with a trove of quality-of-life resources. [View All Community Portraits] |
» Life Sciences:
Lab Work
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Australian Yacht Builder Considers Brevard Site [Florida Today]
An Australian superyacht builder is eyeing a Merritt Island boatyard for building lightweight sailing yachts that would use new fiberglass technology developed by a Brevard County composites company.
"The next step is to negotiate the facility and to acquire the facility," said Capt. Ronald LePard, operations manager for Evolution Yachts USA, the company's U.S. sales office based in Fort Lauderdale. "The biggest thing we'd have to tackle is getting the permits to do what we want to do, which is basically new sailboats and powerboats."
Evolution Yachts, based near the capital city of Perth, has been assisted by Structural Composites President Scott Lewit, whose Melbourne company recently was awarded a $245,000 state grant to help transition boat designs and improved composite construction technology developed for the government to the commercial market.
The company will help commercial operators adapt its designs and construction techniques for small boats to be built for the U.S. Navy that will weigh half as much as standard vessels.
› Lack of Car Leads to Lack of a Job for Some in Jacksonville [Florida Times-Union]
Curtis Johnson is trying to get a job six months after getting out of prison.
He's been offered two but had to turn both down, because he doesn't have a car.
Both jobs required Johnson, 42, to work into the early-morning hours, which he didn't realize when he applied for them. One was in Jacksonville Beach as a night bartender; the other was in an Orange Park nightclub.
That meant his only option to get to the jobs would be using Jacksonville Transportation Authority buses. But they stop operating around 11 p.m. and don't resume service until 4-5 a.m., leaving Johnson with no way to get back to where he's living on the Northside.
"I'd love to move to the beach," Johnson said. "But I don't have any money right now, and I can't make money till I get a job."
And for at least two organizations, that's a problem.
WorkSource is a state-funded agency that matches job-seekers with employers, and Operation New Hope prepares ex-cons to re-enter the workforce. They both argue that the city's inadequate public bus system perpetuates unemployment and keeps people stuck in poor neighborhoods.
› Sarasota County Business Sales Up 7 Percent [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Sarasota County businesses posted their best December in three years, rounding out a 2010 where the local economy started to rebuild after companies saw more than a quarter of their sales evaporate in the Great Recession. The 7 percent gain in December means revenues for all businesses in the county climbed 3 percent for the year. The local economy has not yet suffered a lost decade, but it has been a lost seven years.
Last year's total sales of $10.7 billion were far below the $14 billion posted in 2006 — and the 2010 sales are just slightly ahead of what they were in 2003.
Manatee County did not fare as well, with sales off 5 percent in December and nearly 1 percent for 2010, a Herald-Tribune analysis of the latest data from the Florida Department of Revenue showed.
Statewide, Florida businesses posted an 8 percent jump in December and a 6 percent increase for the year.
› New Republican Club Forms for Business Owners [Hernando Today]
If Hernando County's economy is going to improve, it will be up to its small business owners to create jobs.
But that won't happen until business owners are freed of the crushing federal, state and county regulations that make it prohibitive for them to expand their workforce, says Blaise Ingoglia, chairman of the Hernando County Republican Executive Committee.
To that end, Ingoglia on Tuesday announced the formation of the Republican Business Leaders Club of Hernando County," which will meet monthly and focus on the hot-button economic issues of taxation, regulation and job creation.
The club, in the process of being chartered through the Republican Party of Florida, is open to current and retired business owners, managers and anyone who has made a payroll and created jobs.
"Small businesses will lead this county and our country out of this jobless recession," Ingoglia said.
› Killers Bees Swarming Central Florida? [Orlando Sentinel]
Eric Uneberg was walking his dog Sasha beneath the live oaks in the backyard of his Marion County home when he got a strange feeling that he was being watched. He looked around as the hairs on his neck began to stand on end. Nothing to the right or left.
But as Uneberg turned to go inside the house, he decided to look up.
"I thought it was just some strange animal hanging from the tree because it was big and brown and in the corners all you could see were these four golden-like feet," Uneberg said.
They were bees. Tens of thousands of them. However, these were not typical pollinators.
The unusual hive is a trademark of the African killer bee, a honey bee subspecies that has swarmed the region as it makes its way north from South Florida. The infamous insect is notorious for viciously attacking both animals and people—anyone that threatens the colony. The bees have been reported in more than 26 Florida counties from the south and along both coasts, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture. But they won't stop there — experts say the honey bees will likely encompass the entire state in just a few years.
› At Giant Tech Data Corp., another Strong Quarter and Year [St. Petersburg Times]
Clearwater tech product distributor Tech Data Corp. said its fourth-quarter net income rose 10 percent on strong sales to beat Wall Street expectations. CEO Bob Dutkowsky said improved technology spending by businesses helped make fiscal 2010 "one of the best years" in the company's history. The company — largest by revenue in the Tampa Bay area — earned $77.3 million, or $1.63 per share, in the period ended Jan. 31. That compares with year-earlier earnings of $70.1 million, or $1.35 per share. Revenue rose about 13 percent to $7.12 billion from $6.28 billion. The company also said that it will buy back up to $100 million in stock.
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› CityPlace Office Tower Sells to California Real Estate Trust [Palm Beach Post]
The signature CityPlace Tower is under contract to be sold to a private real estate trust for the princely sum of about $130 million, reflecting the investment community 's continued demand for trophy commercial properties.
