79° M/CLEAR, -
Sunday, June 27, 2010, 8:30 pm
Rancor abounds in District 67 House race
by By JEREMY WALLACE H-T Political WriterQuestionable résumés, charges of political nepotism and residency issues have combined to make the Republican primary race for Florida House District 67 one of the wildest and most expensive in the state.
"It's been like this from the start of the campaign," said Greg Steube, an Army veteran and one of the three Republicans running in the Aug. 24 primary.
After a debate last week in Lakewood Ranch, Steube said with absentee voting starting in just five weeks, he expects the race only to get rougher.
"I did not think it was going to be this negative when I first got in," Steube said.
With no incumbent in the race because State Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton is term-limited out, the open seat has become a magnet for candidates looking to break into politics. In all, five candidates -- three Republicans, a Democrat and one independent -- are running to represent the sprawling district, which stretches from Riverview in Hillsborough County, picks up high-growth areas around Apollo Beach and Parrish and most of Manatee County east of U.S. 301, including Lakewood Ranch. It also includes a large part of Sarasota County, east of Interstate 75 and north of Clark Road.
The wide-open competition for the GOP primary has ratcheted up the intensity of the race, which in turn has the candidates, all political newcomers, on the defensive.
Almost as quickly as Steube, 32, got into the race for the district more than a year ago, his opponents began questioning his candidacy. They complain that he is only running because his father, Brad Steube, is the current sheriff in Manatee County and is pulling political strings for him.
"People are tired of nepotism and legacy politics," Bob McCann, a part-time emergency room doctor and lawyer who is one of two Republicans challenging Steube for the Republican nomination.
It's not just McCann accusing Steube of being a product of "machine-style" politics of Manatee County. Jeremiah Guccione, who helps run seven assisted-living facilities in Manatee County, has also criticized Steube. Earlier in the race, Guccione's campaign manager mockingly questioned if the Steubes sat around their kitchen table hashing out plans to complete their political takeover of Manatee County.
Steube acknowledges his family name has opened a lot of doors politically, helping him land endorsements from congressmen, state legislators and regional political stalwarts. But Steube said he has earned the support with his grasp of issues and public policy.
"It can open the door, but people aren't going to get behind your campaign if you don't have a message," said Steube, an attorney. "They are both just grasping at straws."
Meanwhile, McCann, who has a doctor of osteopathy degree, has been playing his own defense against charges he is inflating his résumé. McCann says in his campaign mailers and handouts that he was once a finalist for U.S. Surgeon General, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, and Assistant U.S. Secretary of Health. McCann said he applied for all three positions under President George W. Bush.
The Bush administration never publicly released a finalist list for any of the three positions and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the agency cannot confirm or deny whether McCann was a finalist for the positions.
McCann said his evidence is in letters from notable elected officials, including former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris and former White House adviser Karl Rove, that say they submitted his name for consideration for each of the positions at his request. McCann provided a letter from 2001 from HHS which thanks him for his application for surgeon general, but tells him the president has chosen someone else.
It reads like a form letter rejection. McCann, 52, insists it is not because of one key phrase: "Please be assured that you were given every consideration, and we were impressed with your background," in the March 22, 2002 letter signed by Regina B. Schofield, then the director of Office of the White House Liaison.
Since the other campaigns have been questioning his claims, McCann has put a copy of the letter on his campaign Web site.
McCann, who worked for a Sarasota weight-loss clinic last year, would have been the first doctor of osteopathy ever named surgeon general -- the nation's top public health advocate. The nation's 18 surgeon generals have all had doctors of medicine degrees.
McCann, a Navy veteran, said others connected to the Bush administration have also told him he was a finalist for the positions, though there is no independent documentation backing up the claim.
Guccione, 33, has also had to play defense in the race. Guccione, who was living in Sarasota before 2008, is defending himself against charges that he only moved into District 67 after he decided to run for the office.
Guccione admits politics did play a role in his moving, but it was not the only factor. Guccione said prior to going off to college, he lived in what is now District 67 for a decade. When he returned, he lived in Sarasota, though he commuted to Manatee County, where he helps run assisted-living facilities that his family owns.
