May
23, 2001 The
Spoilers - Florida Trend, "These Floridians generate more than their share of
heat in pushing their causes. Call them Lightning Rods.
Spoilers. Polarizers. Who are the Floridians, Florida
Trend asked, whose participation in business-related
issues stirs up the most heat? Too persuasive, too skilled
or too effective to be dismissed as cranks, they bring
uncommon passion and uncommon personality to the issues in
which they engage. In some cases, they’re people
business loves to hate. In other cases, they’re
businesspeople. What drives them, and why do those on the
other side of an issue (and many on the same side) react
so strongly to them? ..."
May
05, 2001 - Many
sentencing options in Fla. case - NBC's
Kerry Sanders reports on the trial of Nathaniel
Brazill. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., - While a Florida
jury has convicted a 14-year-old boy as an adult for
the very grown-up crime of murder, it’s not clear he
will be sentenced automatically to 25 years in prison.
In the case of Nathaniel Brazill, convicted on
Wednesday of second-degree murder for killing teacher
Barry Grunow, the judge can pass a sentence that
weighs the boy’s age and maturity against the
gravity of the crime. Sentencing is scheduled for June
29...
May
03, 2001 - Fellow
Libertarians and Friends of Liberty, Our regular monthly
meeting, will be Thursday, May 3, at the Golden Corral
Restaurant on 414 Mary Esther Cutoff in Mary Esther (in
front of Home
Depot). The room will be available at 6pm for dinner,
with the meeting starting at approximately 7pm...
May
06, 2001 - Civic
Center falls further into the red,
Declining sports attendance, concession sales eat profits
-
Amie
K. Streater @PensacolaNewsJournal.com,
"The Pensacola Ice Pilots' continual losses may be
painful to fans, but they are excruciating to the
financial well-being of the Pensacola Civic Center. The
Escambia County-owned arena is projected to lose money for
the fourth year in a row, which facility managers
attribute to a constant decline in the number of hockey
fans who show up for games..."
May
05, 2001 - Predictable Scare Tactics...
- "I supported Bill Readdy because he opposed
building a conference center with public funds. I still
agree with him that the whole county should get to vote on
this issue. I also agree that our commissioners should
work with the state legislature to allow the use of
tourist tax dollars to improve the infrastructure. But he
is naive to advocate preserving the current TDC as a way
to achieve these goals..."
May
04, 2001 - This
battle about the Conference Center now has very little to
do with any kind of truth... - This has been a
long, hard pull. I believe that we’ll win the
referendum, but we must do so in convincing fashion
since they secretly changed the law by which we
oppose. I don’t want their “spin” on taxes and
jobs to “scare” up a victory in the last moments,
and they’ll try to do that..." - Gaylan King
REVISITED
- CITIES IN DENIAL: THE FALSE PROMISE OF
SUBSIDIZED TOURIST AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEXES - "Mounting
evidence from dozens of cities that rely on costly
tourist-related infrastructure projects such as
convention centers, stadiums, arenas, concert halls,
and museums demonstrates that such projects contribute
little to a community's economic vitality. Worse, they
divert desperately needed financial resources from
such basic government services as public safety,
education, and transportation..."
REVISITED
- The
Other "Welfare Queens" -
"A long time ago a few businessmen decided they
were tired of playing fairly in the arena of the
United States' capitalist market, so they figured the
best way to beat their competition was not to produce
a better or cheaper product, but to have the
government help them out. With this in mind, corporate
welfare was born..."
REVISITED
- Tourism - a
Taxing Issue -
"The danger of relying on travelers to sustain tourism, of course, is that the
numbers do fluctuate, and the condition of the overall economy affects tourism perhaps
more than other industries because it involves discretionary spending. And a state could
end up in a "Catch-22" situation: less money to spend on promotions, fewer
travelers are lured to vacation sites, resulting in less money to spend on promotions..."
