Bonus! Free cosmetics to be distributed by major retailers

Fulfilling their obligation as part of a nationwide class action settlement, local retailers will be giving away $175-million in cosmetics starting Jan. 20. Shoppers will be able to get one free item per person from big names such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, Lancome, Chanel and Christian Dior at Macy’s, Dillard’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Nieman Marcus and Target stores.

Clearwater tackle shop covers forbidden fish mural with First Amendment

CLEARWATER -- The owner of a Clearwater bait and tackle shop is using the First Amendment to cover up a mural that city officials said violated city ordinances.

Early morning shoppers clearing shelves

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Let's Talk: Tell us about your shopping experience

PINELLAS PARK -- By mid morning, the early door-busting mob made short work buying out all of the 32-inch HD TV sets priced at $388 at the Pinellas Park WalMart.

The parking lot was jammed, but there are still plenty of spaces for those willing to walk 200 feet to the door. The crowds had thinned out enough that 12 of the 36 check-out aisles were closed.

-- Mark Albright, Times Staff Writer

Shoppers line up before dawn for deals

[Doorbuster shoppers in Spring Hill wait in a line that wrapped around the building for Circuit City's Black Friday deals. Will Vragovic | Times]
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Let's Talk: Tell us about your shopping experience

ST. PETERSBURG -- There were big lines at the 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. door-buster sales at plenty of stores in the Tyrone Mall area, but the lines were not as long as they've been in past years.

People waited in the pre-dawn chill to get in to JCPenny and Kohl's at 4 a.m., and lines wrapped the buildings at Toys R Us, Circuit City and Best Buy by 4:30 a.m. Lines also snaked into Sears and Macy's, and there was a mob at Old Navy.

Early morning bargain hunters said prices were cut deeper than last year. But Seminole plumber Michael Deremer and his wife, Julie, couldn't find anything worth buying at Kohl's, so they went to Best Buy in hopes of scoring a laptop for their son, who is a Marine stationed in San Diego.

It wasn't just the selection that sent them elsewhere. An over-eager shopper rammed a cart into Deremer's leg, diminishing his shopping enthusiasm -- and there was much there to begin with. The Deremers are trying to spend less this year than last year.

"It's bad out there," he said of the economy. "My third quarter was only half the second quarter."

Mark Albright and Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writers

Gymboree back in business

Four of five area Gymboree Play & Music locations were back in business today as corporate officials from San Francisco took over the failed franchise and assured parents that "Gymboree is here to stay."

Gymboree Play & Music vice president Jill Johnston said representatives flew into town Thursday night and have been working with employees to ensure that there are no further disruptions. The corporate office is in bankruptcy court trying to take over the franchises, which were owned by Tot Bot Inc. Tot Bot's owners, Dale and Denise Darr, owe 23 creditors, including the Internal Revenue Service, a total of about $1.9-million, a March bankruptcy filing states.

They shut their doors the week before last, leaving parents stranded, some out hundreds of dollars in prepaid memberships.

Johnston, who planned to visit the North Tampa, South Tampa, Lutz and Countryside locations today, said from the Lutz Gymboree that the Bradenton location is the only one not currently reopened.

"We've been moved by the response of the customers," she said.

At the North Tampa Gymboree, happy mothers and grandmothers celebrated the reopening with smiles.

Qu Casey said she told her 4-year-old son Daniel last week that Gymboree was closed for cleaning.
"The kids really love the programs," Casey said. "I'm so glad I didn't have to keep explaining to him each week why we weren't going."

Dong-Phuong Nguyen, Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Melissa Lyttle, Times files]

*

Yacht club files for bankruptcy

Here’s a leading economic indicator:

In March, the Treasure Island Tennis and Yacht Club trumpeted the news that, after three years of construction, it had completed a multi-million-dollar expansion.

On Friday, the club filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Treasure Island Tennis and Yacht Club, at 400 Treasure Island Causeway, was founded in 1971. Thirty years later its membership rolls topped 700 people and its list of benefactors included former ambassador Mel Sembler and former St. Petersburg mayor Corinne Freeman.

The club, which featured 15 tennis courts and a marina with 48 permanent slips, used to be housed in a two-story clubhouse that dated back to 1972. But in 2005 the club’s leaders wanted to expand, and that meant building a three-story structure that would include a banquet area to accommodate up to 350 people, something the old building lacked.

The $7.1-million club expansion included not just the banquet area but also a fitness center, a spa, and a massage area. But food costs soon mounted above what the club could pay.

In its bankruptcy filing, the club listed as its top three creditors SYSCO Food Services ($13,502), Brisk Coffee Co. ($6,110) and Greentree Linen Consultants ($2,951). Among the top 20 are beer and wine distributors, a pool service company and a landscaper.

[St. Petersburg Times photo by Scott Keeler] 

--Craig Pittman

Wiregrass opens with butterflies, confetti

WESLEY CHAPEL -- The Shops at Wiregrass, central Pasco's first "lifestyle center" mall, opened this morning as curiosity seekers and shoppers turned out to sample the fare.

By early afternoon, cars were routed into dirt lots set up for overflow crowds on the mall's south side, although the parking garage on the north side was nowhere near full. The place seemed to have more strollers than cars as parents maneuvered along the brick paved sidewalks lined with mature trees brought in to make the place look as if it had been there longer than a few days.

Shoppers interviewed came mainly from the immediate area, with a good many traveling north from New Tampa.

"It's hard to come to a new mall and not shop," said Corrine Revoldt, 30, as her two young daughters played in the miniature livery that was part of the children's area. The playground is meant to be a small replica of the old Wiregrass Ranch. A small train starts its route there and runs around the mall.

The grand opening began with speeches extolling the virtue of Pasco County, the developers, politicians and even the laborers who applied stucco and put up signs. The hoopla culminated in a release of hundreds of monarch butterflies, meant to symbolize the area's metamorphosis into a shopping destination.

Lisa Buie, Times Staff Writer

*

New Wal-Mart grocery to open on Kennedy

TAMPA -- Next week, LaToya Jackson will be one of 115 reporting to work at the newly opened Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market on Kennedy Boulevard.

Doors open Wednesday at 8 a.m.

Located at 1610 W. Kennedy Blvd., the store is a 60,000-square-foot building previously occupied by Winn-Dixie and SaveRite. Unlike the company's larger big box stores and supercenters, the neighborhood market is smaller and sells mostly groceries and pharmaceuticals with some general merchandise. It also incorporates a one-hour photo center and is scheduled to be open 24 hours.

Jackson, 22, said this will be her third job as a cashier but the first one she can walk to.

"It's a great opportunity to work for Wal-Mart and this one is so close to my home," she said.

--Robbyn Mitchell, Times staff writer

TooJay's closes its BayWalk store

TooJay’s Gourmet Deli at BayWalk has closed, shutting its doors Monday night. Tuesday morning, phone calls to the downtown St. Petersburg location were being routed to the chain’s Clearwater facility.

TooJay’s president William Korenbaum said the decision to close was not made lightly.

“We have not closed a store in long time,’’ he said by phone from his West Palm Beach office.

“I think in all honesty, it’s sort of a combination of the erosion in the customer traffic in the center and the overall economic climate that we’re all facing,’’ he said.

The facility also “faced numerous challenges’’ with the downtown location, he said.

Korenbaum said he “would entertain down the road’’ a different location for another TooJay’s in St. Petersburg, if the right opportunity presented itself and economic conditions improved.

The BayWalk restaurant had about 40 employees. “That’s the toughest part,’’ Korenbaum said.

“I want to compliment and thank the management team and staff members who worked enthusiastically despite the obstacles they have faced over the last six to nine months. We have other stores in the market, and we tried to make opportunities for as many of the staff as we could accommodate.’’

TooJay’s has 24 stores in Florida, with new ones opening in Melbourne and Gainesville and another being planned for Lakeland.

-- WAVENEY ANN MOORE

Protesters bash bailout bill

ST. PETERSBURG — Bailouts make for strange bedfellows.

President Bush and Congressional leaders, Democrat and Republican, came together in Washington D.C. Friday to support an $850 billion plan to rescue Wall Street.

And on a street corner in downtown St. Petersburg Saturday, political groups as disparate as the Uhurus and Ron Paul supporters came together to denounce it.

“Common cause,” said Lee Nash, a Ron Paul backer from Brandon. Bailout opponents are “a little bit of this, a little bit of that.”

Nash and about 40 other people gathered at Williams Park to protest the bailout, brought together by a shared view that the plan did too much for fat cats and not enough for common folk.

“We shouldn’t have to pay for their mistakes,” said Teah Michel, a social work student at the University of South Florida. She was toting a sign that told Congress and Wall Street to go do something that can’t be printed in a family newspaper.

Saturday’s participants also included members of the Green Party, St. Pete for Peace and the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. As they marched past the Bank of America Tower to the Saturday Market, they chanted: "They stole our money, who’s to blame?/Paulson and Bush, Obama and McCain.''

“When you have 12 million children going hungry in America every year . . . the money would be better spent on them,” said Joyce McCarty, 63, who said she retired after most recently working for Rax and Chick-fil-A.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted Sept. 27-29 found 45 percent of the American public thought the bailout was the right thing to do, while 38 percent did not. The poll also found 61 percent were angry about it, 50 percent were scared and 43 percent were confused.

“While some political fallout can be expected from supporting a plan that elicits mixed reactions from many and angry protests from some,” Pew President Andrew Kohut wrote Oct. 1, “the downside political risk in not doing something seems much greater.”

-- Ron Matus, Times Staff Writer

State vows to fight gas gouging

As prices at some gas stations in North Florida spiked to over $5.50 a gallon in the wake of Hurricane Ike, the state's consumer services chief pledged to investigate and subpoena records to check for price gouging.

Charles Bronson, who runs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said there is no gas shortage in Florida. He added that some smaller, independent gas stations may temporarily run out of gas, but he said they should be replenished soon.

"There's plenty of fuel available for quite a number of days," Bronson said. "I can assure you if anyone has upped the price of fuel to their personal advantage over the public, we're going to take them to court in the fullest extent of the law and fine them accordingly and charge them if we find they've been price gouging."

- Jennifer Liberto, Times staff writer

Regulators announce settlement with Allstate

The Office of Insurance Regulation announced a settlement with Allstate on Friday afternoon over its ongoing dispute that Allstate failed to give records to OIR.

Allstate will have to pay $5-million in fines to an insurance trust and agree to write 100,000 new policies over the next three years. They'll also have to agree to a rate reduction of 5.6 percent on each policy.

This is the dispute that landed in state court earlier this year after Commissioner Kevin McCarty suspended Allstate's license to write any new policies, including more lucrative auto policies. The settlement will prevent Allstate from having to go through with a hearing at the Division of Administrative Hearings next month.

--Jennifer Liberto, Times Staff Writer

It's official: Draper on way to Tampa Bay area

A Massachusetts R&D firm that builds tiny biomedical machines will indeed open satellite labs in Tampa and St. Petersburg, Gov. Charlie Crist announced today.

Draper Laboratory, a spinoff of MIT, will employ at least 100 people at a laboratory at the University of South Florida in Tampa and another 65 in St. Petersburg, said Len Polizzotto, Draper’s director of strategic development.

Most employees will have master's level degrees or higher, he said, and recruiting will start within weeks.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,’’ Polizzotto said. “I don’t want to waste any time.’’

 

Research on tiny devices may have big payoff for Tampa Bay area

TAMPA — A research lab that develops microscopic machines for medical and defense use represents latest hope for civic leaders who envision Tampa Bay as a high-tech workplace.

Hillsborough County officials confirmed they are in negotiations to bring satellite operations of Cambridge, Mass.-based Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. to Tampa and St. Petersburg.

A key decision takes place today when Hillsborough commissioners consider giving the non-profit $6-million to come.