"I've had my boots on the ground in this district longer than everyone else in the race," Guccione said.
Guccione does not complain about the tough charges being leveled in the campaign, saying they will help clarify the candidates and the issues.
Doing so will not come cheaply. The candidates have combined to raise $467,627 -- the most of any of Florida's 120 House districts.
The winner of the Aug. 24 primary election will face Democrat Z.J. Hafeez, an attorney, and Bradenton resident John Studebaker, an independent.
The winner receives a two-year term and an annual salary of just under $30,000.
Jeremy Wallace can be reached at 361-4966 or jeremy.wallace @heraldtribune.com. -
Sunday, June 13, 2010, 11:00 pm
Outrage at those in charge
by By ZAC ANDERSONPresident Barack Obama will find himself in the middle of a rebellion against BP and the federal government's handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response when he visits the oil-stained communities of the Florida Panhandle and Alabama today.
Local government leaders are clamoring to take greater control of the spill response and simply send BP the bill.
Fed up with the slow response and lack of oil-fighting resources in their region, county and city governments already have embarked on millions of dollars worth of unauthorized projects – from building large sand berms that protect beaches and sensitive waterways to renting floating barges that block passes – with no guarantee BP will foot the bill.
Community leaders complain that BP is rejecting many of the most expensive oil defense ideas.
Local officials want to bypass the "Unified Command," under which decisions must be approved by BP, the U.S. Coast Guard and state environmental regulators.
Pensacola leaders say their community is already suffering more than it should be because of a slow and understaffed response to the gushing oil well.
Tar balls are not being picked up quickly enough, they say, and officials do not believe there are enough skimming boats in the area. Oil has slipped past floating plastic booms into inland waters.
Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson IV said local leaders should be calling the shots.
"Thinking you can make all decisions from a single Unified Command is not practical," Robinson said. "There has to be some local flexibility."
Pensacola officials were outraged to learn that oil had rushed through two passes into Perdido and Pensacola bays last week, the first time oil had come into Florida's inland waters. They blamed BP and the Coast Guard for reacting too slowly and not keeping local officials informed.
"It was a huge disappointment," Robinson said. "You've got to be there every hour of the day, ready to act, but we were caught unprepared."
Robinson said it seems BP is pinching pennies and not bringing enough boats or personnel to Florida.
In Orange Beach, Ala., Mayor Tony Kennon said he cannot even get BP decision-makers on the phone.
"This whole thing is absolutely out of our control and it's extremely frustrating," Kennon said. "It's been a real poor performance so far."
After BP's plan to block Perdido Pass in Orange Beach with booms failed last week and oil gushed through, Kennon had city engineers press for a more sturdy defensive strategy with floating plastic pipes.
The plan had been denied by BP weeks earlier. The company finally agreed to pay for it once it become obvious the plastic booms were not working.
"With the brain trust they have working, why do the local guys, city employees, have to come up with these ideas?" Kennon said.
Yet other officials in the region said that while the relationship with BP and the Unified Command is a bad marriage, it would be worse to break it up.
"Most local governments in Florida do not have the staff and wherewithal to take over a task of this size and scope," said Santa Rosa County Commissioner Gordon Goodin. "It is monumental and we're not equipped to take it over. We need the proper federal and state help or we're doomed." -
Monday, April 19, 2010, 9:38 am
Ocala home littered with animals -- dead and live
by ASSOCIATED PRESSHundreds of dead animals have been found at an Ocala-area home.
An official at the Marion County Animal Center says 348 dead animals, mostly just skeletal remains, were found across the property, as well as in cages, in feed bags and in plastic bags stuffed in the owner's freezer. Another 375 animals were found alive but malnourished.
The live animals included 151 dogs and 156 birds as well as cattle, tortoises, cats, hamsters, sheep, horses, rabbits and lizards.
The 64-year-old owner of the property, who is licensed to sell exotic birds, was taken for a mental health evaluation and treatment after officials discovered the problem Thursday. He was living in a mobile home found littered with animal feces and human waste.
He's not yet been charged with any wrongdoing.
