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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007 TECO May Sell Transport Business to Pay Off Debt TECO Energy may sell its longtime shipping business within six months to pay down debt from disastrous investments in out-of-state power plants. The parent of Tampa Electric Co. has retained investment bank Morgan Stanley to help evaluate "strategic opportunities'' for TECO Transport, executives said. "This is not a decision taken lightly, as TECO Transport has a long history as a solid and profitable performer in the TECO Energy family,'' chief executive Sherrill Hudson said in a prepared statement. Related articles: Insurers Begin Claims Processing for Tornado Victims The state's two largest homeowners insurance companies said Tuesday that they expected to process close to 1,100 claims from homeowners whose residences were damaged from the tornadoes and high winds that swept through Central Florida. The predawn storms left 20 people dead and about 1,500 structures damaged, state officials. Tim Loftin, senior vice president of claims for Citizens Property Insurance, said that the company hopes to have "100 percent of the claims inspected by this weekend and 80 percent of them settled." State Farm estimated that it will process about 600 claims totaling about $23 million. As of noon Tuesday, the company had processed 445 homeowner claims, including 109 for homes that were judged uninhabitable. Related articles: Palm Beach County Water Bills Set to Rise for the First Time in a Decade County commissioners on Tuesday gave their preliminary endorsement to a plan that would raise monthly water bills 18 percent or more for the almost 500,000 people who buy their water from the county. Now, the idea will be sold to the public at a series of forums. Water customers also will be notified of the pending rate increase in their water bills this month. The change would take effect April 1. "Recently, over the last two years, we've experienced a lot of extreme escalation -- fuel prices, insurance prices, concrete prices," said Assistant Water Utilities Director Leisha Pica, explaining the rate increase. "Everything has doubled. We weren't experiencing that before." More on this topic from Florida Trend: Commercial Real Estate Brokers Keep an Eye on Residential Real Estate Experts speaking to a crowd of commercial real estate brokers spent a lot of time talking about the state of residential real estate, given the nationwide slowdown in existing-home sales and the slump in new-home construction. One expert predicted the housing slowdown won't be severe enough to drag the U.S. economy overall into recession. And the steady economy, bolstered by stable interest rates and job growth, should make this a strong year for commercial real estate, where large amounts of money are chasing investment opportunities. More on this topic from Florida Trend: Florida Tops in the U.S. in Advanced Placement Test Takers Florida led the country last year in the percentage of high school seniors taking Advanced Placement exams, which are considered a good predictor of future success in college, according to a national report issued Tuesday. More than one in three Florida seniors took at least one of the tests, up from less than one in four in 2000. Florida placed seventh in the percentage of seniors that passed the tests, which accompany tough, college-caliber classes. Almost 54 percent of the Florida students who took an exam scored at least one passing grade. North Florida Real Estate Giant St. Joe's Profits Tumble The St. Joe Co.'s profits fell 36 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, which the company attributed mainly to the slow residential real estate market. The slow quarter put St. Joe's earnings down nearly 60 percent for the year at $52.5 million."The past year has been a challenging one for Joe and most people in the real estate business," said chief executive Peter Rummell in a conference call with analysts. "The challenge has been to react appropriately to what we think is a cyclical market downturn without changing our ability to create value for shareholders." Pinellas County Plans Rule Change for Fortune-Tellers, Psychics Fortune-tellers, psychics and palm readers, listen up: Pinellas County will soon ease regulations that you've toiled under for years. Under the current ordinance, astrologers, palm and card readers, and fortune-tellers who charge for their services are required to submit fingerprints, undergo a background check, provide photographs and pay a fee in order to get a license. Later this month, the county plans to suspend the ordinance for two years. State Drops Home Inspection Contract With Nonprofit Organization State officials have terminated a contract with the nonprofit organization hired to help launch the My Safe Florida Home program, stating the agreement improperly escalated from $457,000 to $2.9-million. The Department of Financial Services informed the nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes on Jan. 17 that it was "legally impossible to proceed further under our present contract" because the changes were not advertised or properly explained when the amendments were made. Last month the St. Petersburg Times reported that the state had given the nonprofit a no-bid contract to assist with the pilot phase of My Safe Florida Home, a $250-million state program to fortify homes against hurricanes. Davie to Vote on Plan for Massive Shopping Village After years of planning and a final pep rally to garner support from residents, developers will take their plans for The Commons to the Town Council on Wednesday night, seeking a green light to build a shopping complex that would rival Sawgrass Mills. Turnberry Associates, owner of the Aventura Mall, and partner Retail Estate in Coral Gables have been working on the project for four years. Plans call for high-end shops, restaurants, a 300-room hotel and office space in 2 million square feet. Venezuela: Chavez on the Road to Democratically Elected Dictator Seeing Venezuelan President Hugo Ch?vez's recent moves to amass absolute power is like watching a train heading toward a mountainside. We know it is going to crash, and people will be hurt. But the wreck seems unstoppable, as long as Venezuelan oil revenues sustain him. Since the election, Mr. Ch?vez has canceled the broadcast license of a television station that was one of his fiercest critics. He is moving to nationalize telecommunications and electric industries and to gain majority control over joint ventures with multinational oil companies, among them U.S.-based ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. Such moves are scaring off foreign investors, even as Venezuelan money flows into South Florida and other safe havens abroad. More on this topic from Florida Trend: Parlux Fragrances Chairman, CEO Forced Out Parlux Fragrances Inc. Chairman and CEO Ilia Lekach, who brought Paris Hilton and Guess perfume brands to the Fort Lauderdale-based company, was forced out of his position Tuesday by a shareholder and former business ally. Glenn Nussdorf, who owns a controlling share of Parlux and E Com Ventures Inc., the Sunrise-based parent company that operates Perfumania outlet stores, has been pushing shareholders to vote to overthrow Lekach and his board for several months. Nussdorf has claimed that Lekach and the board have not acted in the best interests of shareholders. Related articles: ? |
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