MELBOURNE --
» Harris Corp. (NYSE-HRS) says new technology it developed for the Census Bureau will make the 2010 Census more accurate than any in the past by providing field workers with hand-held computing devices that connect to a database and eliminate the need for paper records.
» Mercedes Homes has completed construction of its new corporate headquarters in Suntree.
ORLANDO --
» City leaders have unveiled plans for a new Orlando Fire Department headquarters at the former site of the Lynx bus station downtown. The city hopes to sell development rights above the complex.
» Nemours has filed a third certificate of need application to build a children's specialty hospital in Orlando. The state rejected its first two attempts. Local support for the hospital has been growing.
» The Tavistock Group, which owns the Isleworth and Lake Nona golf and country clubs, is purchasing International Corporate Park near the University of Central Florida.
» Baker Barrios Architects has unveiled design plans for Luxparque, a 31-unit condominium project downtown that will contain the area's first automated parking garage. An elevator will lift vehicles into spaces.
» MCZ/Centrum has completed a $1.2-million, six-month renovation project at Mirabella, converting a 304-unit gated rental community into luxury condominiums.
» Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau will undergo its first public audit in 10 years starting this fall. Orange County Comptroller Martha Haynie will conduct the audit.
» University of Central Florida Technology Incubator client OptiGrate has received a $600,000 phase two Small Business Innovation Research Grant to develop optical components for NASA. Also at the technology incubator,?Advanced Power Electronics Corp. has received two $100,000 Small Business Innovation Research grants to develop highly efficient power sources for the Navy and NASA.
» Three University of Central Florida civil engineering professors have been inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame for helping develop emulsified zero-valent iron along with NASA scientists at Kennedy Space Center. They are Christian Clausen, Cherie Geiger and Debra Reinhart.
» Lynx announced that it is expanding its nighttime bus service to help transport employees of Walt Disney World, which presented a $220,000 check to the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority to match grant funds awarded by a work commuter program.