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Information from: Ocala Star-Banner, http://www.starbanner.com/ -
Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 11:15 pm
Golden Apple Dinner Theatre will not get city loan
by By ROBERT ECKHARThttp://shedit.ny.atl.publicus.com/apps/pbcsedit.dll/red#The owners of the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre did not get the $144,000 short-term loan they wanted to help stay afloat during a potentially disruptive construction project nearby.
But business leaders did agree Tuesday to help the theater and nearby shops and restaurants with parking and advertising as they prepare for nine months of construction that will cause road closures this summer in the downtown hub of Main Street, Palm Avenue and Five Points.
Theater owner Bob Turoff said two weeks ago that the 38-year-old Golden Apple was on the verge of closing, and that the construction project could push it out of business if he did not get a loan from the Downtown Improvement District.
The theater's current season runs through May, and Turoff did not schedule any shows for the summer as he waited for an answer.
Board members denied the loan, but promised to spotlight the theater in an upcoming series of public service announcements. The group is also helping him secure parking to make up for lost public spaces on Palm Avenue.
Spaces for evening shows at the Golden Apple are also available at Selby Library on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
Turoff said he left Tuesday's meeting "feeling positive."
"At least they understood we have a problem, and let's try to get it solved," he said.
And Turoff is putting the final touches on the theater's summer schedule, which will start in June with the Tony Award-winning hit "The Drowsy Chaperone." -
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 9:38 am
Gospel, blues artist Marva Wright dead at 62
by ASSOCIATED PRESSNew Orleans blues and gospel singer Marva Wright died Tuesday at age 62, her former manager said.
Adam Shipley confirmed that Wright died of complications from a stroke she suffered last year.
She sang traditional jazz and gospel standards but was better known for sultry, sometimes bawdy blues songs. Among her best known songs were "Heartbreakin' Woman" and "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean."
She released a series of albums on local and international record labels, and frequently performed in Europe and at blues festivals around the country. With her band, the BMWs, she drew large crowds for performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
As a child, Wright listened to her mother sing and play piano at church. Among her childhood memories were visits to Chicago, the adopted home of New Orleans gospel great Mahalia Jackson, who had grown up with Wright's mother.
"My mother would go to the national Baptist convention," Ms. Wright once said, according to an account in The Times-Picayune newspaper. "When it convened in Chicago, Mahalia would say, 'Girl, you don't need to get no hotel. Stay with me.' That's what my mother would do. I met Mahalia when I was 9 years old, but I never realized she was that popular until I got older."
But Wright didn't start singing professionally until she was almost 40, according to a biography on her Web site.
Wright was hospitalized last June after suffering a serious stroke following a gig at the CoCo Club on Bourbon Street. Relatives said then that she had just recovered from an earlier, less serious stroke.
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On the Net:
www.marvawright.com -
Sunday, January 10, 2010, 9:20 pm
Airbrushes and ammo at Thunder by the Bay
by Staff ReportDesigner Robert Harris calls it a "rolling history in airbrush work."
Gallery
The "Veteran Tribute Bike" was on hand at the annual Thunder by the Bay festival in downtown Sarasota on Sunday, flaunting its machine guns and fighter-jet cockpit sidecar. The motorcycle has been a work in progress for the past four years.
Harris, 66, takes memorabilia given to him by military veterans and incorporates it into the ammunition-covered Harley-Davidson.
"Now it's a tribute to veterans from all branches of the military, and all wars," he said of his creation.
The tribute bike, which is designed to raise awareness about veterans' issues, was featured on the final day of the 12th Thunder by the Bay festival, a motorcycle event that draws hundreds of riding enthusiasts statewide.
Since its inception, more than $725,000 has been raised from the festival to help Suncoast Charities, a nonprofit agency supporting local charities serving children with special needs such as Special Olympics, Loveland Center, Community Haven and Adult Center, The Florida Center, and United Cerebral Palsy. -
Tuesday, January 05, 2010, 12:13 pm
Florida GOP chair Greer to resign, sources say
by The Associated PressFlorida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer talks with reporters after receiving a vote of confidence from the executive committee of the Florida Republican Party in Tallahassee on Dec. 10, 2009. There had been calls for Greer's resignation because of his open support of Gov. Charlie Crist in a hot GOP primary for the U.S. Senate and controversies over spending by some party leaders. (ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE)Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer will announce his resignation Tuesday amid criticism the party has been wasting money and not raising as much as it should.