Draper is seeking another $4-million from the University of South Florida Research Foundation, and $10-million from the Florida Innovation Incentive Program. Those subsidies must still be approved.

The money would go toward turning an unfinished building space at USF into a lab and stocking it with equipment. In return, Draper is expected to create 100 jobs paying $75,000 or more.

Hillsborough officials believe it could lead to another 271 spinoff jobs.

“If this project is approved, it will advance our agenda to create a cluster of biotech and high-tech companies in Hillsborough County,” said Economic Development Director Gene Gray. “This is a field of research that has unlimited potential for scientific discovery and the commercialization of that discovery.

“It’s the kind of jobs that any community would welcome.”

Draper is also seeking public financial support for a $14-million electronics plant in St. Petersburg. The company would team up with an existing, but unnamed Pinellas County defense contractor to make “multichip modules,” an advanced form of circuit boards.

Governments on both sides of the bay gave preliminary approval to the projects in April, but the company behind them was not named. The two proposals are not directly related, but Gray said both must be ratified  for either to happen.

Pinellas County commissioners gave provisional assent to a $2-million subsidy on April 22. On Tuesday, the commission will decide whether to make a formal offer of that amount to the company, said County Commissioner Susan Latvala.

By Bill Varian, Lisa Greene and Will Van Sant

Attorney general settles with prepaid phone card companies

Attorney General Bill McCollum reached a settlement with several prepaid and long-distance phone card companies accused of duping customers, including St. Petersburg-based Cristel Telecommunications, LLC.

His office says the settlement will start industrywide reforms for Florida consumers. Companies targeted will stop all "deceptive advertising," provide 100 percent of the minutes advertised, and submit to three years of auditing by the Office of the Attorney General to ensure that they are following the terms of their agreement. They'll also reimburse the state $1-million for investigative costs and future enforcement efforts.

“The calling card industry has long been targeting non-English speakers and cheating consumers for whom these cards are often a lifeline to loved ones,” McCollum said. “Through today’s settlements, we are instituting industrywide reforms, and we expect accountability from these companies.”

The targeted companies include IDT America Inc.; Union Telecom Alliance (UTA); Total Call International  Inc.; Blackstone Calling Card Inc.; CVT Prepaid Solutions Inc.; Dollar Phone Enterprise Inc.; STi Prepaid, LLC; Alternatel Inc; and Cristel Telecommunications, LLC.

Jennifer Liberto, Times Staff Writer

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-- Tampabay.com editors

Gov signs insurance bill, Citizens keeps its money

Gov. Charlie Crist signed the insurance bill (SB 2860) championed by Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, that gets a bit tougher on insurers. But he vetoed the effort to remove the $250 million from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to fund a program for start-up insurers.

--Jennifer Liberto, Times Staff Writer

Caladesi named best beach

For years an also-ran, Caladesi Island State Park in northern Pinellas County won the distinction as America's top beach for 2008 by coastal expert Stephen P. Leatherman, otherwise known as Dr. Beach.

Leatherman called the 3-mile-long island off the coast of Dunedin his "favorite getaway beach" during an announcement live on MSNBC from the local beach this morning. He called the sand "white as it can be'' and lauded the crystal clear water.

"There's a lot of bird life, it's like a world apart" from the metro Tampa Bay area, said Leatherman, director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research.

Caladesi has been in the top six of Leatherman's America's Best Beaches List since 1997 and was No. 2 for the last two years. Pinellas' Fort De Soto Park's North Beach won top honors in 2005. The park also was named as the best U.S. beach by the travel Web site TripAdvisor.com this year. 

Having two top-ranked beaches is "a definite distinction no community in North America can claim," said D.T. Minich, Pinellas tourism director. "To have have two number one beaches in one community is unprecedented."

The county's tourism marketing agency, Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater has launched a $1-million summer advertsing campaign in Central Florida promoting Pinellas beaches. Billboards carry messages such as "America's #1 Beach is just 90 minutes Away.'' Now they might need to add an "es.''

This year's runner-up was Hanalei Beach in Hawaii. Two other Florida Beaches made the cut: No. 3 Siesta Key Beach near Sarasota and No. 9 Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne. Here is the entire list:

1). Caladesi Island State Park; 2). Hanalei Beach, Hawaii, 3). Siesta Key Beach; 4). Coopers Beach, Southhampton, N.Y.; 5). Coronado Beach, San Diego, Calif.; 6). Main Beach, East Hampton, N.Y.; 7). Hamoa Beach, Hawaii; 8). Cape Hatteras, N.C.; 9). Cape Florida State Park; 10). Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, S.C.

Tampabay.com Beach Guide: Beach news, events & restaurant reviews

View beach photos, share yours

--Steve Huettel, Times Staff writer

[Jim Damaske, Times files]

Court denies Allstate, regulators can sanction

The First District Court of Appeals just announced they've denied Allstate's appeal, like the Court had suggested they might a few weeks ago. Read the opinion here. That means Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty can stop Allstate from writing new auto business until the insurer complies with regulators' subpoenas requesting property insurance information.

Jennifer Liberto, Times Staff Writer

Snipes to be sentenced tomorrow in Ocala

The U.S. Attorney's Office says it spent more than $250,000 to prosecute actor Wesley Snipes for failure to file his tax returns.

When Snipes is sentenced in Ocala tommorow for the misdemeanor convictions, prosecutors want a federal judge to order that he pay it back. Prosecutors also want the Orlando native to pay a fine of at least $5-million.

Snipes, 45, is facing as much as three years in prison after a jury convicted him in February on three of six misdemeanor charges of failing to file his taxes. He was acquitted on felony counts of conspiracy and filing a false claim with the Internal Revenue Service.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa announced the charges against Snipes in October 2006. Prosecutors accused him and co-defendants Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P. Rosile of conspiring to defraud the IRS of about $11.4-million in refunds on taxes Snipes paid in 1996 and 1997.

Jurors convicted Kahn and Rosile of conspiracy and filing a false claim.

Snipes hired Kahn, a Lake County resident, in 2000 as a tax consultant. Rosile, a de-licensed Venice accountant, worked part-time for Kahn and prepared an amended return for Snipes. Kahn is facing 10 years in prison and Rosile is facing more than eight years.

The IRS estimated that Snipes failed to report nearly $38-million in gross income from 1999 to 2004. The IRS calculated Snipes' unpaid tax liability for those years as more than $15.6-million.

Snipes' attorneys said at trial that he tried repeatedly to meet with IRS officials because he had questions about his taxes.

Kahn, a tax protester, told Snipes that Internal Revenue Code Section 861 excused Americans from paying taxes on income earned in the United States. Courts have rejected the theory.

In court records asking for the maximum sentence for Snipes, prosecutors say his celebrity status doesn't warrant leniency.

"To the extent that Snipes' background is even a mitigating factor, it is offset by his nearly decade-long effort to escape paying taxes on the lucrative compensation he received as result of that professional success," prosecutors wrote in a court filing. "To the extent that Snips has, in the past, performed charity and good works, such actions should be viewed in the context of what is typical and expected of individuals who have reached defendant's station in life."

Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges has set the sentencing for Snipes, Kahn and Rosile to begin Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Allstate may write policies for weekend, at least

That silence you hear from the 1st District Court of Appeal means Allstate Corp. can continue writing new insurance policies in Florida. For how long, no one is sure.
“I guess we’ll have at least until Monday,’’ Allstate spokeswoman Amy Moore said Friday.
Allstate asked the court Monday for a new hearing, but the court has yet to make a ruling. The Illinois insurer is trying to fight an order by Florida insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty that suspends the company from writing new policies until it hands over documents regulators say are key to an investigation of Allstate’s rate-making practices.
Allstate has managed to avoid the suspension since January.

--Tom Zucco, Times Staff Writer

Progress Energy has agreement to buy materials for nuke plant

Progress Energy today announced an agreement to buy long-lead materials needed for its planned nuclear power plant in Levy County.

The St. Petersburg utility announced that it had signed a letter of intent with Westinghouse Electric and the Shaw Group Inc. for certain items, but it did not provide details on the cost or materials. Progress Energy estimated last month that it would cost $17-billion to build two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, and transmission lines to carry the electricity from the site, several miles north of its Crystal River power station.            

"This is a prudent next step that will help us remain on schedule and preserve favorable pricing for key components," said Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of Progress Energy Florida, in a prepared statement released Monday afternoon.            

The utility last month filed an application for the plant with state regulators.            

Hearings have been scheduled for late May. Other regulatory hurdles include a site application with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and an operating and licensing application with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Progress Energy hopes to have the first 1,100-megawatt reactor online in 2016, and the second in 2017.            

-- Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or (813) 225-3117.            

Cypress Creek Town Center on hold

WESLEY CHAPEL -- Cypress Creek Town Center is indefinitely on hold, a spokeswoman for the mall said today.

The Richard E. Jacobs Group, developers of the 1-million-square-foot project, and the prospective tenants of the mall agreed last week to halt all construction at the site on Interstate 75 and State Road 56 and postpone its opening, said Deanne Roberts.

The mall was originally scheduled to open in October. "I don't know what the new date will be," Roberts said.

The mall has long been dogged by controversy. Environmentalists sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, saying the regulators should never have issued a permit for the Jacobs Group to fill 54 acres of wetlands at the site. 

In February, the corps suspended the permit, halting work on the 54 acres that would have been part of the mall.

Mall officials said that they decided last week to stop all construction on the site, because they did not want to risk the mall opening as an incomplete construction. But Roberts denied that Cypress Creek Town Center had lost any tenants because of these problems.

-- Chuin-Wei Yap, Times staff writer

Delta to charge $3 fee to check bags at curbside

TAMPA -- Delta Air Lines will charge customers $3 a bag to check luggage at curbside, the airline said Friday.

The fee takes effect Tuesday at Tampa International and 10 other major airports, then rolls out at 75 more cities nationwide April 15.

"It's a business decision that reflects today's competitive landscape and cost pressures,'' said spokeswoman Susan Elliott.

Delta and Continental Airlines are the only major carriers that don't charge for curbside check-in. But Delta's fee will be $1 a bag higher than charges at American Airlines, United, Northwest and US Airways. The fee will be waived for the airline's elite-level customers, first-class and business-class fliers, and passengers who check in online.

Will the fee drive passengers from curbside to the ticket counter? "With the baby, probably not,'' said Peggy Braitsch, flying home to Cincinnati from Tampa on Friday with her 20-month-old granddaugher, Mary, in a stroller. "For me? It probably would have.''

One group certainly won't like the change: Prospect of Tampa skycaps working for Delta. Airlines keep the curbside check-in fees. Skycaps say the charges cut into their tips and reduce the number of bags checked at the curb. A group of skycaps in Boston has sued American Airlines, seeking restitution for lost tips.

-- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Florida unemployment rate holds steady for February

State labor officials said Friday that 4.6 percent of the work force was unemployed in February, the same as in January. That's 422,000 people out of work and looking for jobs. However, the primary reason for the status quo is that both the labor force and the number of jobs shrank.

The big job losses have been in construction, down 12.3 percent from a year ago, and manufacturing, down 5.6 percent. The gains have been in health care, government and food services.

Unemployment in the Tampa Bay area showed slight improvement from last month, though the numbers have not been seasonally adjusted. The unemployment rate was 4.5 percent for Pinellas and Hillsborough, 5.6 percent for Pasco and 6.6 percent for Hernando. Statewide February unemployment was highest in Flagler County (7.4 percent) and lowest in Liberty County (2.9 percent). See the full details here.

--Helen Huntley, Times Staff Writer

Inspections ground two Delta flights at TIA

At least two Delta flights out of Tampa International Airport were canceled today as the airline began a voluntary inspection of wiring in some of its planes.