REVISITED
- The
Newjerseyization of the Emerald Coast - Revisited
"Lawsuits, possible loss of renourishment funds put
pressure on N.C.'s seawall ban. It's called
Newjerseyization, and it's spreading. The label was coined
by coastal geologists to describe what happened to the
beaches in the Garden State. They washed away in front of
walls built years ago to protect beachfront property. In
Virginia, Sandbridge no longer has a beach even at low
tide. Bulkheads built by residents for more than $38,000
each have fallen into the water at least twice since
1988..."
REVISITED
August
1999 - Dune
Destruction - "Are State, County and
Destin City officials turning their backs on our Dunes
and natural resources while developers destroy beaches
and dunes?"
March
24, 2001 - A
Vision of Today and Tomorrow - Florida’s High Tech
Corridor is
seen from the night sky as a sparkling band of light
spanning the state’s central area from the Gulf of
Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. It begins on the Tampa
Bay beaches of Florida’s West Coast, shines through
Greater Orlando and the surrounding counties, and
reaches the ocean via Daytona Beach and the launching
pads of the Space Coast. This area is home to more
than 5,200 new and emerging high-tech companies and
the partnership dedicated to helping them succeed: the
Florida High Tech Corridor Council...
REVISITED
November
2000 - FOLLOW
THE MONEY TRAIL! -
Click
here to see selected campaign reports for Okaloosa
County Commissioner candidates 2000...
REVISITED
March
1996 -
Selling Florida Short
- "... what really got my attention was a series of
ads targeting winter-weary New Yorkers. First came a
spot for the Bahamas showing a beautiful girl on a white
beach. Then came one for the Barbados showing a
beautiful girl on a white beach. And finally came one
for Florida, and guess what? It, too, showed a beautiful
girl on a beach..."
REVISITED
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF
CONVENTION AND CONFERENCE CENTERS -
"In many communities throughout North America
today, development or expansion of a meeting facility is
being considered as a means of creating positive
economic impacts to achieve the economic development
goal... But what if they don't come?"
REVISITED
If We Build It, Will They Come?
- Any major public investment project carries with it
both costs and benefits. The costs are commonly clear
and obvious in the short term, the benefits are distant
and uncertain, the risks less well known. That is
particularly the case with a major convention center,
especially today...
REVISITED
Special Series: "When Pigs Fly"
is a collection of articles and reports on the facts,
problems and issues other communities are having with
their current or planned Conference/Convention Centers.
This includes detailed reports on how communities are
trying to stimulate, maintain or revitalize their
economies through tourism related attractions, museums,
sports centers and other related ventures. To
quote Dr. Ronald D. Utt (Federal Budgetary Affairs at
The Heritage Foundation):
"Mounting evidence from dozens of cities that rely on
costly tourist-related infrastructure projects such as convention centers, stadiums,
arenas, concert halls, and museums demonstrates that such projects contribute little to a
community's economic vitality. Worse, they divert desperately needed financial resources
from such basic government services as public safety, education, and
transportation..."
This ongoing series is intended to offer the communities of greater
Okaloosa County with the truth behind what really goes on in the planning and development
of such projects, and the often dire results and consequences to the communities
involved... - Carl Bergmann 08-09-99
REVISITED
Okaloosa County
Drinking Water - An Environmental Profile - Congress
enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974 to ensure that
every water supplier provides drinking water that meets
minimum health-based safety standards, which are set by
EPA. EPA has set health-based limits for over 80
contaminants that may be found in drinking water. These
contaminants include metals (e.g., lead), fertilizers
(e.g., nitrates/nitrites), pesticides (such as atrazine),
and micro-organisms (such as coliforms)...
REVISITED
Where would we put a conference center?
- "The LMI study, which was used to convince most of
our commissioners to back this project, doesn’t mention
any specific location, but talk mentions property on
Okaloosa Island north of highway 98 as the planned
location. Problem is, that location sits smack in
top of the 100 year flood plain..."
REVISITED
Florida Statute 125.0104
- Tourist development tax; procedure for levying;
authorized uses; referendum; enforcement...