Greer will step down Feb. 20, more than three years after Gov. Charlie Crist hand-picked him to run the state GOP. In recent weeks, major party donors and other leaders have called for his resignation, citing questionable party spending, lackluster fundraising and division among party loyalists.
Crist defended Greer throughout the criticism and continued to praise him Tuesday.
"Under Chairman Greer's leadership we maintained a strong majority in Florida's congressional delegation and overwhelming majorities in the state House and Senate. Jim has long been a loyal servant to the Republican cause," Crist said in a statement. "Chairman Greer has and always will have my unwavering support."
Greer planned to tell the party's executive board about his decision during a 12:30 p.m. conference call.
"I call on Florida Republicans to unite behind our common values of less government and more personal freedom and sincerely hope that we can move forward together to ensure statewide Republican victories in 2010," Crist said.
Sen. Paula Dockery, a Republican candidate for governor who has criticized the way the party is being run, said she hopes Greer's resignation is just the first step in making the party more accountable with money.
"I don't think you can correct the problem until you address it fully and put it behind you," Dockery said. "I'd hate to see us just change the person and not just change the way business is done." -
Monday, January 04, 2010, 12:37 pm
More GOP lawmakers want to boot party boss
by ASSOCIATED PRESSFlorida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer talks with reporters after receiving a vote of confidence from the executive committee of the Florida Republican Party in Tallahassee, Fla. on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. There had been calls for Greer's resignation because of his open support of Gov. Charlie Crist in a hot GOP primary for the U.S. Senate and controversies over spending by some party leaders. (AP ARCHIVE / TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT / BILL COTTERELL)More top Republican officials want embattled state party chairman Jim Greer to resign.
Former House speakers Dan Webster and Tom Feeney were among several influential former lawmakers included in a letter Monday from former state Rep. Ron Richmond that urged Greer to quit.
The letter said long-standing momentum to build the Republican Party into the majority party in Florida over the years has deteriorated under Greer, whom they accused of wasteful spending of contributions intended for political purposes.
The letter said Greer's leadership has been tumultuous and created strife among the party faithful.
Republican Party leaders are meeting this weekend in Orlando and Greer's status might be addressed. -
Sunday, December 27, 2009, 4:20 pm
Bucs upset Saints in overtime, 20-17
by The Associated PressTampa Bay Buccaneers running back Cadillac Williams scores a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints in the second half of an NFL football game in New Orleans on Sunday. (AP)Carnell Williams had 129 yards rushing and Connor Barth kicked a 47-yard field goal in overtime, lifting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a stunning 20-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
New Orleans was heavily favored and could have wrapped up home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with a win, but instead dropped a second straight game at home after opening the season 13-0.
Williams had a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and Michael Spurlock's 77-yard punt return tied it, completing a comeback from 17 points down in the first half.
The Saints had a chance to win in the final seconds of regulation, but Garrett Hartley missed a 37-yard field goal. Tampa Bay (3-12) then won the coin toss to open overtime and scored soon after. -
Tuesday, December 08, 2009, 3:35 pm
Venice handles small sewage spill
by Staff reportVenice utilities workers had to clean up a sewage spill after a blocked line caused an overflow about 8:45 a.m. today.
The spill occurred at the southwest corner of Indian Avenue and Bahama Street, the city reported.
Sewage overflowed for about an hour as workers attempted to fix the problem caused by grease accumulation in the sewer. About 75 to 100 gallons of raw sewage leaked onto the ground, the city spokeswoman Pam Johnson said.
About 2 gallons flowed into a stormwater manhole. The sewage was vacuumed and the area treated with disinfectant.
Johnson said the incident underscored the importance of disposing of grease in the garbage and not in the sink, garbage disposal, or other sewage conveyance. -
Sunday, April 19, 2009, 1:18 pm
REVIEW: Sarasota Orchestra continues its winning streak
by By Richard StormIn “Dvorak: Lost in America,” the Sarasota Orchestra presented the second in its innovative series, “Journeys to Genius.” In this non-traditional format, Maestro Leif Bjaland and the orchestra’s musicians use a stimulating mix of images and sound to explore the sometimes surprising connections and influences which are to be found in acknowledged masterpieces of classical music.