The cancellations come a day after American, the nation's largest airline, canceled 132 flights of its estimated 2,300 flights scheduled for today, spokesman Tim Wagner said. That was about 6 percent of American's schedule today after the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline canceled 325 flights on Wednesday.

American's cancellations Wednesday disrupted plans by hundreds of people at TIA. However, the airport's Web site lists no cancellations for American Airlines flights today. The Delta flights that have been canceled are: flight 1897, which was scheduled to depart for New York-LaGuardia at 10:40 a.m., and flight 1836, which was scheduled to depart for New York-JFK at 12:15 p.m. A Tampa airport spokeswoman said both of those flights use the type of McDonnell-Douglas aircraft that are being inspected.

Nationwide, Delta has not specified the number of flights it was canceling today. However, the Atlanta-based carrier said it began voluntarily reinspecting wiring on 117 MD-88 aircraft Wednesday night.

   -- Times staff and wire reports

Senate passes insurance crackdown bill

TALLAHASSEE -- Two major pieces of Florida insurance legislation - one that would reduce the state’s risk in the event of a catastrophic hurricane, and another that would both tighten restrictions on insurance companies and freeze Citizens Property Insurance rates until 2010, breezed through the state Senate’s banking and insurance committee today.

The most sweeping proposal, introduced by Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and co-sponsored by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, includes more than a dozen provisions aimed mostly at tightening penalties for companies that break Florida law, more clearly defining how insurers set their rates, and what happens when the rates aren’t approved.

The proposals also include a rule that would force residential insurers planning to drop more than 10,000 policies to notify the state 90 days in advance, and to stagger the dropped policies “over a reasonable period.’’

The second bill, SB 2156, lowers the state’s catastrophe fund by $3-billion. Last year, the state increased the fund by $12-billion to help lower homeowner premiums.

Both measures head now to Senate President Ken Pruitt, who can refer the bills to another committee, or to the Senate floor for debate.

There is a companion bill for SB 2156 in the House, but no companion for the Atwater bill.

--Tom Zucco, Times Staff Writer

Florida Consumer Confidence Index hits 16-year low

Talk about glum: The state's consumers haven't felt this bad about the economy since December of 1991 when they were coming out of a recession. The Florida Consumer Confidence Index fell five points, to 68, in March, just four points above is 1991 all-time low. "Given these levels and the retail sales data form the U.S. Census Bureau, it is clear that consumers are not in a position to revive an economy that is almost certainly in a recession," said Chris McCarty, director of the survey research center at the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

McCarty said the stage is being set for a recovery, but it won't be forthcoming any time soon. He said he expects housing prices in many Florida markets to bottom out by July.

Tab in father-daughter scam reaches $100-million

TAMPA -- Prosecutors said today in federal court that a local father and daughter charged in an international fraud case may have duped investors out of at least $100-million.

Investigators had initially estimated that Paul Gunter, 58, of Odessa, and his daughter Zibiah Gunter, 25, of Oldsmar, scammed overseas investors of at least $70-million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachelle Bedke said in court today that that number has grown to nearly $100-million as investigators discover new records in the case.

"The evidence has only gotten stronger as agents seize evidence," Bedke said.

Paul Gunter failed for a third time to provide enough cash and property to convince U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III to release him on bail. McCoun wants at least $1-million in a secured bond from Gunter.

The judge said he will allow Gunter more time to work out a probate issue with his deceased mother-in-law's home, which Gunter's wife and brother-in-law have offered to the court as collateral. Several other family friends have offered up property or cash to secure the $1-million.

Zibiah Gunter is out of jail on $150,000 bail, secured with equity from her stepmother's home.

Prosecutors continue to object to releasing Gunter, described as the middle man in the scheme, saying that he is a flight risk. He's in the United States on a green card and has citizenship in England. The judge has also expressed concern about access to cash that Gunter may have in bank accounts around the world.

Federal agents said the Gunters and at least four others hijacked the identities of 54 publicly traded companies and sold bogus stock. Investigators have accused them of ripping off investors in Ireland and Great Britain and dumping illegal proceeds in bank accounts in Central Florida and around the world.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

4 arrested in bay area mortgage scam

TAMPA -- State law enforcement officials charged four people today in a multimillion dollar mortgage fraud scheme that stretched through Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk counties.

Orson Benn, Constance Golder, David Tuggle, Jr., and Eric Steinhauser have been arrested and face prosecution from the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Benn was the former vice president of Argent Mortgage Company and Golder worked as an account executive, according to Attorney General Bill McCollum's office. Tuggle and Steinhauser, as the mortgage brokers for Tampa-based Sunstate Mortgage Company, submitted more than 300 fraudulent mortgage loans applications to Argent that Benn would approve, McCollum's office said.

Tuggle and Steinhauser paid Benn more than $100,000 to approve the loans. Golder helped facilitate the process by serving as liaison between Argent and Sunstate Mortgage, the attorney general said.

"Mortgage fraud threatens the very essence of the American dream -- the goal of home ownership," McCollum said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Florida ranks first in the nation for the number of mortgage foreclosures, making our citizens who are struggling to protect their homes even more susceptible to fraud, and we must continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those whose criminal behavior perpetuates these illegal actions."

Of the 300 loan applications, state investigators say 280 were funded and collectively valued at more than $34-million. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency, Tampa Police Department and Pinellas County Department of Justice participated in the investigation.

The attorney general's office said the four carried out the scheme for more than two years. Investigators described Argent as "one of the nation's largest subprime lenders."

This is the second mortgage fraud case involving Benn, and investigators believe there are other mortgage brokerage companies in Florida with whom he organized a similar scheme.

Benn was previously charged in a case that is currently pending in Polk County Circuit Court. After that initial investigation into Benn's actions, officials began looking at additional targets involved in fraud along with Benn, who has been charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, mortgage fraud and grand theft. If convicted, he faces up to 95 years in prison.

Golder, Tuggle and Steinhauser have been charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering. They each face up to 30 years in prison.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Still no bond for dad in $70-million fraud case

TAMPA -- An Odessa man still hasn't convinced a federal judge to release him on bond for his alleged participation in an international $70-million fraud case.

Paul Gunter, 58, is trying to raise the $1-million bail set by U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III. The judge denied Gunter's bail request on Monday and again at a hearing today.

Court records show McCoun was unsatisfied with $25,000 in stock offered by one of Gunter's associates and testimony that Gunter was not a flight risk. A third bail hearing has been set for March 25.

On Monday, McCoun released Gunter's daughter, Zibiah Joy Gunter, 25, on $150,000 bail. The pair have been charged with conspiring to commit substantive acts of mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.

Federal agents said the Gunters and at least four others hijacked the identities of 54 publicly traded companies and sold bogus stock, ripping off investors in Ireland and Great Britain, then dumping the illegal profits in bank accounts in Central Florida and across the world.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

State approves new nuclear plants

Florida Power & Light today won state approval to build Florida's first new nuclear plants in more than two decades.

The unanimous decision this morning from the Florida Public Service Commission paved the way for the utility to build two new nuclear plants at its Turkey Point power station, 25 miles south of Miami. It also signaled the state’s unwavering support for nuclear power, despite cost estimates that have tripled in little more than a year.

The project could cost $12-billion to $24-billion, depending on the type of reactor FPL selects. It would be among the largest investments ever undertaken by the nation’s electric industry, and perhaps the most expensive construction project ever in Florida.

"This is a very historic day in the state of Florida,'' said Commission Chairman Matthew Carter.

The decision is good news for Progress Energy of St. Petersburg. The utility last week asked the commission for approval to build two new reactors in Levy County, several miles north of its Crystal River power station. Progress Energy estimated the cost at $17-billion, although it insisted that the estimate is "non-binding'' and could go much higher.

The price tag for Progress Energy's nuclear ambitions tripled since the utility announced its plans in late 2006. The skyrocketing costs have reverberated throughout the Southeast, where five other utilities plan similar projects, including Progress Energy’s sister utility in North Carolina.

Florida needs to diversify its fuel supply, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure reliable power for its growing population, the PSC commissioners emphasized in approving FPL's project.

"Simply put, nuclear power is a strategic investment for the state of Florida,'' said Commissioner Nathan Skop.

Hackers access Sweetbay credit, debit card numbers

About 4.2-million Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit and debit card numbers -- 1.6-million of them used at Sweetbay Supermarket locations in Florida in the past three months-- were exposed when hackers tapped into the computer network at the Hannaford Brothers grocery chain in Portland, Maine.

So far fewer than 2,000 incidents of attempted credit card fraud have been identified.

The U.S. Secret Service has opened an investigation into the data theft.

But Hannaford, which handles all payment transactions for its corporate sibling Sweetbay Supermarket in the Tampa Bay area, suggests that any customer who executed a credit or debit card transaction at one of its stores between Dec. 7, 2007, and March 10 doublecheck his card or bank statements for any unauthorized or unfamiliar transactions.

If there are questionable transactions, the company advises that shoppers call the card company, their financial institution or both.

Hannaford and Sweetbay do not know the affected customers' names or ways to contact them. So the company will not be making any calls or sending e-mails to shoppers who may have been affected. So if someone calls asking for personal information regarding the hack, be suspicious because they are not from the grocery chain, the company said.

Hannaford was alerted Feb. 27 by a payment card clearinghouse of an unusual number of payment card transactions. By March 8 the company, in concert with card issuers and federal investigators, had identified the breach and by March 10 had plugged the holes.

An investigation into how and where the breach occurred continues. Hannaford transmits its payment data over phone lines and uses encrypted wireless communications to transmit numbers inside its stores.

-- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Theme park attendance inches up

Thanks to huge investments in new rides and attractions, Central Florida -- and Walt Disney World in particular -- continued to dominate U.S. theme park attendance in 2007.

Overall attendance at the 20 largest parks in the country rose a modest 2.6 percent last year according to annual estimates compiled by Economic Research Associates. But Disney's four Florida parks -- four of the five most popular -- led the charge.

The Magic Kingdom topped 17-million visitors for the first time with a gain of 2.5 percent. Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios each were up 4.5 percent at 10.9-million and 9.5-million respectively, while Disney's Animal Kingdom was up 6.5 percent to 9.5-million.

Universal Orlando reported a healhty, profitable year at its two Orlando parks with Universal Studios up 3.3 percent to 6.2-million and Islands of Adventure up 2.5 percent to 5.4-million.

Busch Entertainment's Sea World was reported at 5.8-million, up 1 percent, although the company objected to the accuracy of the estimate. Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, which was compared to a year that featured the opening of its SheiKra thrill ride coaster, was up 1 percent to 4.4-million.

Sources at Busch claimed Sea World drew 6.2-million and Busch Gardens in Tampa, 4.5-million. Disney and Universal didn't fare as well in California where Disneyland, which used to be neck and neck with the Magic Kingdom, fell 2.2- million people behind its Florida counterpart.

Disney's California Adventure was down 4.5 percent, Knott's Berry Farm was off 1 percent and Universal Studios Hollywood experienced no growth.

-- Times Staff Writer

Sunshine State loves solar

The Sunshine State loves solar, according to a new poll.

Using solar energy showed strong support across party lines, according to the Mason-Dixon poll sponsored by the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association and the Vote Solar Initiative, both solar power advocates.

"Floridians understand the importance of having a long term strategy for for harnessing energy from the sun to power our homes and businesses," said state Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, Florida House majority leader.

State Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, said, "We have a chance to address our growing energy needs in a cleaner, more cost-effective way that protects the environment while keeping the lights on."

The poll quizzed 625 registered voters, asking “Do you think the Florida legislature should or should not encourage investment in solar energy?” Eighty-five percent answered “should,” with 7 percent answering “should not” and 8 percent not sure. Eighty-seven percent of Democrats answered "should," along with 82 percent of Republicans.

