Sink Orders Audit of 'Taj Mahal' Courthouse Finances

A preliminary review of funding for the "Taj Mahal'' courthouse indicates the 1st District Court of Appeal may have spent money initially appropriated for other purposes and got $16 million in a raid on the state's Workers' Compensation Trust Fund, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Monday. In letters to the Florida Supreme Court and to the agency that oversees construction of state buildings, Sink said the troubling preliminary findings warrant a thorough audit. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

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A Reality Check on Florida Politicians' Job Claims

The unemployment rate in Miami-Dade stands at nearly 13 percent. In Broward, one of every ten people in the labor force is jobless. Politicians, naturally, vow to fix that, knowing that jobs and the economy are the priority with an anxious, cash strapped electorate. Florida's U.S. Senate candidates talk about it all the time. Gubernatorial ones, too. But rare is the politician who will acknowledge that the levers they want to wield have limits. [Source: CBS4]

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Business Ads Coming to Property Appraiser's Website

Looking to raise some revenue, Alachua County Property Appraiser Ed Crapo soon will let business advertisements run on his office's website. Under an agreement Crapo has entered with Municipal Media Solutions, a Chicago area company that specializes in selling advertising on government websites, ads will start running on the site in the next two weeks to a month. "Times are tight -- the money could help our operation," Crapo said. [Source: Gainesville Sun]

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Loan-Modification Marathon Draws Fewer than Expected

About 8,200 households had sought help from the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America through Monday afternoon, fewer than the non-profit group had expected. NACA, which works with homeowners to get lower monthly mortgage payments through loan modifications, began 24-hour-a-day counseling sessions Friday morning at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. About 24,000 people attended the first event in February, with 16,097 loans receiving a modification. [Source: Palm Beach Post]

RELATED:
» Tuesday is Last Day for NACA Marathon [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

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WaWa Gas Stations Are Coming to Florida

WaWa, a Philadelphia area filling station chain that sets itself apart with better fresh food, is lining up sites for expanding into the Orlando and Tampa Bay areas. Unlike rival mega-stations that rely on cashiers for food prep, the typical WaWa is staffed with a dozen people most of the time with two or three full-timers assigned to tend the fresh food counter. This is WaWa's first expansion south of Virginia. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]

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ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Major Animation School and Studio Proposal Lauded [Palm Beach Post]
Celebrations haven't come easy in City Hall this year, but Mayor Lois Frankel and commissioners finally found a reason to bust out their party hats. In a year of slashed budgets, buyouts and layoffs, Digital Domain's John Textor made a pitch to the city on Monday that business and political leaders are hailing as West Palm's saving grace. Textor and the city made public what they've been discussing behind closed-doors under confidentiality agreements for months — the proposal to bring a digital animation college to the city-owned Tent Site.

› GOP Not Talking Fraud Now That Scott's Their Nominee [Fort Myers News-Press]
Fraud? What fraud? The key argument against Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott in the primary is no longer on the minds of the GOP establishment as legislative and party leaders came together Monday to tout the former Columbia/HCA CEO as a business leader who will create jobs. The fact that he led the company when it committed Medicare fraud that resulted in a $1.7 billion settlement to avoid criminal charges is no longer a talking point. “You’re not going to hear it,” said Deborah Cox-Roush, the state GOP’s vice chairwoman. “He answered that question in the primary. Rick has a good message. We are going to put Florida back to work. It’s about the economy.”
» RELATED: Rick Scott, GOP Hold "Kumbaya" Rally [WUSF]

› Contractor Hired to Upgrade Mayport Pier [Florida Times-Union]
The Navy has hired a contractor to upgrade the pier at Mayport Naval Station that is slated to serve as the homeport for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Misener Marine Construction Inc. of Tampa will handle the $22.6 million project, which is expected to wrap up in August 2011. Work on the wharf is required for a nuclear-powered carrier to come to Mayport, but has been also talked about in general terms as necessary for general operational readiness.

› Judge Approves Restitution for Rothstein's Ponzi Victims [Miami Herald]
A federal judge Monday ordered convicted con man Scott Rothstein to repay $363 million to some 320 victims of his investment racket. But the vast majority will be lucky if they get back pennies or dimes for every dollar they invested with the one-time Fort Lauderdale lawyer, who sold $1.2 billion in fake legal settlements -- a Ponzi scheme that became South Florida's largest financial fraud.

› Ex-Port Authority CEO Got High Marks Before Resignation [Florida Times-Union]
Rick Ferrin, who was suddenly ousted last week as head of the Jacksonville Port Authority, received more than $130,000 in bonuses during the last five years and regular pay raises when his performance was reviewed by the board, according to records in his personnel file. Ferrin's file does not contain any critical reviews that put him on notice that his performance was falling short of the board's expectations.