A capacity audience, clearly not entirely those who attend the orchestra’s regular concerts, was delighted by the witty and resourceful script written and narrated by Maestro Bjaland with the help of Michael Redding, baritone, and the voiceovers of Aden Russell Leonard, Dirk Meyer, Bryan Torfeh and this writer. Obviously, considerable research had gone into the construction of the first part of the event, in which the historic 1892 celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America was used to illustrate this country’s new industrial might and the often-brash cultural tapestry created by both native and immigrant influences.
Bohemian composer Antonin Dvorak had been charged by his benefactor, Jeannette Thurber, with the task of creating an American school of musical composition. As if this were not daunting enough, Dvorak’s declared intent to include the themes of Negro music in the vocabulary of such a style came under immediate fire from the European-influenced musical establishment of the day, expressed by Amy Beach, George Chadwick and Edward MacDowell in no uncertain terms, as heard in the voiceover quotations.
Nonetheless, Dvorak pressed on, discovering and developing thematic elements which have come to be considered American, ingeniously illustrated with fragments of Negro spirituals, powerfully sung by Michael Redding and compared with their symphonic derivatives while archival film was projected on either side of the orchestra. Although many of the images were both fuzzy and small, they provided some intriguing glimpses of the surging energy of American popular culture during the time the composer was creating his iconic Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.”
As the performance of the complete symphony which followed proved, it seems likely that no one in attendance will ever hear it in the same way again. This rendition, powerful as it was, was not perfect. In addition, the projections which had been so useful earlier became distracting as the cameras panned restlessly around the orchestra, creating visual patterns sometimes at odds with the music. These are minor quibbles, however, detracting little from the huge success of this much-needed initiative to bring new life to classical music and new pleasure to a wider audience.
First published April 19, 2009. -
Monday, March 09, 2009, 6:42 pm
Asolo Repertory Theatre and Sarasota Ballet team up for new season
by Jay HandelmanWith the economy in turmoil and state and private grants and donations decreasing, the Asolo Repertory Theatre is aiming toward more fun evenings.
Budget cuts will mean two fewer shows and a two-week shorter season, but the theater is trying some ambitious productions, including a joint effort with the Sarasota Ballet.
“You want to be thinking, but not too much,” Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards told a Town Hall meeting Monday in announcing the new season lineup. “We don't want to go to a gloomy place.”
Toward that end, the season will open with the Tony Award-winning musical “Contact,” a dance piece that will feature dancers from the Sarasota Ballet, which shares space with the Asolo in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.
Two other musicals are on the schedule, as well. One is the two-character “The Last Five Years” by Jason Robert Brown, and the other is a relatively new musical about Ginger Rogers called “Dancing Backwards in High Heels” by Lynnette Barkley and Christopher McGovern.
The mainstage season also will feature the American premiere of “The Perfume Shop,” E.P. Dowdall's adaptation of the Hungarian romantic comedy “Parfumerie,” which was the basis for the films “You've Got Mail,” and “The Shop Around the Corner” and the musical “She Loves Me.”
Mark Twain stories provided the inspiration for James Still's “Searching for Eden: The Diaries of Adam and Eve,” which looks at relationships between men and woman at the beginning and today.
Willy Holtzman's “Hearts” is the story of the memories of Jewish American veterans of World War II, while Janece Shaffer's “Managing Maxine” is about finding love late in life. The show, which had its premiere in Atlanta, will be reset in Sarasota by the author.
The theater also will host a two-show new play festival and one more fully-staged show is still to be announced.
At the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, second-year students will be seen in Roberto Aquirre Sacasa's psychological thriller “The Mystery Plays”; Joe Penhall's “Blue/Orange,” about the politics of mental illness; Sophie Treadwell's 1928 expressionist play “Machinal”, about a woman who believes she can have it all; and “The Game of Love and Chance” by French playwright Pierre Marivaux. -
Friday, November 20, 2009, 10:28 pm
Home buyers have the power in Sarasota-Bradenton area
by By TOM BAYLESHere's something many Southwest Florida listing agents know but would rather not hear: Despite the uptick in the local real estate market, buyers remain in the driver's seat.