Then the poll got down to brass tacks. Sure, solar sounds great — until you have to pay for it. The pollsters asked “Would you support or oppose having the Florida legislature encourage solar energy investment in Florida if it would cost you one dollar or less per month on your utility bill?” With cash on the line, support declined a bit. Eighty-one percent they’d be willing to pay up, 14 percent opposed, and 5 percent weren’t sure. Again, Democrats showed more support, with 86 percent willing to pay. But 78 percent of Republicans also said they'd be willing to reach for their wallets to pay for solar.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times Staff Writer

[Scott Keeler, Times archives]

Progress Energy sued for nearly $43-million

Contractors that built power plants for Progress Energy sued the utility last week in Tampa federal court for nearly $43-million.

S&B Engineers & Constructors of Houston, Texas, and Bibb and Associates built two new natural gas generators at Progress Energy’s Hines power station in Polk County. The companies allege that the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, as well as the run-up in world commodity prices, caused the project to go over budget. Progress Energy is liable for those overruns, the lawsuit alleges.

Michael Hornreich, attorney for the plaintiffs, said his firm would not comment on pending litigation. S&B Engineers & Constructors did not return calls for comment.

In 2005 and again in 2006, Progress Energy was given permission by the Florida Public Service Commission to add a hurricane recovery surcharge to customers’ monthly bills to recoup about $380-million in hurricane costs. Those were systemwide costs, and not directly associated with the construction of the Hines generators, said Progress Energy spokesman Buddy Eller.

“We generally don’t comment on litigation," Eller said. "But I will tell you that we certainly think it has no merit.”

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Read the complaint here:

Download contractor_sues_progress_over_cost_overruns.pdf

Seminole Tribe to hire 3,650 card dealers

The Seminole Tribe of Florida expects to bring Vegas style slot-machine to its Tampa casino this summer with table games, including blackjack, to follow by fall.

The state's first legal games of blackjack and baccarat will debut at the Seminole Hard Rock casino in Hollywood, probably in June, said Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming.

The tribe plans to start hiring 3,650 card dealers for its seven Florida casinos, he said today at the Seminole Casino in Cocounut Creek. The hiring will be done at local Seminole Tribe casinos and at job fairs in gambling cities such as Atlantic City, NJ. and Gulfport, Miss.

Under a compact with the state, the tribe has the right to run Vegas-style slots and the card games in return for sharing profits with the state. The deal is being challenged at the Florida Supreme Court in a suit filed against Gov. Charlie Crist by legislative leaders. They say the governor doesn't have the authority to sign a compact without legislative approval.

The Seminoles have put about 1,800 new slot machines at their casinos in Hollywood and Coconut Creek. Tampa is next in line, but the availability of slot machines and the time to reconfigure casino floor space will delay their arrival until sometime this summer, Allen said.   

Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen outlined the Tampa expansion during a morning news conference at the tribe's Coconut Creek casino, where 700 of the Vegas-style machines began operating today.

The tribe expects to eventually install about 15,000 so-called Class III machines across its seven Florida casinos. The first 1,000 opened for business in January at its Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood.

Tribal casinos have traditionally offered bingo-based machines, on which players compete against one another instead of the casino.

-- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Hooters' founders to cash out

The founders of Hooters have agreed to sell their 22 restaurants and other development rights to a Charlotte investment firm for $55.1-million. Chanticleer Holdings Inc., a small firm that holds a 2 percent stake in Hooters of America, the separate Atlanta-based company that owns the 433-store Hooter's franchise network, hopes to raise the cash from a bank loan and a public offering that will go to market before the deal closes this summer. Some of the nine founders, including Ed Droste, plan to remain active in the company that owns all the Hooters restaurants in the Tampa Bay area plus a few in Chicago and Manhattan. In the process Chanticleer will transform itself from a closed-end investment firm to an operating company that leaves the current management of Clearwater-based Hooters Inc. in place.

Irvine backs out of St. Pete restaurants

Posters of Robert Irvine in the windows of where his two St. Petersburg restaurants were to go. The posters disappeared Friday. [Scott Keeler | Times]

ST. PETERSBURG -- Celebrity chef Robert Irvine, caught fibbing about his education, culinary experience, British royal relationships and assorted bits of his life, will not open two highly anticipated restaurants in downtown St. Petersburg.

A statement jointly released today by the landlord and Irvine's business partner sidestepped the recent controversy, saying merely that "the timing is not exactly right'' and that and Irvine "cannot commit to spending at least four days a week'' at the restaurant as he had planned to ensure its success.

Home Shopping Network's recent decision to sever ties with Irvine means he will no longer spend much time in the Tampa Bay area.

The project was planned for 400 Beach Drive, the new 29-story, condominium tower at Fifth Avenue N.

Irvine, known for his popular Food Network show, Dinner: Impossible, was going to call his first restaurants Ooze and Schmooze. Ooze was to be a casual, tapas-style spot, and Schmooze was to offer fine dining. The restaurants were to be side-by-side, occupying 7,000 square feet on the ground floor of the Beach Drive tower.

Revenues at Tampa seafood chain drop nearly 22 percent

Rising food costs and the sluggish U.S. economy have been hard on sit-down restaurants, but few chains are faring as poorly as Shells Seafood Restaurants.

The 23-store Tampa chain says its revenues fell nearly 22 percent in the fourth quarter, to $7.6-million, while its same-store sales fell 18.3 percent. Those figures translated into a quarterly loss of $2.3-million, or 10 cents per share. Shells announced Feb. 29 that president Leslie J. Christon had left the company to "pursue other opportunities."

-- Scott Barancik, Times staff writer

WellCare hires new general counsel

Five months after an FBI raid on its Tampa headquarters, WellCare Health Plans has taken yet another step to show its willingness to reach a settlement with the government.

On Monday it said it has hired a high-powered former federal prosecutor experienced in resolving allegations of Medicare fraud as general counsel. Thomas J. O'Neil III, chair of the Government Controversies group at DLA Piper, a Washington, D.C., law firm, will join WellCare in April.

O'Neil succeeds Thaddeus Bereday, who resigned along with WellCare's chief executive and chief financial officer in January.

WellCare has 2.3-million members in its Medicare and Medicaid plans.

-- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Tampa Bay biggest job loser in the state

In revised employment figures released today, Florida officials gave the Tampa Bay area a dubious distinction: biggest job-loser in the state.

Because of the loss of construction, business service and manufacturing work, there were 11,700 fewer jobs in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area in January 2008 compared with a year earlier.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation's annual benchmarking of its employment statistics also turned up another shocker. While the agency's monthly estimates were projecting continued job growth in the Tampa Bay area last year, in reality, job creation stalled last spring and started eroding in July.

Statewide, Florida had a net loss of 7,300 jobs in January, compared to a year earlier. The state, which for years had boasted a lower unemployment rate than the U.S. average, is increasingly matching the national job picture.

A report today said 63,000 jobs were shed nationwide in February, the fastest drop in the labor market in five years.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Progress and TECO reliability down slightly

If you’re a customer of Tampa Electric or Progress Energy, chances are you probably spent a few more minutes in the dark last year.

The reliability of both utilities worsened in 2007, according to reports the utilities filed this week with state regulators. The average Tampa Electric customer spent nearly 77 minutes in the dark, as opposed to about 69 minutes in 2006. Progress Energy’s customers spent 3.5 minutes more in the dark in 2007, for a total of just more than 78 minutes.

Both utilities blamed the slight uptick on severe weather.

Once a year, the utilities report to the state their System Average Interruption Duration Index, or SAIDI. It’s a system-wide average based on outages and the number of customers. The average doesn’t include lengthy outages caused by hurricanes.

Rick Morera, spokesman for Tampa Electric, said the company had the best record in the state in 2006, thanks to mild weather. Although the system-wide average worsened slightly in 2007, other numbers improved. For example, if your lights went out, Tampa Electric had them back on in 75.3 minutes, two minutes better than 2006.

Progress Energy has been steadily improving its performance, said spokeswoman Cherie Jacobs. When Carolina Power & Light bought Florida Progress in 2000, creating Progress Energy, the average customer spent more than 100 minutes a year without power. Since then, the St. Petersburg utility spent more than $100-million on new equipment, and beefed up tree-trimming programs.

BY THE NUMBERS: Average anual outage per customer in minutes

Tampa Electric
2003: 70.87
2004: 78.43
2005: 83.90
2006: 69.16
2007: 76.80

Progress Energy
2003: 85.8
2004: 77
2005: 74.5
2006: 74.8
2007: 78.3

Source: Progress Energy, Tampa Electric, Florida Public Service Commission

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Is Tampa's Odyssey Marine sitting on more treasure?

Odyssey Marine Exploration may be sitting on more sunken treasure than previously thought.
When the Tampa company announced last May that it had retrieved more than 500,000 coins from a wreck code-named "Black Swan," outsiders swiftly guessed that Odyssey had found the Merchant Royal, a British merchant ship that sank in 1641 with -- it is believed -- a substantial supply of coins aboard.
That conventional wisdom has changed, however. Today, many knowledgeable observers believe the "Black Swan" and the Merchant Royal are two different wrecks. The good news for Odyssey is that it may be in possession of both.
At a hearing in Tampa federal court Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo acknowledged speculation that a ship Odyssey found near the English Channel in 2006 may in fact be the Merchant Royal.
Company representatives were circumspect. Lawyer Allen von Spiegelfield told Pizzo that his clients lacked "conclusive" evidence about the 2006 ship's identity. And in an interview after the hearing, company co-founder Greg Stemm declined to rule out even the original suspicion -- that the wreck known as "Black Swan" is the Merchant Royal.
Perhaps the only thing beyond dispute at Wednesday's hearing was the continuing bitterness between Odyssey and the government of Spain, which believes it has a legitimate claim to both wrecks.
Spain's lawyer, James Goold, continued to question Odyssey's claim that it doesn't know the identity of either ship. He accused the company of withholding key information and suggested it was using the need to protect "trade secrets" as an excuse. Von Spiegelfield and Odyssey general counsel Melinda MacConnel said the company is holding nothing back and that it has a right to protect the wreck sites and its intellectual property.
After the hearing, co-founder Stemm said it could be years before the "Black Swan's" identity is confirmed. He said Odyssey still doesn't know the name of a shipwreck it found in the Dry Tortugas in 1989. But that's Spain's responsibility, he added.
"If no one has a convincing claim, Odyssey Marine, as salvor, wins," Stemm said.
- Scott Barancik, Times staff writer

Greg Stemm poses in front of the Odyssey Shipwreck & Treasure Attraction in New Orleans, in August 2005. [Chris Graythen, Special to the St. Petersburg Times]

Port ethanol project moving forward

An ethanol plant planned for the Port of Tampa, mired in a lawsuit for more than a year, appears cleared for takeoff.

Brad Krohn, president of US EnviroFuels, declined to comment on the lawsuit, or to confirm that it has concluded. But he did say the project was now seeking financing and expected to get under way in the second half of 2008. That suggests a resolution in the project’s legal woes.

Krohn also said the project has changed. Original plans called for a 44-million-gallon-a-year plant that would use corn from the Midwest and reclaimed water from Tampa to make ethanol, an alcohol fuel. That plan has been indefinitely postponed. Instead, Krohn will start with an ethanol storage and blending facility.

“The market conditions are not optimal for building an ethanol plant at this moment,” Krohn said.

US EnviroFuels is moving forward with an ethanol plant in Highlands County. The company received a $7-million grant from the state to build the facility, which will use sweet sorghum to make ethanol. Krohn expected construction on that project to begin some time in 2009.

The Highlands County project is one of many state-funded ethanol projects in Florida.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

One bill stands out as Legislators take on energy debate

There are dozens of energy bills wending their way through the Legislature this session, but insiders consider Senate Bill 1544 the one to watch.