KBS Realty Advisors of Newport Beach, Calif., is the buyer of the 18-story, 300,000-square-foot tower, located at the entrance to CityPlace along Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach, according to sources knowledgeable about the deal.
The tower, which opened in 2008, now stands at about 90 percent leased and is filled with top-flight law firms, investment firms and the Palm Beach offices of the vaunted Cleveland Clinic medical center.
The price is said to be around $435 square foot, according to real estate sources. A closing is set for late March.
› Supreme Court Fast-Tracks Rail Lawsuit [Palm Beach Post]
Just short of three months on the job, Gov. Rick Scott is being challenged in court by two senators, one a fellow Republican, over his rejection of $2.4 billion of federal funds for a high-speed rail project.
The Florida Supreme Court put the case on the fast track Tuesday, giving Scott just 24 hours to respond to the lawsuit filed that morning by Sens. Thad Altman, a Viera Republican, and Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat.
The bipartisan pair accuse Scott in the suit of overstepping his authority as governor and violating the constitutional separation of powers.
They're also asking for an injunction preventing the White House from giving the money to other states.
"The fusion of powers of too many branches into one single branch of government jeopardizes our democracy," Altman told reporters Tuesday. "That system of government is in crisis, is in jeopardy."
Joyner was less diplomatic.
"This is not a monarchy. He is not a king," she said.
› Cove Marketplace Shines Light on Port Canaveral Businesses [Florida Today]
A burst of sunshine provided a 30-minute reprieve from the rain and gray skies Tuesday morning, just long enough for officials to mark the formal opening of the Cove Marketplace at Port Canaveral.
To hear the nearby restaurateurs tell it, business has been fairly sunny since the marketplace's soft opening on Feb. 14.
During the marketplace's Monday through Wednesday schedule, places such as Fish Lips Waterfront Bar & Grill and Rusty's Seafood & Oyster Bar are reporting anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent increases in business.
"It has been a boon to us and hopefully a boon to other people in this port," said Rusty Fisher,
who operates Rusty's along with his son, Rhett.
› Online Coalition of Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists Answers Questions about Health-Care Law [Orlando Sentinel]
At a time when many Americans are confused about the healthcare overhaul law, a coalition of groups representing doctors, nurses, pharmacists and consumers has launched a website to answer questions about the Affordable Care Act.
"There's a lot of confusion about what the law involves, there's confusion about whether the law is actually in effect and a lot of confusion about the politics of it, what's going on in Congress and what's going on in the courts," said Dr. Cecil Wilson, a Winter Park doctor and president of the American Medical Association.
The new website — HealthCareandYou.org — doesn't delve into the politics behind the law, but spells out what the law means to consumers, depending on the state they live in and their age. The website also provides a timeline, telling consumers when different parts of the law go into effect.
"The law is complicated, and the goal is to help the American people understand it," Wilson said. "So this website was put together by a coalition of what we would describe as the nation's most-trusted organizations that represent consumers, nurses, pharmacists and physicians."
› Jaguars, NFL Prevail in Casino Trademark Case [Florida Times-Union]
In the legal arena of the courtroom, a federal lawsuit filed by the National Football League against a Mayport-based casino cruise ship was no contest.
The NFL won a quick victory over Jacks or Better LLC after the business repeatedly refused to remove a photo of Jaguars quarterback David Garrard from its web site. The photo illustrated the casino boat's sports betting.
Jacks or Better LLC, whose casino boat departs from Mayport and sails off-shore for gambling, agreed to pay $5,000 and not use images of Garrard or any NFL trademarks without first getting written authorization.
Senior U.S. District Judge Howell Melton signed an order on Friday closing the case after both sides signed a permanent injunction and final judgment.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league usually can enforce its trademarks by sending cease-and-desist letters that explain the NFL's legal rights.
"But that wasn't the case in this matter," he said. "We're pleased with the decision."
› Hospitals Seek $100M from Sarasota County [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
Three private hospitals in Sarasota County are seizing on obscure language in a 1959 state law to file a lawsuit that could force the county to pay them $100 million in reimbursement for medical care provided to the indigent.
The three for-profit hospitals — Venice Regional Medical Center, Doctors Hospital of Sarasota and Englewood Community Hospital — filed suit against Sarasota County on Friday, citing the provision that they say allows any hospital in Sarasota County to bill the county for the costs of indigent care.
The hospitals have sent the county bills totalling close to $100 million since discovering the provision in late 2008, county officials said. If the hospitals win in court, the county could be forced to pay that and tens of millions more in the future.
But the county has refused to pay the hospitals, saying that the provision is unconstitutional.
› USF Study Finds Beaches Cleaned of Oil [St. Petersburg Times]
The goopy oil and sticky tarballs that once tainted Florida's sugar-white beaches have been thoroughly cleaned up, and even the layers of buried oil beneath the sand are gone, according to a new study by University of South Florida scientists released Tuesday.
However, they still found residual oil contamination on those beaches, detected by using ultraviolet lights.
Geologists Ping Wang, Rip Kirby and Jun Cheng found little to no visible oil on the surface, below the sand or in the swash zone — where waves wash up onto the beach typically deposit seaweed and debris — in the areas they surveyed, which stretched from Panama City Beach west to Dauphin Island, Ala.
"We found that most of the small surface residual tar balls on the beach were removed or further pulverized to sizes that cannot be identified with untrained eyes," their report says. "The beaches appear to be in similar condition as before the spill, except the massive temporary tire/tilling tracks" from the cleanup machinery.