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| Big ideas, but little action by Florida Legislature
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| Faced with historical pressures exacerbated by a fractured economy and an evolving new world order of energy, Florida's Legislature finished two months of work with bandages and prayers for a better future. One sign was a dramatic drop in the number of bills that lawmakers passed -- 238 as of May 1. That is the lowest number in more than a decade and less than half as many as recent years.
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| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0201 EDST
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| Florida offshore drilling gets push
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| Stunning environmentalists and seeking to bypass years of controversy, House lawmakers abruptly approved a bill Tuesday that would end the moratorium on offshore drilling and let the governor and the three members of the Cabinet decide as soon as next year if drilling could occur as near as three miles from Florida's beaches. While offshore oil drilling is accepted in other states along the Gulf of Mexico, Florida has long resisted the industry by barring any drilling in the roughly 10 miles from shore that the state controls.
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| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0315 EDST
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| Options for being upside down on your mortgage
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| Lee County residents in increasing numbers are finding themselves on the horns of a financial dilemma. With their homes worth less than their mortgages, should they continue making their monthly payments or ditch the house and start over? It's a problem faced by a lot of people: Zillow.com reported recently 32.2 percent of homeowners in Cape Coral-Fort Myers were upside down in their homes at the end of 2008.
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| @ Ft. Myers News Press | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0320 EDST
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| Tampa Bay area's jobless rate dwarfed by those of other U.S. metros
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| The Tampa Bay area may be in the dumps about its unemployment rate of 10.4 percent, but take heart. The bay area has plenty of company in the double-digit jobless territory. Out of 372 metro areas, 109 have unemployment rates of 10 percent or higher. A year ago, there were only 14 communities in that stratosphere.
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| @ St. Petersburg Times | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0330 EDST
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| Florida proponents predict bright future for solar energy
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| Thousands recently turned out in Indiantown in Martin County to apply for the 1,100 jobs that will be needed to build a 75-megawatt solar-thermal FPL plant there. The plant will use solar energy to produce steam used to provide energy for about 26,000 homes. FPL also has broken ground on the DeSoto Next Generation Energy Center in Arcadia. The 25-megawatt solar panel farm will provide enough energy to supply 3,000 homes or nearly 20 percent of DeSoto County’s population, according to FPL. The plant will prevent the emission of more than 575,000 tons of greenhouse gases over 30 years — the equivalent of removing 4,500 cars from the road each year. FPL also will soon break ground on a 10-megawatt solar facility at Kennedy Space Center that is capable of serving about 2,600 homes.
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| @ Bradenton Herald | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0400 EDST
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| Home builder undertakes CEO sleep-in to boost sales
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| Wieland, 72, heads John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, a large Atlanta-based building company that, like most others in this country, has seen its sales plunge in the past couple of years. On March 6 he began his "Get Housing Moving" sale, visiting the 56 subdivisions under development by his company in four states. Tooling along in a lime-green Winnebago re-christened the "Wiebago," he vowed to sleep on a twin mattress dropped on the floors of the firm's finished but unfurnished and unsold homes every night until 101 houses were under contract.
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| @ Chicago Tribune | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0345 EDST
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| U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Rises to 65.1
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| Confidence among U.S. consumers rose more than forecast in April to its highest level since before the collapse of credit late last year unleashed a financial panic that sent the economy into a freefall. The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment rose to 65.1 from 57.3 in March, the biggest gain in more than two years. The index reached a three-decade low of 55.3 in November.
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| @ Bloomberg News | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0415 EDST
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| The decline in the manufacturing sector continues to moderate
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| After six consecutive months below the 40-percent mark, the PMI, driven by the New Orders Index at 47.2 percent, shows a significant improvement.
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| @ Institure of Supply Management | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0419 EDST
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| U.S. Home Prices May Be Lost for a Generation
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| There’s the reality that the market is glutted with homes. A record 19 million homes stood empty at the end of 2008. Although we may not be headed for a 1930s-style Depression, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that boomers are dumping their four- and five-bedroom suburban homes for two- and three- bedroom condominiums. It’s also unlikely that the “Generation X,” born between 1965 and 1976 (or more derisively called “baby busters”), will bid up home prices. They are only 44 million strong, not as wealthy and even more in debt from college loans. The baby boomers are reorganizing their finances after a rocky decade in stocks. They aren’t buying as many second homes and vacation properties in warmer climates.
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| @ Bloomberg News | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0646 EDST
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| UK recession pace to slow
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| The UK has a better chance of quicker recovery than those Eurozone economies where deflationary expectations are taking hold, according to BDO Stoy Hayward, a professional services firm. It reported modest growth in an “optimism” index measuring medium term business confidence, which rose from 89.9 in January to 91.2 in April. It also reported that deflationary expectations in Britain have receded. Its index measuring expected inflationary pressures over the next three months rose from 86.6 in January to 91.5 in April.
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| @ Financial Times - UK | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0652 EDST
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| Conditions right for Canadian economic recovery later in year
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| Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says the elements are in place for an economic recovery to begin later this year, and develop in "full force" in 2010. He said he is encouraged by some recent key economic indicators, such as an upturn in consumer and business confidence; a stabilized real estate market; and drawdowns in business inventories, which the governor added are happening "quickly" in Canada.
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| @ Financial Post - CA | Posted: 05/04/09 at 0655 EDST
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