Sen. Ben Saunders, R-Naples, presented new language Wednesday morning. The bill proposes tax credits and grants to encourage renewable energy investment, requires that local and regional planning take into account greenhouse gas emissions, and proposes energy-efficiency guidelines for state buildings.

Most important, the bill lays the groundwork for Gov. Charlie Crist’s baby: a system to cap and trade greenhouse gases. The state would set greenhouse gas reduction targets that get stricter over time. Polluters would get emissions credits. Those that emit a lot will use up their own credits and have to go out and buy more from companies that slash greenhouse gas emissions and don’t need all their credits.

Developing a new energy policy is among Crist's top priorities, so it's likely the session will see lots of horse-trading on the issue. Negotiations could continue until the session's last minutes.

Saunders' bill closely resembles draft language prepared by Crist's staff and would solidify policies Crist set out in his executive orders at his July climate summit. While the bill contains the broad strokes, there are dozens of other bills in the House and Senate that represent the competing interests of lobbyists supporting utilities, developers, builders, environmentalists, biofuel backers and renewable energy investors. Some of those bills could merge into a broad energy package as the session wears on.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Home builder to leave Florida market

The experts said it would probably happen. Just like in the 1990s, this latest housing downturn would push some builders out of the state. Last week, Illinois-based Kimball Hill Homes announced it would leave the Florida market.

The company promised that all homes now under construction would be completed, and warranties would be honored.

"Over the course of the next 10 months, we will be winding down our Florida homebuilding operations in an orderly manner and fulfilling all our obligations," Chief Executive Ken Love said in a news release that announced the company would lay off 75 employees at its corporate office. "These are not decisions we made lightly."

Love noted that Florida has been among the hardest hit states in the housing slump and problems in the credit and mortgage industries. The privately held company will continue building in its other markets of Illinois, Texas, Nevada and California.

Kimball Hill's communities include Ashton Oaks in Wesley Chapel and Sawgrass Creek in the Trinity area. Its Web site said it had planned to open two new communities in the Tampa Bay area: Putter's Pointe in Weeki Wachee and Stone Creek in Valrico.

Tampa Bay housing analyst Marvin Rose said in November that he expected the slowdown to claim some casualties. Tousa and Leavitt & Son recently filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. Kimball Hill has no plans to do the same, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

- Lisa Buie, Times staff writer

Progress Energy tilts at windmills

Progress Energy Florida will make its first tilt at windmills, with a $1.3-million project. The utility won $123,868 last week from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to promote wind energy.

“We believe small-scale wind generation could play an important role in meeting Florida’s renewable-energy needs,” said John Masiello, director of alternative energy strategy for the St. Petersburg utility.

Progress Energy and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise have pledged land for the project, and the Florida Institute of Technology will provide its expertise. The demonstration project will provide 15,000 kilowatt hours of wind energy every year, about enough to run a single household for a year. The utility hasn’t yet decided where in their 35-county service area it will put the wind turbines. The state listed the location as Citrus, Lake, Levy, Pinellas, Orange or Sumter County. It’s unclear when the project will get under way.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Tech Data buys European assets

Tech Data Corp. said Tuesday that it's buying assets of Scribona AB for $20-million to $25-million.
Scribona has operations in Sweden, Finland and Norway.
The acquisition would allow the Clearwater IT distribution company to serve its customers and vendors throughout the Nordic region. It would also help the company "better leverage its investment in European IT and logistics," a news release said.

- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Crist asks for shark industry relief

Gov. Charlie Crist asked for federal disaster relief Friday to help Florida's shark fishing industry, which has been crippled by troubled stocks and regulatory restrictions.

Once a cheap alternative at seafood counters, shark has essentially disappeared from the commercial marketplace in recent years. Sharks are slow growing, bear only a few young at a time and are particularly susceptible to fishing pressure. This year, federal regulators have banned all shark fishing at least through August as they consider new quotas.

Shark fishing has always been a boutique industry, with Floridians holding half the permits for the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. Several dozen fishermen and a few seafood houses might have enough landings and sales to qualify for aid.

It will be an uphill battle. Disaster relief is allowed under federal law, but typically has applied to natural disasters, such as recent hurricanes that devastated Gulf of Mexico shrimp boats. The U.S. Commerce Department recently rejected a relief plea from the Northeast ground fishery, which has also been hobbled by overfishing and tighter regulations.

"We recognize that important details need to be addressed, including the amount of aid needed, how it would be administered and whether federal aid would be contingent on state matching dollars,'' Crist wrote to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. "However, because of the immediate impact occurring to Florida's commercial shark industry, we believe an important first step is to make a determination that this industry qualifies for federal fishery disaster relief."

- Stephen Nohlgren, Times staff writer

Tech Data quarterly profits beat analysts' estimates

A surge in sales worldwide delivered Clearwater-based Tech Data Corp. a 39 percent bump in profits for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31. Net Income for the quarter  jumped to $50.2-million, or 92 cents a share, compared to  $36.1-million, or 66 cents per share.
Analysts were expecting 88 cents per share.
CEO Bob Dutkowsky said in a conference call this morning that he is "extremely pleased" with the performance, and credited the year-old sales division, AIS, the company's strengthened  customer-vendor relationships, and its focus on growing sectors for the results.
The company reported a 8.4 percent surge in sales in the Americas; European sales saw a 4.2 percent gain. Revenue climbed 5.9 percent to $6.48-billion.
Wall Street cheered the results.Tech Data shares added $1.84, or 5.5 percent, in premarket trading.

- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Prosecutors charge Pearlman with investment fraud conspiracy

Federal prosecutors filed new fraud charges Monday against former boy band producer Lou Pearlman, who faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison under a plea deal. Pearlman, 53, will plead guilty or no contest under the agreement with prosecutors that is expected to be presented at a hearing Thursday morning in U.S. District Court in Orlando.

In a four-count court filing late Monday, prosecutors expanded the bank fraud charges against Pearlman to include conspiracy to defraud investors through a Ponzi scheme he ran out of his Orlando office, as well as mail and wire fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy fraud. Go to the Money Talk blog for a copy of the charges and more details.

Federal prosecutors filed new fraud charges Monday against former boy band producer Lou Pearlman, who faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison under a plea deal. Pearlman, 53, will plead guilty or no contest under the agreement with prosecutors that is expected to be presented at a hearing Thursday morning in U.S. District Court in Orlando.

In a four-count court filing late Monday, prosecutors expanded the bank fraud charges against Pearlman to include conspiracy to defraud investors through a Ponzi scheme he ran out of his Orlando office, as well as mail and wire fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy fraud. Go to the Money Talk blog for a copy of the charges and more details.

Lou Pearlman to change his plea

Lou Pearlman wasn't joking around when he told friends that he was talking to prosecutors about a plea agreement, as the Times reported last week. A notice filed this morning in U.S. District Court in Orlando says that a change of plea has been set for Thursday at 10 a.m.

Pearlman, the producer behind boy bands *NSync and the Back Street Boys, has been behind bars since his arrest last June in Indonesia. U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Dietrich entered a “not guilty” plea on Pearlman’s behalf in July on federal bank fraud charges.

For background on the case and further details as they develop, see the Times' Money Talk blog.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

(Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack)

AT&T/Cingular customers to get refunds for unauthorized charges

You may be eligible for a refund if your AT&T/Cingular cell phone was billed for ring tones, horoscopes or other third-party services you thought were free. Florida Attorney Gen. Bill McCollum announced a settlement this morning that includes refunds for customers, a $2.5-million payment to his office and an additional $500,000 to pay for consumer education on safe Internet use. Read more details on the Money Talk blog.

Fort DeSoto named No. 1 beach by TripAdvisor

Fort De Soto Park's North Beach has been named the top beach in the United States by TripAdvisor, the Web site that touts itself as the world's largest online travel community.

TripAdvisor called the beach "a portrait of tranquility, with a spectacular combination of soft, white sand, calm and clear water and a laid-back atmosphere.''

The survey of TripAdvisor members and staffers included three other Florida beaches in their Top Ten: St. Andrew's State Park in Panama City, South Beach in Miami and Pensacola Beach.

Fort De Soto also was honored in 2005 as the nation's #1 beach by Dr. Stephen Leatherman, a.k.a. Dr. Beach.

A Day in the Life of Fort DeSoto Beach

TampaBay.com Beach Guide: Beach news, events and restaurant reviews

- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Busch plans four parks in Dubai

Orlando Anheuser Busch Cos.  signed a deal to put about $5-billion worth of theme parks in Dubai.

Busch Entertainment Corp., the brewing giant’s theme park unit, unveiled the deal with a unit of Dubai World, Nakheel, an arm of the Dubai government. Nakheel will finance the parks, paying Busch license and management fees.

The location is a five-mile-wide series of islands called Jebel-Ali that are being pumped up from the bottom of the Arabian Sea. When completely developed, Dubai World envisions a city of 280,000 with 15,000 hotel rooms and what's being called Busch's Worlds of Discovery -- SeaWorld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove.

The Busch parks will be on a 330-acre island shaped like Shamu the killer whale. The first phase, which would open in 2012, will have Sea World and Aquatica, a water park. Several years later a Busch Gardens park, which includes zoo animals and theme park rides, will open along with Discovery Cove, a boutique  park that offers personal interaction with dolphins and other sea creatures.

Universal Studios recently signed a licensing deal for a park about five miles away on the Dubai mainland.

Dubai is the second-largest of the United Arab Emirates.

-- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Report: Plea agreement in the works for Lou Pearlman

One-time boy band producer Lou Pearlman is telling friends that he has been working on a plea agreement that would bypass a trial but could result in a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. More details here on the Money Talk blog.

AT&T plans more than $220-million investment in Florida

Wireless company AT&T said today it plans to invest more than $220-million in Florida's wireless network this year. The company will add more than 70 new cell sites by the end of 2008.

The latest announcement will bring the company's investment in the Sunshine State to more than $1-billion since 2005.

- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Questions remain over power outage

Florida still has a bit of a hangover from Tuesday’s massive mid-afternoon blackout. Florida Power & Light, along with state and federal regulators, are still trying to figure out why a small switch fire triggered a blackout that left millions throughout the state without power.

- Two nuclear reactors at Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point power station remain off line, according the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Both reactors shut down at 1:09 p.m. Tuesday due to “momentary power fluctuation caused by grid instabilities,” according to an NRC report. The Juno Beach utility will keep the units off line in order to conduct some additional maintenance, said explained FP&L spokeswoman April Schilpp. “We’ll keep you posted, but we don’t have a time now for when it’s going to return to service,” Schilpp said. The utility had 475,000 customers without power at the height of the blackout, and almost all had power restored by early Tuesday evening.

- Tampa Electric had about 50,000 customers lose power Tuesday. Most had power within an hour, and as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, everyone affected by that incident was back on, said spokeswoman Laura Duda. There may have been other, weather-related outages. Tampa Electric also lost two small natural gas units that shut down automatically because of unsafe fluctuations in the electric grid. Both were brought back online quickly.

- Progress Energy said that 152,903 customers lost power, said spokesman C.J. Drake. Most had power within 77 minutes of the outage, and all customers had power by 3:37 p.m.

- The North American Electric Reliability Corp., which sets and enforces electric reliability standards throughout North America, said a total of 2,700 megawatts of generation were lost, along with 15 transmission lines. That’s nearly 5 percent of the state’s winter capacity. The system shed about 4,000-megawatts of load, or about 950,000 customers throughout the state.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Florida benefits from drug settlement

Florida is one of 34 states that will share in a $5.9-million antitrust settlement against generic drugmaker Barr Pharmaceuticals. The settlement, which will bring Florida $511,613, stems from the states' allegation that Barr conspired with Warner Chilcott to keep generic versions of oral contraceptive Ovcon off the market. Warner Chilcott reached a separate, $5.5-million settlement with the states' attorneys general last year.

