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Local
News and Politics...
- Sunday, March 02, 2008
February 12 2005 -
Local Libertarian Dean Crumly dies at 52 -
By LEE FORST Daily News Staff Writer, Dean Crumly, a founding member of
Okaloosa County’s Libertarian Party and bane to local officials, died
this past weekend at the age of 52. Family members found Crumly dead in
his home in Shalimar on the afternoon of Feb. 12. They told Okaloosa
County sheriff ’s deputies that he had been ill for a long time.
Government spending was Crumly’s biggest beef. He saw little difference
between Democrats and Republicans and pulled no punches to make his
arguments...
December 2004 -
Shell Shock - DECEMBER 2004 ISSUE, Florida Trend
(registration Required), Palm Beach County’s environmental politics have
made the proposed site of the Scripps Research Institute’s Florida home
a battleground in Florida’s war over growth. By Mike Vogel, Perhaps
no economic development project in the state’s history promised as much
— and has received as much special handling — as the creation of a
Florida campus of the renowned Scripps Research Institute. Sixteen
months ago, Gov. Jeb Bush personally launched an initiative to lure
Scripps here to open a major research center. He code-named his effort
“Operation Air Conditioning” because he believes its impact will be as
important to Florida as that invention. With help from elected
officials, university leaders, economic development groups and big
incentive money, Bush quietly sold California-based Scripps on
Florida...
November 2004 -
Military Hit - Northwest Florida - Base repairs will run into
the hundreds of millions of dollars. By Charlotte Crane, Florida Trend,
November Issue (registration required), Northwest Florida twice
dodged a bullet in this year’s record-breaking Florida storm season, but
its luck ran out with Ivan. The hurricane slammed the Panhandle,
devastating its westernmost counties, Escambia and Santa Rosa...
September, 2004 -
Manufacturing: Made in Florida -
Florida Trend, October 2004 issue
(registration required), Florida’s
manufacturers toil in the shadow of the
rest of the state’s economy but still
employ more workers than 37 other states,
including factory-rich Missouri,
Connecticut and Massachusetts. By Mike
Vogel, Shoemaker Howard Shaffer
apologizes for the condition of his
factory offices in Pompano Beach. “This
has been chaos,” he says. Scores of
fashionable men’s shoes lie by the stairs
as if a hundred senior executives had
dropped in for a sock hop. Shoes are
everywhere, along with leather samples and
plastic lasts. Shelves in Shaffer’s office
hold still more shoes, of the finest
American and Italian brands, some chopped
in half to see how they were made...
April 2004 -
Northwest Florida, Getting a Handle on Growth - Florida Trend
(registration required), APRIL 2004 ISSUE, By Charlotte Crane,
Growth is the catchword in northwest Florida — how to attract the right
kind and how to keep up with it, says Al Wenstrand, executive director
of Florida’s Great Northwest, a 16-county economic development force.
The region’s biggest growth catalysts are St. Joe Co. developments,
military-defense spending, tourism and an influx of retirees. Tourism
growth in particular has sharply outpaced state and national gains —
with numbers for every county from Escambia through Walton up by more
than 10% last year, says Ellis Bullock III, president of Pensacola ad
agency E.W. Bullock Associates. Meanwhile, new communities are beginning
to push inland. “You’re seeing huge residential developments planned for
Freeport — the first we’ve seen off the coast,” says Tom Powell,
executive director of the Walton County Economic Development Council...
October, 2004 -
Damage Control Report - Florida Trend, October 2004 issue
(registration required), The state’s insurance system withstood this
summer’s tag-team hurricanes, but big challenges remain. Amy Welch
Brill, Mark Howard and Mike Vogel contributed to this report, This
summer’s gang of hurricanes may not change Florida’s insurance landscape
as radically as Andrew did in 1992. But the storms left the insurance
infrastructure wobbly, highlighting its weak points and the long-term
challenges to maintaining a viable insurance market in Florida...
August 2004 -
Environment: Uncertain Legacy -
Florida Trends, Cover Story 2004, The
state faces tough choices as it tries to
get the most for its land conservation
dollars. By Cynthia Barnett
Four decades of land conservation
1964: Inspired by new federal matching funds and pressing
population growth, the Legislature creates the state’s first
land-acquisition program. The $20-million Outdoor Recreation and
Conservation program is funded by a 5% tax on recreational items
dubbed the “bathing suit tax.” In 1968, lawmakers replaced that
funding source with the documentary stamp tax.
1972: Gov. Reubin Askew champions and the Legislature passes
Florida’s Land Conservation Act, and in November, voters approve $240
million in bonds to fund it. The Environmentally Endangered Lands
(EEL) bond program acquired 363,382 acres, including Big Cypress
National Preserve, Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area and Paynes
Prairie State Preserve.
1979: The Legislature creates the Conservation and Recreational
Lands (CARL) program, which carries on the earlier programs and is
later bolstered by the Save Our Coast and Save Our Rivers initiatives
launched by Gov. Bob Graham in 1981.