› Small Businesses in Florida Post Uptick in Jobs [St. Petersburg Times]
Florida beats U.S. in small-firm new hires Small businesses in Florida added jobs in August at a quicker pace than most of the country, according to an analysis released Monday by software maker Intuit. The monthly report shows Florida growing by 0.3 percent over the month, far better than the anemic 0.1 percent growth nationally that Intuit estimated.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Corruption Lessons: It's Better to Give (Bribes) than Receive [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Questions after a busy week in the ongoing fight against Broward corruption: Now that father-and-son developers Bruce and Shawn Chait have cut a lenient plea deal to dish dirt on their past misdeeds, how many more local politicians will be toppled? With the Chaits only getting probation for paying bribes to win approval of a Tamarac housing project while former Broward Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion got prison for taking a Chait bribe, is the lesson, "It's better to give than receive"?

› Mr. Outsider On the Verge of Being Kingpin of Insiders [St. Petersburg Times]
Politics is funny sometimes in Florida. One day people call you a fraud who ripped off taxpayers and financed smut, the next day they hail you as a visionary leader, job creator and good friend. One day you're denouncing special interest and lobbyist money, the next day you are courting it. Such is the case with Rick Scott, the mega-rich businessman who stunned the GOP establishment last week by beating Bill McCollum for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Only a week ago, state and national party leaders treated Scott as a dangerous pariah, but now they're eagerly embracing him and hoping for forgiveness.

› Despite January Freeze, Gulf Snook Season May Open [Tampa Tribune]
The snook, with its muscled torpedo shape and telltale lateral black stripe, took such a hit during the shivering cold of January, that state wildlife officials immediately banned the taking of the tasty game fish famous for shaking hooks and snapping lines. Anglers are in disagreement about whether to keep the ban in place. One charter boat captain in Tampa says what's needed is a five-year ban. Other fishermen say the species is making a remarkable comeback since the freeze and favor lifting the ban. This week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will consider opening snook season in two weeks after closing it days after the January freeze left tens of thousands of snook dead from the cold.

› Chefs Create Fun, Healthy Recipes for School Menus [Miami Herald]
Imagine having award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein as your lunch lady. Bernstein isn't leaving her two Miami restaurants, Michy's and Sra. Martinez, anytime soon. But she is helping Miami-Dade school cafeteria workers develop new, healthy recipes that will encourage kids to pick up a hot lunch. Bernstein joined with chef-owner Kris Wessel of Red Light on Miami's Upper East Side and owner Ken Lyon of the Design District's Fratelli Lyon to give school lunches an extreme makeover.

› Troxler: This Time No Cracks? [St. Petersburg Times]
Tampa Bay Water, the regional utility, is seeking proposals to repair the cracks in its $140 million reservoir. The repair job may cost nearly as much as the original reservoir and may lead to an increase in water rates. Read Howard Troxler's take on possible construction plans this time around.

› Crist, Meek Push for New Homebuyer Tax Credit [Florida Times-Union]
Days after news that the bottom had fallen out of home sales in July, two candidates for Florida's U.S. Senate seat took to the airwaves to call for a new tax credit that might boost sales. Despite the nationwide plunge, however, the Obama Administration has yet to sign on to a new credit. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan told CNN that it was "too early" to make a decision on any future program.

› Cuba's Fidel Castro Gives New Details of Illness [Miami Herald]
Fidel Castro has given new details of just how sick he was when he was forced to give up power four years ago, saying in a rare interview that he was weak, dangerously thin and thought at times he could not go on. "I was at death's door, but I came back," the former Cuban leader said.

› Florida Experiences Big Decline in Births [WUSF]
As the state’s unemployment has risen, something else has dropped — our birthrate. Florida's baby bust is one of the worst in the nation. Since the recession began two years ago, the number of babies being born in Florida has dropped by 8 percent. Only Arizona and Rhode Island saw a bigger decline. Amy Baker of the state Office of Economic and Demographic Research says it’s the economy.

› OPINION: Jacksonville Economy Holding Its Own [Florida Times-Union]
The economy is a downer just about everywhere. But the Jacksonville area is better suited to bounce back from it than many metro areas inside Florida and out. That's the brighter news from strategic planning consultant Henry Luke, who shared some local economic analysis recently with The Times-Union editorial board. Agriculture, tourism and growth are traditional economic drivers for much of Florida. And, while the Jacksonville area has depended on growth like the rest of the Sunshine State, neither tourism nor agriculture define the economic landscape here.

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