Tampa-St. Pete improves in home price rankings

The Tampa Bay area was seventh from the bottom in home price rankings, taking in 20 major cities across the United States.

The S&P/Case Shiller Index for December showed Tampa area prices falling 13.3 percent from a year earlier. Miami ranked in the group last with a 17.5-percent price decline, followed by Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles and Detroit.

It marks an improvement for Tampa, which three months earlier, in September, posted the biggest price decline among the 20 cities. The only price gainers on the December index were Portland, Seattle and Charlotte.

Nationally, the average price decline was about 9 percent, which makes this current housing slump worse than the last one in 1991, Case Shiller said. Prices fell 2.8 percent during the worst moments of the last housing recession.   

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Consumer confidence up in Florida, but likely to be temporary

Floridians' confidence in the economy and their own finances rose in February, one month after hitting a 16-year low. But the surge is likely to be temporary, University of Florida researchers said today.

UF's Bureau of Economic Research identified two likely reasons behind the confidence boost: Congress' passage of a federal stimulus package that will lead to billions in one-time tax rebates, and Florida voters' recent approval of a property-tax relief amendment.

Chris McCarty, who directs the bureau's survey research center, said in a news release that he expects confidence to decline again in March. The effects of the stimulus package and property tax relief will likely be short-lived, he said. Moreover, the Federal Reserve Board's reduction in short-term interest rates, while perhaps emboldening lenders to make more loans, has "further weakened the dollar against other currencies." That, McCarty said, has boosted the price of gas and other imports.

Nationwide, consumer confidence continued declining in February. The Conference Board reported today that the U.S. index hit a 15-year-low, excluding a period during the Iraq war in 2003.

- Scott Barancik, Times staff writer

Home sales, prices sink in January

Tampa Bay area home sales started off the year on a down note, dropping 24 percent in January compared to sales a year earlier.

Sales totaled 1,235 last month versus 1,627 in January 2007. The percentage drop was less severe here than across the state. Florida's sales decline was 28 percent, from 9,360 homes in January 2007 to 6,737 in January 2008.

News on the pricing front was also mediocre. The median sales price locally fell from $220,100 to $187,100 the past year, a decline of 15 percent. The state's price decline was 14 percent.

Thee is one consolation: January sales generally stem from contracts signed during the relatively slow Thanksgiving-to-Christmas pause. Real estate optimists predict sales will bottom out this year and slowly turn upward.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

After six years, Florida's tourism numbers decline

Slightly fewer tourists traveled to Florida in 2007, the first year-to-year decline since 2001, the state’s tourism marketing agency said. Florida attracted 82.4-million visitors last year, down 1.5-million or 1.8 percent from 2006, according to preliminary estimates by Visit Florida. The number of tourists driving to the Sunshine State was off 5.5 percent, while the number flying rose 2 percent.

“Trends suggest that some vacationers traveling by auto may be staying closer to home,” said Bud Nocera, chief executive of Visit Florida. He pointed to a AAA survey in January in which 34 percent of members said they would consider a vacation near home if gasoline prices reached $3.25 per gallon. (On Friday, average gas prices in Tampa Bay and statewide hit record highs and are expected to continue to rise.)

Other reasons could have influenced their travel decisions as well, Nocera said, from fears about the economy to competition from other destinations.

Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

State Farm to stop writing new policies

State Farm, the second-largest property insurer in Florida, told the St. Petersburg Times Friday it will stop writing new homeowner policies in the state effective immediately.

The company, which has about 120,000 policyholders in the Tampa Bay area, cited the "current environment" as the reason for the move. Florida lawmakers last year passed sweeping insurance reforms designed to lower homeowner premiums. After winning a 52 percent rate increase in 2006, State Farm was ordered last year to lower premiums an average of 9 percent.

Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm announced last July it would drop 50,000 coastal policies in Florida, but has maintained just under 1-million policies statewide. Only state-backed Citizens Property Insurance, with about 1.25-million policies, is larger. State Farm also has about 2.8-million auto policies in Florida.

As current policyholders leave the company and are not replaced, State Farm will inevitably shrink. Allstate, Nationwide and several other large insurance companies have also dramatically cut back their homeowner business in the state, citing the increased risk of hurricane damage and the inability to charge the rates they need to cover their expected losses.    

Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Cherry Bekaert & Holland acquires Aidman Piser

Capping a two-year flirtation, Richmond-based Cherry Bekaert & Holland has acquired 18-year-old Aidman Piser to create the largest Tampa Bay area accounting firm after the national Big Four.

Terms were not disclosed. But Cherry Bekaert will double its size locally to 100 employees and annual billings of $20-million as a result. Terry Aidman, 61-year-old co-founder of the acquired firm, will become managing partner of Cherry Bekaert's expanded Florida practice that already has offices in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Orlando and West Palm Beach. Aidman Piser's accounts include DeBartolo Development, biotech firms and several area beach resorts.

- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Northern storm delays Tampa flights

TAMPA -- A bitter winter storm that has shut down major airports in the Northeast is affecting flights at Tampa International Airport.

JetBlue, Delta, American, and Continental flights that were supposed to arrive in Tampa from New York, Newark and Boston have been canceled, and more have been delayed. Departing flights also have been canceled.

TIA spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said some airlines have been contacting passengers in the Tampa Bay area to let them know their flights have been canceled, and that their tickets will be honored later.

- Curtis Krueger, Times staff writer

Gas prices set record in Tampa Bay area

The Tampa Bay area set a new record for gasoline today when average prices for regular unleaded reached $3.145 per gallon. It broke the old record of $3.114 per gallon set on Nov. 15 of last year.

Florida's average gas prices set their own record at $3.196 per gallon. Crude oil prices near $100 per barrel get most of the blame for the rise in prices.

The American Automobile Association predicts gas prices could reach $3.75 per gallon by the Fourth of July.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Progress, TECO score high marks with JD Power

Maybe you don’t like your electricity bill, but Progress Energy and Tampa Electric have apparently given customers little other reason to complain. J.D. Power & Associates, a California global marketing information firm, released its utility customer satisfaction survey this morning.

Progress Energy ranked fourth in the region, with a 727 score out of a possible 1,000. Tampa Electric ranked fifth with a score of 723. Florida Power & Light ranked 10th, with a below-average score of 694. The highest ranked was CPS Energy in San Antonio, with 748, followed by South Carolina Power & Light and Southern Company.

The average score in the Southern region was the highest of the four regions, with a score of 705. The scores were based on interviews with more than 13,500 businesses that spend $500 to $50,000 a month on electricity.

The survey took into account power quality and reliability, customer service, billing and payment, price, and communications.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Box cutter suspect faces federal charge

Benjamin Baines Jr., the 21-year-old Clearwater man caught at Tampa International Airport on Sunday with a box cutter hidden in a hollowed-out book, faces a federal felony charge.

A complaint was filed Sunday in U.S. District Court in Tampa charging Baines with attempting to carry a dangerous weapon on an aircraft, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Baines pleaded guilty in Hillsborough County court Monday to carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Baines will make a first appearance in federal court after serving the jail sentence, said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Verizon announces new unlimited calling plan

Wireless giant Verizon today debuted unlimited nationwide calling plans, signaling a new course for the cell phone industry.

A couple of hours later, AT&T began touting a similar plan.

For $99.99 a month, the Verizon and AT&T plans allow customers to chat as much as they want with anyone, anywhere and at any time. Until now, prepaid cell phone companies were the only ones offering unlimited plans. Sprint, a rival has unlimited plans, but restricted to certain areas such as Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Minneapolis.
Verizon also announced new plans for customers who access the Web on their phones. The plans, available March 2, will offer 50 megabytes of data usage for $39.99 a month, or five gigabytes of usage for $59.99   

- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Progress asks feds to approve new nukes

This morning, Progress Energy Carolinas asked federal regulators to approve its plans to build two new nuclear reactors in North Carolina. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said that the licensing application will likely take more than three years to win approval.

The Carolinas utility picked the Westinghouse AP1000, the same technology on the drawing board for its sister utility, Progress Energy Florida. The St. Petersburg-based utility plans to build a pair of reactors in Levy County. Both utilities have carefully avoided voicing any commitment to build, saying only that its trying to preserve the option.

The utilities remain conspicuously silent on one crucial piece of information: cost.

When Progress Energy announced its plans more than a year ago, it offered a single-reactor estimate of $2-billion to $3-billion. In recent months, the utility -- along with others in the industry -- has backed away from that early estimate, saying it wasn't an all-inclusive estimate. But it has not given a new figure.

The industry has proffered a range of new guesses that double and even triple that early estimate. Perhaps the best guess comes from Florida Power & Light. Unlike its industry brethren, the Juno Beach utility has been unusually candid on the subject of cost. It has offered a two-reactor estimate on the Westinghouse AP1000 that ranges from $12-billion to $18-billion.

Progress Energy Florida plans to file its case for new nuclear with the Florida Public Service Commission some time in March. That utility has said it won't offer new estimates until then. It has estimated the cost of its 10-county, 200-mile transmission project to support the new plant at about $2-billion.

Read more about Progress Energy's new nuclear plans here:

Nuclear Power Costs Surge in Rush to Build --  Dec. 12, 2007

Nature Coast to Nuclear Coast -- Dec. 9, 2007

Utilities Press Land Access Law -- Feb. 7, 2007

Power Line Idea Takes Big Bite from Preserve -- Feb. 16, 2008

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Rummell to step down at St. Joe

Peter S. Rummell, who has led the transformation of St. Joe Co. from papermaker to place maker, is stepping down as chief executive of the Jacksonville company in mid May.

Rummell, a former Disney executive, will remain chairman and be replaced in the top executive spot by Britt Greene, St. Joe's president. The publicly traded company, which owns about 700,000 acres in Florida, continues to suffer from a weak residential real estate market. It reported 2007 earnings of $39.2-million, or 53 cents a share, on revenues of $377-million, compared to net income of $51-million, or 69 cents a share, on revenues of $524.3-million a year ago.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Cott Corp. officially opens new Tampa office

Gov. Charlie Crist was in Tampa on Friday to help celebrate the grand opening of Cott Corp.’s new digs at 5519 W Idlewild Ave.

The Canadian beverage company has had a bottling plant in Tampa since 1997. The new “global office” doubles Cott’s Tampa employment to more than 200. The office serves as U.S. headquarters, and its employees work with Cott operations in other countries, including Mexico and the United Kingdom. The 60,000-square-foot building incorporated many green-building materials and products.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

Bomb threat investigation continues at Raytheon

ST. PETERSBURG -- St. Petersburg police are investigating a bomb threat called in this morning at the Raytheon facility, which led company officials to send employees home early, school officials to evacuate one elementary campus and police to close nearby streets.

Raytheon Network Centric Systems spokesman Kevin Ramundo said the company received a bomb threat via telephone about 7 a.m. today. The company evacuated all 900 employees at the 1501 72nd St. N location as a precaution.

By 10 a.m., the company decided to send employees home. By noon, Ramundo said, authorities had information that there was "some substance to the threat.'' He declined to say more.

Police closed surrounding streets and public areas near the plant. Azalea Elementary School, 1680 74th St. N, evacuated all its students to nearby Azalea Middle School, 7855 22nd Ave. N.

"At this point, we have not found a bomb,'' Ramundo said from the company's headquarters in McKinney, Texas. "It doesn't mean there isn't a bomb.''

Two bomb-sniffing dogs from MacDill Air Force Base are at the scene.

