Florida confidence stuck near lows
Floridians can't shake their recession blues. The latest consumer confidence numbers from the University of Florida continue brushing near lows last seen in 2008 as the global financial crisis began. Nationally, a similar survey found confidence at its lowest level since 2009. Floridians cheered up a bit in September following the August stock market crash and other traumas, including Washington's debt-ceiling crisis. But the October numbers out this week showed confidence down slightly, with the UF index dropping from 64 to 63. The lowest level ever, reached in June 2008, was 59. Read more from the Miami Herald and the University of Florida News.
Florida's economy continues its growth streak, Fed says
Florida's economy continues expanding, but at about half the pace set earlier in the year, according to new numbers from the Federal Reserve. The Fed's Philadelphia branch calculates economic indices for each state, and Florida's has been growing since January. The streak continued in September, the Fed announced Tuesday, with Florida and 29 other states seeing a bump in their indices from August. Thirteen saw declines, including the Southern coast from Georgia to Virginia and all of the Great Lake states but Minnesota. Four remained unchanged. While Florida continues showing gains, the pace is slowing. [Source: Miami Herald]
Getting the economy we expect; Or how I'm hurting the recovery
After the state's new unemployment numbers were released last week, state economist Rebecca Rust talked a bit about the importance of psychology. She said consumer confidence remains shaky, undermining economic recovery. Skittish about the future, they sit on cash, reducing demand. Little demand leads to little production leads to little hiring. Expectations become reality. We get the economy we anticipate. It's a spectacularly effective feedback loop that's poison to a consumer-driven economy. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
Officials: Arts create jobs, boost economy
Following deep cuts to Florida's arts budget, legislators and other officials have launched an initiative to promote cultural programs throughout the state. The main reason, Secretary of State Kurt Browning said, is that arts and culture rake in $3 billion a year and sustain 88,000 jobs. "Arts can be an economic draw in our communities," Browning said Tuesday morning during the launch of the Culture Builds Florida campaign in downtown Tampa. "We intend to promote the variety of ways arts and culture can create jobs, stimulate the economy and contribute to Florida's tourism." [Source: Tampa Tribune]
Lawyer Francisco Ramos Jr. is Working for Tips
When Francisco Ramos Jr. became a lawyer 14 years ago, some of the more experienced attorneys at his firm often spent time advising him and other young lawyers.
Now, they have Ramos as a virtual mentor.
The Miami attorney created a blog this year called "Tips for Young Lawyers." He posts daily essays targeting "young lawyers who are doing their best each day to confront and overcome the obstacles the practice puts in their way."
[Source: Florida Trend]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Giant Lego man washes up on Siesta Key beach
It's a publicity stunt, but whose stunt is it?
Washed ashore on Siesta Key Beach Tuesday morning was an 8-foot-tall Lego man, his shirt emblazoned with an enigmatic and grammatically challenged message: "NO REAL THAN YOU ARE."
Jeff Hindman was walking the beach and first saw the 100-pound figure in the pre-dawn light. Thinking it was marine life, washed ashore overnight and left in the gentle ankle-deep surf, Hindman got closer and discovered the statue was made of fiberglass, like a boat hull.
He took a photo, then dragged the Lego man out of the water and stood it up.
› Goodbye Goofy, hello Simba: Disney parking lot gets makeover
The phrase "I'm parked way out in Goofy" is headed for the same extinction as "E-ticket rides" at Walt Disney World.
The theme park has renamed the sections in its 12,000-space parking lot at the Magic Kingdom. The aisles have been renamed for Disney heroes and villains in a nod to more current Disney characters.
In are Woody, Aladdin, Simba, Hook, Scar, Zurg and a half dozen other goodies and baddies. They have replaced sections named for classic Disney characters and the seven dwarfs of Snow White fame.
› WiFi hotspots spread across South Florida
Cell phone carriers are racing to build WiFi hotspots across South Florida, allowing customers to access the Web from coffee houses, airports, shopping malls and other public spots. That means you can more easily find places to surf the Internet or check email wirelessly without using up your data plan.
› Canceled Heat games hurt South Florida businesses
The National Basketball Association dispute that has canceled games at least through Nov. 14 is taking a toll on South Florida businesses that rely on the Miami Heat for sales.
Companies from T-shirt printers to ticket sellers, sports bars to limo providers are seeing Heat-related sales shrink, with no inkling of when the losses might end and Heat games resume.
» Related: NBA to cancel another two weeks of season
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› 19 health centers get extra federal $
Nineteen of Florida's community health centers will receive a boost in federal dollars over three years to speed up Medicare patients' access to primary care.
Officials hope that quick appointments will keep patients from resorting to hospital emergency rooms, and thus save money while improving the quality of care.
› Water management district to shed up to 150 employees
The state agency that oversees water supplies in the 16 counties around Tampa Bay will shed 130 to 150 of its 768 employees by early next year, its board decided Tuesday.
Employees of the Southwest Florida Water Management District will be offered a voluntary separation plan that will be available for 45 days. If that doesn't work, then involuntary layoffs will follow in January or February, officials at the agency commonly known as Swiftmud announced.
› PETA says SeaWorld is engaging in 'slavery' with whales
The animal-rights group PETA is expected to file a federal lawsuit in California this week alleging that SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is violating the U.S. Constitution's ban on slavery by keeping five wild-caught killer whales at marine parks in Orlando and San Diego.
"The 13th Amendment prohibits slavery, and these orcas are, by definition, slaves," PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk said in a prepared statement issued by PETA.
SeaWorld called the claim "baseless and, in many ways, offensive.
› Medicare open enrollment brings out scam artists
Consumer complaints are already surfacing about con artists using the open enrollment period for Medicare health care plans, which began about a week ago, to scam seniors our of their money or steal their identities.
Several South Florida seniors said they have received telephone calls from individuals claiming to be from Medicare, who then asked them for their bank account information — something legitimate Medicare representatives never do.
State and federal officials said the cases highlight the need for seniors to be on their guard.
› Snooki from 'Jersey Shore' brings her "guidette" lifestyle to HSN
Nicole Polizzi, the "guidette" known as Snooki on the MTV reality series Jersey Shore, is headed to HSN. In contrast with A&F, which offered to pay one of her cheeky male co-stars to stop wearing its preppy apparel, the St. Petersburg TV shopping network hopes to draw young viewers eager to buy a line of Snooki-inspired handbags, slippers, oversized sunglasses, animal-print totes, perfume and a version of her stuffed "Crocodilly."
› Auditors have few quibbles with Amway Center
After two years of scrutiny, Orange County auditors on Tuesday gave the Orlando Magic and Orlando a largely glowing grade for the construction of the Amway Center arena.
The audit from County Comptroller Martha Haynie's office is mostly free of criticism of the handling of the $487 million construction project. Orlando owns the building, but the team was the developer.