FLORIDA: Florida’s court clerks are leading the nation in making electronic state court records available to the public online. But in the process, they’re creating two-tiers of public viewers with varying privileges based on how much information users are willing to provide about themselves. Any member of the public will be able to look up…
Irving Friedman, an 89-year-old disabled World War II Navy veteran and recovering heart patient was in a panic after Florida Power & Light said in a letter that it would cut off his power Thursday. Friedman, of Port St. Lucie, like 82 other FPL customers, had declined a change-out from an analog meter to a…
PORT ST. LUCIE — The city has put an end to the handsome cash handouts that have buried the municipality deep in debt. The City Council on Monday unanimously restricted borrowing through what’s known as covenant to budget and appropriate bonds. They are bonds for a specific purpose, and have specific guidelines for payback, but…
INVERNESS — Merriam-Webster defines blight as something that spoils the appearance or completeness of a thing. Urban blight is an area in a “damaged or worsened condition,” according to the dictionary. Then there is the Inverness City Council’s definition of blight, as spelled out in a resolution passed this week: A condition detrimental to the…
Some members of Live Oak’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) are calling for an expansion of the roughly 1,000-acre CRA district to include more areas in need of development. CRA member and city Councilman John Yulee brought up the possibility of expansion during a workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 18, stating he would like to expand the…
Like parents who fret when they hand the car keys to their teenage children, county governments are understandably loathe to let go when they approve Community Redevelopment Areas for municipalities. Given the amount of money involved, it’s appropriate for counties to ensure the CRAs are effectively targeted and properly managed. But they shouldn’t become back-seat…
SEBRING — Downtown Lake Placid is almost full. Only two buildings on Interlake Boulevard and two on Main Street are empty. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Eileen May is almost satisfied. What else would she like to see? “Live music outside, at night. A sidewalk café. A place to have wine, dinner,” May said. “I…
Empty homes. Lots overgrown with grass and weeds. A discarded mattress or old couch. Tires and bags of trash abandoned on street corners. Blight can pop up anywhere, and its effects on a neighborhood can be crippling, from degrading an area’s image to dragging down property values on surrounding occupied homes. While efforts to clean…
LAKELAND | The Lakeland Area Mass Transit District said it can no longer bear to lose tax revenue to city and county redevelopment districts and has asked for a break. In the aftermath of voters’ rejection of the My Ride/My Road one-cent sales tax in November, transit services face major cuts. “We’re looking at layoffs,…
SARASOTA – Developer Christopher J. Brown said Thursday he has no immediate plans to build on a Main Street site he recently acquired where a 15-story condominium tower was proposed a decade ago. Brown bought the 0.3-acre property, near the corner of Main Street and Pine Place, for $1 million from Kansas City Life Insurance Co.…
PANAMA CITY — Panama City Downtown Improvement Board has laid out a plan to pay off its debt. The DIB will pay $20,000 using the $55,000 loan granted from the city in March and then pay $5,000 each proceeding month, eventually out of DIB funds. Chairman Jim Hayden said they are hoping to have the…
SEBRING — A majority of Sebring City Council members say they like the $2.5 million offer to buy Harder Hall, although it would leave the city with about $900,000 in debt. The city council is expected to vote tonight on whether to approve a purchase agreement with South Florida Senior Living, Limited Partnership. The purchaser plans…