-- Melanie Ave, Times staff writer

Local foreclosure filings double in 2007

Foreclosure cases in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area reached 41,539 in 2007, nearly double what they were the year before, the firm RealtyTrac said. Among the nation’s top 100 metros, we ranked 23rd worst, with 1.9 percent of households reporting mortgage defaults. Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach all had a higher percentage of foreclosure filings, as did real estate trouble spots like Las Vegas, Detroit, Cleveland and Denver. RealtyTrac tends to double count foreclosure filings. The firm said a total of 24,086 properties accounted for the 41,539 filings.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Allstate: Back on the hot seat again

The co-chairs of the Florida Senate committee investigating the property insurance industry asked Thursday that Allstate Insurance Corp. produce hundreds of documents relating to how the company does business. Allstate, Florida’s fourth-largest homeowner insurer and a frequent target of state lawmakers, regulators and Gov. Charlie Crist, has two weeks to comply.

In a letter to Allstate Floridian CEO Joe Richardson, Sens. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and Steven Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, request most of the same documents the state is already seeking through an investigation led by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.

Lawmakers want to see internal communications between Allstate and its affiliates, as well as documents relating to hurricane modeling, rate filing, rating agencies and reinsurance contracts.

The Senate Select Committee on Property Insurance Accountability spent two days earlier this month grilling five insurance companies, including Allstate, about their business practices and rate-making process. The committee, which has singled out only Allstate, is next scheduled to meet Tuesday in Tallahassee.

Last fall, McCarty sent seven subpoenas to Allstate seeking much of the same information. But after he had determined that Allstate had turned over only a fraction of the documents, McCarty tried to block the Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer from writing any new business in the state. An appeals court overturned McCarty’s order, but the state is contesting that ruling.

- Times staff writer

Florida shares $41-million Caremark settlement

Florida will get 2.7-million from a nationwide $41-million settlement with Caremark Rx, one of the nation's biggest pharmacy benefits managers.

Attorneys general in 29 states and the District of Columbia said Caremark engaged in deceptive business practices by encouraging doctors to switch patients to different brand-name drugs, claiming the switch would save patients money.

Caremark will pay $2.5-million to patients who incurred expenses because of certain switches in cholesterol medicines. Florida will get $1.7-million to benefit low-income and elderly consumers. The state will also get $1-million from the settlement to cover investigation costs. In addition to the financial settlement, Caremark has agreed to change its procedure for soliciting prescription changes.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Progress Energy profits dip in fourth quarter

Progress Energy's fourth-quarter profits fell by more than half as the company absorbed the impact of selling off a coal mine and river terminals associated with its synthetic fuels business.

The region's largest electric company said 2007 fourth-quarter earnings were $103-million, or 40 cents per share, versus $254-million, or $1.01 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The company reported a better performance for the year as a whole. Full-year earnings were $504-million, or $1.97 per share. A year earlier they totaled $571-million, or $2.28 per share. Revenue rose from $8.72-billion to $9.13-billion.

Progress, with 3.1-million customers in three states, gained 23,000 new customers in Florida last year.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Bright House hikes cable TV fees

Beginning March 1, Bright House Networks is increasing the price on phone, cable and high-speed Internet service by an average of 1.1. percent.

That would boost the monthly bill for basic cable service from $48 to $49. The rate hike affects customers in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco, Citrus, Hernando and Manatee counties. The increase will spare customers who have digital cable or bundled services.

"It's the lowest price increase in years," said Joe Durkin, company spokesman. Bright House had a less than 5 percent rate hike last year.

Highers costs to provide services triggered the price bump, Durkin said.

Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Lotto to offer super-sized jackpots

The Florida Lottery wants you to super-size that Lotto ticket.

Starting March 2, the lottery will offer $2 and $3 Lotto tickets that can win extra jackpots with the same six numbers as a $1 ticket. Players matching all six numbers with a $2 ticket can win the basic jackpot plus up to $10-million. Those with a $3 ticket can win the basic jackpot, the $10-million, plus another $15-million -- a $25-million bonus in all.

The Lotto is 20 years old, and revenues have trended down since the early 1990s. "We felt it was time to freshen it up,'' says Lottery spokeswoman Jacqueline Barreiros. "It's a jackpot-driven game. The goal is to find a way to drive up the jackpot for (the benefit of) education.''

- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Holland & Knight chief won't seek re-election

Holland & Knight managing partner Howell Melton Jr. won’t run for re-election next month, saying his decision is in the Florida law firm’s “best interests.” In a memo to the staff, the 56-year-old litigator said that while he is confident he could win a second five-year term, he wants to avoid “drag(ging) our firm through a potentially divisive election” and plans to spend more time with his family. His successor will be chosen next month at the 1,100-lawyer firm’s annual partner meeting in Orlando.

- Scott Barancik, Times staff writer

Westshore Glass files for Chapter 11

Westshore Glass Corp., a 54-year-old Tampa company that specializes in glass and metal products, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Jan. 30. In its filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the company listed assets of $10.1-million and liabilities of $14.9-million. The company, which is owned by four members of the Elozory family and employs about 115 people, reported net sales of $21.1-million in 2007, about $5-million less than the year before. Westshore Glass notified the state last week that 113 employees, virtually the entire company, would be laid off by Wednesday. But a company spokesman said Monday that Westshore does not plan layoffs as it attempts to restructure. The home page of the company's Web site (www.westshoreglass.com) offers "Glass trucks and trailers for sale!!''

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

AT&T to deliver Wi-Fi service at Starbucks

AT&T said it will deliver Wi-Fi service at more than 7,000 Starbucks stores across the country. But there's a catch. The service won't be free for the occasional customers grabbing their morning cup of coffee, or non-AT&T clients. The two companies said Starbucks Card holders will have two hours of free Wi-Fi service per day, while AT&T broadband and U-verse Internet customers will have unlimited and free access. There's a paid option for customers who don't qualify for free access. You can pay $3.99 per session for a two-hour period. Monthly membership is priced at $19.99 per month. AT&T will implement the service beginning this spring.
- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Cryo-Cell reports loss

Cryo-Cell International Inc. in Oldsmar reported that losses widened last year while revenues remained nearly flat. The stem-cell storage company, which is under court orders to hold a new board election, lost $5-million, or 43 cents a share, on revenues of $17.5-million for the year ended Nov. 30. That compares to a loss of $2.8-million, or 24 cents a share, on revenues of $17.2-million a year earlier. Cryo-Cell's performance report comes three weeks before it asks shareholders to elect six directors, including company chairman and chief executive Mercedes Walton. A dissident shareholder challenged Walton's handling of Cryo-Cell's board election in July, and a Delaware court ordered a revote, which will be held at 3 p.m. on March 4 at the Courtyard Marriott in Oldsmar.

- Times staff writer

Yahoo rejects Microsoft offer

Internet company Yahoo Inc. spurned software giant Microsoft's unsolicited $45-billion bid to buy the company. In a U.S. Securities and Exchange filing this morning, struggling Yahoo said the offer "undervalues" the company, "including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments."
Last week, news of Microsoft's attempt at a Yahoo takeover set the tech community abuzz and threatened to dwarf the might of Internet giant Google. Some analysts are rooting for a Yahoo-Google alliance. Yahoo shares climbed 70 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $29.92 in early trading.

- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Tampa finally lands a Crate & Barrel

After a decade-long flirtation, International Plaza in Tampa has landed Crate & Barrel, a housewares and home decor chain known for its white porcelain dinnerware and spotless, almost antiseptic, room displays.

The two-story stand-alone store won't be inside the mall, but on four acres at the highly visible entrance fronting the northeast corner of Boy Scout and West Shore boulevards.

Construction begins soon on the store, which is scheduled to open in spring 2009. Founded in 1962 by newlyweds impressed with minimalist look of modern European decor on their honeymoon, Crate & Barrel has grown to 160 stores and a popular direct-mail order business. Locally it's trying to crack a niche held for about 20 years by Williams Sonoma and its Pottery Barn chain that has been copied by big home and department stores.

-- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

New homes starts off more than half in 2007

Forced to deal with the credit crunch and a saturated market, Tampa Bay area builders started about 59 percent fewer homes last year than they did in 2006.

According to the firm Metrostudy, housing starts plunged year over year from 18,158 to 7,408. New home closings showed less of a drop, declining 37.8 percent by the end of 2007.

Metrostudy analyst Tony Polito expects the new home market to return to equilibrium in the fall, but he suspects prices will need to fall.

"The long-term cure is likely a price shift to get back in touch with buyers and their income," Polito said.

The region's best-selling neighborhoods in 2007 were Meadow Pointe in Pasco County and Cypress Creek and South Fork in southeastern Hillsborough County.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

State gets competition for local government funds

Local governments upset by the way the State Board of Administration managed their money announced today that they have formed a new Florida Surplus Asset Fund Trust.

Economist Hank Fishkind will be chairman of the board of trustees, and the money will be managed by Davidson Fixed Income Investment Management. Davidson has experience managing a similar fund in Colorado. Because of that background, the new fund will start out with a AAAm rating from Standard & Poor's Corp.

According to this fact sheet, the new fund will offer competitive yields (initially 4 percent).

The SBA incurred the wrath of local governments by investing in mortgage-backed securities and then freezing their assets to stop a run on the Local Government Investment Pool.

- Times staff writer

Hartford to drop 27,000 Florida policies

Among the many details that emerged from the Florida Senate's insurance hearing Tuesday was this gem: the Hartford Group has stopped writing new business in the state and plans to drop about a third of all of its homeowner policies, about 27,000 in all, starting in August.

The move will leave Hartford primarily with policies it has sold through AARP. “We have not been profitable in Florida for an extended period of time,’’ Hartford vice president Tom Johnston told lawmakers.

Asked if the company has found another carrier for those who will be cancelled, Johnston said no. He did acknowledge that the company used profit margins of 15-percent or more, and that it transacted a $1-billion stock buy-back last year.

Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Barry Diller: Cornerstone deal was a mistake

Barry Diller, chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp, said he made a "mistake" acquiring Cornerstone Brands three years ago in hopes that the catalog operator's home products selection would compliment HSN, his St. Petersburg-based TV shopping network.

Diller told analysts Wednesday the connections between HSN's merchandise needs and the owner of Ballard Designs, Frontage and Garnet Hill, for which he paid $720-million, never meshed.

Diller said when IAC spins off HSN and Cornerstone this spring, he expects HSN to overhaul or sell the catalog business outright.

The spinoff hinges on the outcome of a lawsuit headed for trial in Delaware on March 10. IAC'S biggest shareholder, John Malone's Liberty Media Corp., is trying to oust Diller, claiming he violated a proxy agreement that enabled Diller to control IAC for 13 years by voting Liberty's shares.

Diller countered that Liberty never objected to the spinoff until learning it would not get back controlling interest in HSN without paying more for it.

- Times staff writer

TECO defends higher rates

12:07 UPDATE

TECO Energy spokeswoman Laura Duda defended the company's "rate relief'' request for Tampa Electric and People's Gas. "As you can imagine, the cost to serve our customers looks a lot different today than it did 16 years ago," Duda said.

Tampa Electric's current rate is $114.38 for 1,000 kilowatt hours, Duda said. That includes a monthly customer charge for services of $8.50, as well as the base energy charge that covers all non-fuel energy costs needed to produce electricity, like power plants and transmission lines. Those two items would be reviewed as part of any rate increase. The average residential customer uses close to 1,300 kilowatt hours per month.

The company hasn't said how much it expects rates to increase. "I think it's too early to project that," Duda said.

Also included in a customer's monthly bill is a passed-through fuel charge. It's the single largest component of a bill, and Tampa Electric's fuel charge is $52.41 for a 1,000 kilowatt hour per month bill. That amount is reconciled every year by the Florida Public Service Commission based on what the utilities pay for fuel, and wouldn't be part of a base rate review.