1990: Gov. Bob Martinez appoints a blue-ribbon panel on
Florida’s environment that reports the “single most effective way to
accomplish large-scale gains in our environmental well-being is to
substantially increase the level of funding for the state’s
land-acquisition programs.” The governor and Legislature respond by
passing the $3-billion initiative called Preservation 2000, increasing
the doc stamp tax to raise $300 million a year for a decade.
1998: The Florida Constitution Revision Commission proposes
nine amendments for the statewide ballot, including one to make
adequate protection of natural resources part of the constitution and
authorize revenue bonds for land acquisition. The proposal, which
unlike P-2000 is continuous, is approved by 72% of Florida’s voters.
1999: Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature respond by creating
Florida Forever, which authorizes bond issues of $3 billion over the
next 10 years for the acquisition of land and water.
Earlier this year, Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida
Cabinet approved an $18-million deal to save Cypress Gardens, the
down-on-its-luck, 1930s-vintage theme park near Winter Haven known for
its champion water-skiers, hoop-skirted Southern belles and lush
botanical gardens...
August 2004 -
Northwest Okaloosa County’s military-dominated economy is
booming with war contracts
- By Charlotte Crane, Florida Trends (registration
required), Two days after Sept. 11, 2001, Crestview Aerospace Corp.
in Okaloosa County received an urgent order from the Air Force Special
Operations Command to install missile-warning systems on one of its
AC-130 gunships. “It’s usually a 27-day install. We put that system on
in eight days, working 24/7. Now we’re putting new capabilities into the
hands of the war fighters every day,” says Rob Schmaltz, company
planning and development manager and a former Special Operations Command
test pilot.
The war on terrorism has boosted business for scores
of defense contractors in Okaloosa’s military-dominated economy, with
many providing services to the military’s special operations. “Our
business has doubled since 2001,” says Bill Grant, manager of Boeing’s
Special Operations Forces Aerospace Support Center in Fort Walton Beach,
which plans to add 70 workers to its 532-employee roster this year...
January 2004 -
Northwest Florida - Local
— Florida Trend, Gov. Jeb Bush has signed a plan to
protect 1,000 square miles of pristine land in the Florida Panhandle for
environmental and military purposes. The Northwest Florida Greenway will
stretch across 100 miles in six counties, along a flight path used by
military aircraft. It’s also a migration corridor for black bears and
home to rare species, including the bald eagle and red-cockaded
woodpecker...
February 12 2004 -
A Fractured Fairytale
- CNet, News.com, Disney, now embroiled in a board-room
squabble and takeover fight, was once considered a technology leader but
it has been a straggler in the digital era...
January 2004 -
Florida 2004 Industry Outlook,
Signs of Confidence - Florida Trends, January 2004 Issue, Florida continues to ride the
coattails of the national economy: The S&P 500 is on pace to post a
double-digit percentage gain. Employment nationwide grew by 286,000 from
August through October, marking the strongest three-month job growth
since late 2000. And the GDP scorched along at an 8%-plus annual rate of
growth in the third quarter of 2003...
July 28, 2002 -
On the
Beach, Gannett's Florida Media Examine Beach Erosion -
"Florida is trapped in a risky cycle of erosion," "building up beaches
and building on beaches. From April 2001 through April 2002, the state
Department of Environmental Protection has issued 266 permits for homes
and hotels on the state's sandy shores. More than half are along
critically eroded beaches which qualify for taxpayer money to pay for
new sand..."
SPECIAL LOCAL SECTION
(below)
SPECIAL
April, 1998 -
Counties get option to hike
tourist tax - By John
Ledbetter, Destin Log APRIL 1998
ARCHIVES, The House and
Senate passed bills amending the
local option tourist development
tax, leaving Okaloosa and Walton
counties free to assess a third,
even a fourth cent, on
short-term lodging... "We're
glad our elected officials, Rep.
Jerry Melvin, Sen. Charlie Clary
and Rep. Durell Peaden, went to
bat for us and have got this
legislation to the governor,"
said Jones...
SPECIAL
July 04, 2002 -
LINKING TOURISM, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND
CONCEPTS OF SUSTAINABILITY: SETTING THE STAGE
-
Stephen F. McCool,
The tourism and recreation industry is at a crossroads
in
its development. Now one of the world's largest
industries, it is increasingly confronted with
arguments
about its sustainability and compatibility with
environmental protection and community
development. Consideration of tourism, the
environment, and concepts of sustainability should
consider four key challenges:
(1) a better
understanding of how tourists value and use natural
environments
(2) enhancement of the communities dependent on
tourism as an industry
(3) identification of the social and
environmental impact of tourism; and
(4) implementation of systems to manage these
impacts...
SPECIAL
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..."
SPECIAL
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..."
SPECIAL
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..."
SPECIAL
2000 -
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..."
SPECIAL
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?"
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
studies on how other 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:
"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...
Florida Sex Offender Registry
-
The Florida Department of Law
Enforcement maintains a database of
about 13,000 sexual predators and
offenders. The site allows the user
to search by city, county, ZIP code
or the last name of the offender.
When available, photos of sex
offenders are posted. The site
provides name, inmate number, race,
physical description, crime
committed and victims of the
offender. The site also provides a
telephone number for the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement to
obtain further information...
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