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Staff ReportsMarch 24, 2017

Florida’s unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent in February. This marks the second month in a row the state’s unemployment rate has been at 5 percent, and mirrors the unemployment rate the state experienced in the first two months of 2016, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The state added 239,800 jobs […]

Associated PressMarch 24, 2017

It takes a lot of land to accommodate Cinderella’s castle, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Epcot’s 11-country World Showcase — and a hefty purse to pay the property taxes on it. To cut tax bills in the tens of millions of dollars, the specialists at Orlando’s famous theme parks have employed methods from […]

Scott PowersMarch 23, 2017

In January, when she took office, new Denver District Attorney Beth McCann reaffirmed her campaign promise on an extraordinary policy: There would be no death penalty cases in her district under her watch. The reaction? Virtually nothing. No expressions of shock or outrage from other politicians, no calls for cases to be stripped from her, […]

Scott PowersMarch 13, 2017

The U.S. Department of Justice is awarding an $8.5 million grant to help the victims of last June’s massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub. The grant, to be awarded Tuesday by the Department of Justice to the Florida Office of Attorney General Pam Bondi, was announced Monday by the office of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of […]

Scott PowersMarch 7, 2017

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio lost leases on his offices in Tampa and Jacksonville in part because of landlord’s impatience with the incessant barrage of protests out front. Is Orlando next? The plaza in front of the downtown Orlando office building housing Rubio’s Central Florida office was the site of another protest Tuesday, as it has […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterMarch 7, 2017

Advocates blasted Gov. Rick Scott for failing to mention the LGBT community in his State of the State address, despite dedicating a significant portion of his comments on the June shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. “We heard about the horror that our state has experienced; we heard about the heroism from first responders […]

Scott PowersMarch 1, 2017

As state Rep. Amy Mercado declares, Florida’s now-annual black bear hunt has become a “slaughter.” Mercado and fellow Orlando Democratic state Sen. Linda Stewart laid out bills Wednesday to ban the hunts for 10 years, as well as steps to keep bears happy enough in the forests and stop raiding neighborhoods. “The bears, we’ve encroached […]

Scott PowersFebruary 22, 2017

Brightline railroad supporters and Treasure Coast counties opposing the higher-speed train planned from Orlando to Miami debated their cases Wednesday before a Florida House committee, showing the high stakes of their fight. Officials from the train company, and two other train companies, were joined by officials of one of the counties, Indian River for a panel […]

Scott PowersFebruary 21, 2017

Driving like Arnold Palmer may soon take on a new meaning in Orlando. The Senate Transportation Committee approved a bill Tuesday to rename about four miles of State Road 408 as the “Arnold Palmer Expressway,” honoring the legendary golfer and longtime Orlando snowbird resident who died last September. “As you know Arnold Palmer was not […]

Scott PowersFebruary 21, 2017

With a rapid increase of pedicabs that apparently now include many that are currently unregulated, Orange County officials laid out a proposed ordinance Tuesday to require permits, insurance, inspections, and enforcement along International Drive. The ordinance is largely supported by a handful of pedicab companies that already are operating under a separate set of rules […]

Tag: Orlando

Florida’s unemployment rate holds steady at 5%

Mickey vs. the tax man: Disney, Universal fight tax bills

If Aramis Ayala had been in Denver, people might have shrugged

Federal grant to provide $8.5 million to help Pulse victims

Protests at Marco Rubio’s office say focus is on access, not booting him

Rick Scott criticized for not mentioning LGBT community in State of State

Linda Stewart, Amy Mercado introduce bills to protect bears, their food and habitat

Brightline, Indian River County duke it out before House panel

‘Arnold Palmer Expressway’ designation gets committee nod

Orange County moving forward on I-Drive pedicab regulation