Sarasota-Bradenton was just ranked third nationally on a list of the regions where buyers have the most leverage by Zillow, the online home valuation service.
During September, buyers were able to seal their deals at a median of 7.8 percent below the final listing price, Zillow said. That equates to a savings of just under $20,000 -- in many cases from a price that has already been lowered.
Home buyers in Charlotte County-North Port fared nearly as well, coming in at No. 7 on the Zillow list of 156 markets. They were typically able to negotiate deals of nearly 7 percent off the final listing price, or about $11,500.
"People are becoming more accepting of the true market value of their homes," said Steve DuToit, an agent with Sarasota's Keller Williams and Associates. "The bottom line is if homes are priced correctly they will bring full price."
DuToit fears that buyers knowledgeable of Zillow's rankings will dig their heels in even when a home is listed properly and demand a five-digit decrease in price, stifling sales at a time when many are desperate because of a job loss or to avoid foreclosure.
He also has seen many instances that do not fit the Zillow model.
"I had three properties sell last week for full list price, or over list price, because they were properly priced for this market," DuToit said.
But Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach-based housing analyst, said many still believe their homes are worth a lot more, and that listing agents will put a home on the market at that desired price in hopes they can later persuade their clients to go lower.
"You could make a case that real estate agents are still listing properties at too-high prices for what the market is bearing," McCabe said. "Even with all the stories they've read in the media, people are still way off on what their homes are worth."
Nationally, buyers negotiated a median that was 2.9 percent off the final listing price, down a bit from 3 percent in August, Zillow reported.
Nearly 23 percent of homes on the market had a price cut as of the end of September, and the median trim in pricing by sellers was 6.5 percent.
'More to choose from'
Buyers' negotiating power has been formidable for some time.
Southwest Florida has been ranked in Zillow's top 10 markets for buyers for the last several months -- yet another sign of a market that went haywire from 2002 to 2006.
On the other end of the spectrum were places like California, hit heavily by the housing downturn and having especially high rates of foreclosure.
In Stockton, Calif., for example, buyers paid about $4,500 more than the asking price. In Las Vegas, buyers paid nearly $1,000 over list.
"While both California and Florida were among the states hardest hit by foreclosures, California is definitely seeing tighter inventory of for-sale homes and, consequently, more price competition," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist. "Most Florida metros are still buyers' markets."
In Florida markets there are from 12 to 30 homes listed on Zillow for each home sold, while California markets are seeing from about 2 to 10 listings.
"That means buyers in Florida have more to choose from, and there's less upward pricing pressure," Humphries said. "Competition for homes is heating up in California, thus exerting more upward pressure on prices."
New foreclosures
Home prices in the Sarasota-Bradenton market rose about 5 percent to $161,500 from the second to third quarter, the Florida Association of Realtors reported.
Sales were roughly the same at about 2,300.
Realtors blame that on a lack of supply, mainly among homes priced under $300,000 -- a segment that had been flush with distressed properties but was cherry picked by investors and first-time homebuyers taking advantage of the government's $8,000 tax credit.
The number of foreclosures has been ebbing in this region, but many observers believe that is just a respite before a second wave of foreclosures.
The edge of that wave might be here now, says Chip Waterman of Hunt Realty ERA in Sarasota, a bank-owned property sales specialist for 28 years.
"I received 25 listings in the last 24 hours and that's a good indication that we are coming into this new wave," Waterman said earlier this week.
Financial institutions are holding on to distressed properties that they have not put on the market yet because they are not certain of a sale. Estimates from a number of sources suggest that thousands of new foreclosures will dump into the Southwest Florida housing market during the next two years.
"Whatever we may have gained from the lack of supply -- it created a surge in buying energy -- I honestly believe we are going to see pricing drop at least another 10 percent," Waterman said. "Hold on to your seatbelts."
'A buyer's market'
Until that happens, the good news may continue.
In an analysis commissioned by the Herald-Tribune, Zillow reported that the rate of decline in home values in markets from Bradenton to Punta Gorda has slowed to the point where it is statistically flat, backing up assertions by some that regional prices have bottomed.
Though he is skeptical of a bottom, Humphries, Zillow's chief economist, acknowledges that the impact of the new foreclosure wave might be ameliorated by Congress' decision to not only extend the popular homebuyer tax credit into the spring but to expand it to include a $6,500 credit for existing home buyers purchasing a different primary residence.
Thomas Coppola, a Realtor who specializes in properties on Siesta Key, does not concede the Zillow scenario.
Coppola expects buying activity to steadily increase. He points to low prices, low interest rates, the extended tax credit and new inventory coming in all at the same time.
"The combination of all these things will create a buyer's market," Coppola said. "I think buyers are going to have quite a few months ahead of them and they will be buying heavy." -
Monday, November 16, 2009, 3:42 pm
Denise Lee's husband supports 911 training bill
by By ZAC ANDERSONWith Michael King sentenced to death, the family of murdered North Port mother Denise Amber Lee is turning to another priority: Preventing future tragedies through better 911 training.
State legislators announced Monday they will push for a new law this spring that mandates 232 hours of state-approved training for every 911 worker in Florida and a standardized statewide certification exam.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office was searching for Lee on Jan 17, 2008 and deputies knew her kidnapper drove a Camaro when a motorist called 911 to report screaming coming from a Camaro on U.S. 41. There was confusion in the 911 center and nobody dispatched a deputy to investigate the report, prompting Lee’s family to call for better 911 training.
The legislation announced Monday by Rep Ken Roberson, R-Port Charlote, and Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, is similar to a bill that failed to pass last year, but the new proposal identifies a dedicated source of funding for the certification program through the state’s E-911 Trust Fund.
Funding was a major hang up last year during one of the worst budget cutting sessions in state history.
“This is a very important important public safety issue,” Detert said. “The money is there to pay for it. We hope there will be no resistance to this bill as there was last year.” -
Friday, November 06, 2009, 5:07 pm
Buyer found for Venice Jet Center, receiver says
by Kim HackettThe Venice Jet Center has a buyer and it is not Venice, as some City Council members had hoped.
A federal receiver overseeing the center, once owned by alleged Ponzi schemer Art Nadel, faxed city officials a caustic letter Friday to tell them he has reached an agreement “in principle” with a buyer.
Receiver Burton Wiand said that the undisclosed offer from a Florida company will be presented to a federal judge early next week and then made public.
“The company has a lot of experience” running airport maintenance facilities, Wiand said in an interview.
News of the sale disappointed city officials, who had hoped Venice could purchase the Jet Center and gain a tighter rein on airport jet traffic, a source of ongoing community tension.
Venice sent a letter to Wiand two weeks ago after the Jet Center’s manager indicated to city officials that they would be able to purchase it for $3 million.
But Wiand said he did not view the letter as a legitimate offer.
“The city has never made any proposals in good faith or had any good faith discussions with me,” Wiand wrote the city Friday. “The city’s lack of good faith in this matter and the continued sending of self-serving disingenuous letters has not been persuasive.”
City Manager Isaac Turner called Wiand’s characterization “off base.”
“We have legitimately sought to provide what the Jet Center was asking for and protect the interest of the city,” Turner said. “I understand he has a responsibility to maximize” profits, but added “some of the stances he’s taken have been counter-productive.”
Wiand is in charge of selling off the Jet Center and other assets owned by Nadel to reimburse investors who lost about $400 million in Nadel’s Sarasota-based Scoop Investments.
The council still has to sign off on the Jet Center deal and is in an awkward legal position if it tries to object because it has repeatedly said it wants to buy the center.
“If they don’t act nice, they’ll be dealing with Judge Lazzara,” Wiand said, referring to federal judge Richard Lazzara, who is overseeing the receivership.
Wiand and the city have been at odds over the council’s refusal to grant hangar permits, which make the Jet Center more valuable.
Wiand filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration, claiming the city’s refusal to allow aeronautical development puts it in violation of agreements it signed with the federal government when the city took over control of the airport in 1947. The FAA is scheduled to rule by the end of the year.