The request could mean higher prices for Tampa Electric's more than 666,000 customers, and the more than 330,000 customers served by Peoples Gas.

Gordon Gillette, chief financial officer and executive vice president for TECO Energy, said he couldn’t say when the rate case would be filed. “We think we’re going to need rate relief in 2009 with Tampa Electric, but we haven’t been specific, and really can’t be at this point, as to when we would file,” Gillette told the financial community Tuesday morning.

Tampa Electric hasn't sough a base rate increase since 1992, said spokeswoman Laura Duda. Since then, the utility has added 1,100 megawatts of generating capacity, 17 substations, 100 miles of transmission, and more than 200,000 customers -- a 42 percent increase in its customer base. In those 16 years, the consumer price index has risen 48 percent, labor costs have increased 77 percent, prices for steel and concrete soared more than 70 percent. Add to that the increasing cost of health care as well as new federal and state safety and environmental requirements, and the company needs to raise rates, Duda said.

The Tampa utility announced its 2007 results Tuesday morning. The company more than tripled its net income and share price in the fourth quarter of 2007. That includes the $146.1-million after-tax gain from the sale of TECO Transport. Despite that bright spot, the company is coping with higher operating costs, higher capital demands, and slower growth and lower per-household energy use at both People’s Gas and Tampa Electric.

                       4th Qtr     Year ago
Net income      $173.9M    $48.9M
Per share         83 cents    23 cents
                       2007         2006
Net income      $413.2M    $246.3M
Per share         $1.98        $1.19

GAAP results excluding synfuels and the TECO Transport sale give a clearer picture of the company's performance. See below:

                       4th Qtr     Year ago
Net income      $47.7M     $37M
Per share         23 cents    18 cents
                       2007         2006
Net income      $223.7M    $201.5M
Per share         $1.07        97 cents

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Allstate is 'bobbing and weaving' like 'Muhammad Ali,' senator says

They asked about rates, profits and hurricane computer models. They even asked what their salaries were.

But the Senate Select Committee on Property Insurance Accountability got few solid answers from four Allstate officials Monday, the first of two days of hearings looking into why some property insurers have asked to increase homeowner rates despite a new law intended to lower premiums.

"I haven't seen so much bobbing and weaving since Muhammad Ali did the rope-a-dope,'' said Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge. "When we hear no direct answers, it gives me six more questions."

Allstate Floridian CEO Joe Richardson told the committee his company paid out about $1-billion more in claims in 2004-05 than it took in premiums. Had it not been bailed out by its parent company, Allstate Corp., the Florida subsidiary would have been insolvent, Richardson said.

But committee members countered that the company not only remained in business, it made sizable profits and was prepared to ask for more -- 23 percent -- this year.

"I think a 23 percent profit off the top is not reasonable for the policyholders,'' said Deputy Insurance Commissioner Belinda Miller.

"Where does that money go?'' asked Posey.

Allstate officials said to build their surplus. "We are not producing an underwriting profit,'' said Allstate vice president Bonnie Gill.

Last month, Florida regulators tried to suspend Allstate from writing any new policies in a dispute over documents the state wants as part of its investigation into Allstate's rates. An appeals court is considering the issue now, but while the case is in the courts, Allstate is allowed to sell policies.

Nationwide officials also testified Monday, with Florida Farm Bureau, American Strategic and Hartford scheduled to appear Tuesday.

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Jobs down, but so is unemployment

The economy lost 17,000 jobs in January, fueling fears that a recession is on the way if not here already. However, the drop in payroll numbers, the first in more than four years, was accompanied by an improvement in the unemployment rate, from 5 to 4.9 percent. Here's the release from the Department of Labor.

"You expect volatility in unemployment data during periods of slowdown," said Chip Norton, managing director of economic analysis and fixed income for Lydian. "Divergence in the data happens pretty regularly. What economic conditions are telling us is that there's some slowdown, but it's not massive and it's not broad-based."

Manufacturing and construction continue to lose jobs, while education and health care gain.

Florida's last reported unemployment rate was 4.7 percent for December. January numbers won't be released until March 7.

-- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

Gag grouper fishing to face quota

ST. PETERSBURG - Fishing regulators voted today to restrict off-shore gag grouper fishing despite objections from commercial and recreational anglers.

The tentative ruling will not be confirmed until the next quarterly meeting in April to allow time for public hearings and written comments. The rules would then be posted in the Federal Register for further comment. The earliest they would go into effect is late 2008, said Roy Crabtree, administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service's Southeast region.

The restrictions would close down recreational grouper fishing for three months in the winter, just when tourists arrive. Anglers would be limited to one gag per trip, and three grouper total. Commercial fisherman would face a quota on gag for the first time, with limits tight enough to shut down the entire grouper fleet every year by October or so -- forcing restaurants and consumers to rely on imports.

The restrictions are designed to reduce gag fish in the Gulf of Mexico by 45 percent. They apply to federal waters, which begin nine miles from shore, but the State of Florida typically matches such rules for inshore fishing as well.

Today's vote by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council comes one day after several hundred anglers, charter boat captains and marine supply store objected to the new restrictions.

Go here for more on the proposed restrictions and here for more on grouper, the Gulf of Mexico fish that is a something of an icon at Tampa Bay area restaurants.

-- Steve Nohlgren, Times staff writer

Allstate wins again - for now

The 1st District Court of Appeal again rejected Florida's attempt to immediately stop 10 Allstate Insurance Corp. companies from writing new policies in Florida. But in its ruling late Wednesday, the court also set the stage for what could be a quick resolution to the legal battle.

The court ruled that Florida regulators and Allstate have 40 days to submit paperwork supporting their positions. The court had initially stopped the state’s suspension of Allstate on Jan. 18, but Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty appealed that decision last week.

Wednesday’s decision allows Allstate’s 1,100 agents in Florida to keep writing new policies. The ban would have applied to all types of insurance sold by Allstate, but would not affect existing Allstate policies.

Regulators want to know why Allstate, the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, has not complied with legislation passed last year that directs insurance companies to lower their homeowner rates. Allstate had asked to raise its homeowner rates an average of 42 percent statewide, a request that was denied in November.

Allstate has about 300,000 homeowners policies in Florida, about half the number it had four years ago.

McCarty said Thursday he remains committed to "get to the bottom of this issue and to ensure that Allstate is held accountable to the law.”

Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Lawsuit: U.S. Sugar rejected a sweet buyout offer

U.S. Sugar Corp. rejected a $575-million buyout offer and kept it secret from shareholders because selling the Clewiston, Fla.-based agricultural giant didn't serve the founding Mott family's personal interests, a federal lawsuit filed Thursday claims.

Three former U.S. Sugar workers who own shares of its stock under an employee retirement plan claim chairman William S. White rejected a $293-per-share offer in 2005 and again in 2007 even though it was nearly $100-per-share more than the company was paying employees for cashed-in stock. White allegedly fired CEO Robert Dolson after learning of the negotiated offer and then wired him a $10-million "pay-off" so that he wouldn't leak the offer to shareholders.

The suit claims White rejected the offer so that the descendants of founder Charles Stewart Mott, including White's own spouse, could retain their high-paying positions within the company and continue to increase their stake in it via employee stock sales. U.S. Sugar -- the country's largest producer of refined cane sugar as well as a substantial citrus grower -- is privately held, and the only way its retirees can monetize their stock is by selling it back to the company or as part of a corporate acquisition.

According to the complaint, retired U.S. Sugar employees are the company's largest shareholder at 38 percent, but have no representation on the company's board of directors and were not apprised of the buyout offer. A majority of the retirees were said to be former farmworkers, equipment operators or mechanics.

-- Scott Barancik, Times Staff Writer

Rubio and Crist lawyers spar over gambling

House Speaker Marco Rubio's attorney told the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday that Gov. Charlie Crist went "over the line" and exceeded his authority in allowing the Seminole Tribe of Florida to operate casino gambling without legislative approval.

Lawyers for Crist and the tribe countered that the governor had the right to enter into a deal with the Indians, and that lawmakers had 16 years to pass a law requiring legislative approval -- but didn't.

The justices sharply questioned both sides, pointedly challenging their claims, in a full hour of argument in a case that represents a major test of a governor's power to enter into contracts.

Rubio's attorney, former House Speaker Jon Mills, said Crist made a "dramatic and historic change in gambling policy and public policy in Florida" in dealing with the tribe, and that the legislature was wrongly
excluded.

The governor does not to get to implement public policy by himself," Mills argued.

But Justice Charles Wells, noting that the federal government was pressuring Crist to negotiate a compact, interjected: "Isn't it the necessary business of the governor to try to work out an arrangement?"

Crist last summer negotiated a 25-year deal with the tribe, allowing it to offer slot machines and so-called banked table games such as blackjack and baccarat that are illegal under Florida law.

Crist's attorney, Chris Kise, argued that Florida voters sanctioned that expansion of gambling when they approved a constitutional amendment that allowed counties the option to legalize slot machines.

Kise said Crist's dealings with the tribe were done in accordance with federal gaming law, "a matter about which the Legislature has no role ...(Crist) made a decision because he needed to make a decision."

"You make it sound ministerial," Justice Barbara Pariente told Kise.

When Kise argued that Crist had the power under federal law to allow banked card games, Pariente told him: "I think you have an uphill battle on this issue."

A third attorney, Barry Richard of the Seminole Tribe, said the justices were being asked to rule only on the question of an ambiguity in federal law: whether the term "such gaming" allows Crist to allow certain games otherwise banned.

The justices did not indicate when they will issue a decision, and their questions suggested they might wait until after the spring legislative session to give lawmakers one more opportunity to pass a law that would invalidate parts of the agreement.

-- Steve Bousquet, Tallahassee Bureau Chief

TECO's John Ramil joins board of directors

TECO Energy, parent company of Tampa Electric, on Wednesday named John Ramil to its board of directors.

Ramil, 52, has been with the company for more than 30 years. He was named president and chief operating officer of TECO Energy in July 2004, and is in charge of TECO Energy's four operating companies: Tampa Electric, TECO Coal, TECO Guatemala and Peoples Gas.

He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Florida, and currently serves as vice chairman of the USF Board of Trustees. He also serves on the board of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Swimming in green, or drowning in CO2?

The great greening of America gets mixed reviews, according to the inaugural GreenBiz Index, a first-of-its-kind benchmark of “green” released today. The report rates U.S. performance in several areas of greening, from alternate fuel vehicles to corporate carbon reductions, as sink, tread water, or swim.

Much-hyped greening is real, but incremental, concluded Joel Makower, author and expert on corporate environmentalism. In the report, “The State of Green Business 2008,” he noted the move toward a carbon tax or carbon cap-and-trade scheme that could reduce greenhouse gases, but said there’s a lot of work remaining. He lauded the auto industry’s foray into plug-in electric hybrids, although the cars remain years away from an appearance on your car dealer’s lot. Corporate truck fleets, like Wal-Mart’s, have committed to shedding gas-guzzlers and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Consumers found all sorts of green claims on store shelves, but remained wary of the earth-friendly pledges. Well building went bust, green building provided a bright spot, with energy-efficient construction expected to double in size to a $4.7-billion market by 2011.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Florida consumer confidence at recession levels

The Florida Consumer Confidence Index dropped this month to its lowest level in 16 years. "Consumer confidence in Florida reflects the same conditions we had during the recession of 1990-1991," said Chris McCarty, who directs the consumer survey for the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

He said Florida is "almost certainly" in a recession. Although he said the recession might be confined to a few states, such as Florida and California, "it is very possible that the effects of the housing crunch in these states may result in a recession for the entire country, if we aren't in one already." Here is the detailed report.

Times staff writer

Builder files for bankruptcy

TOUSA Inc, parent company of the builder behind New Tampa's Live Oak Preserve, filed Tuesday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Florida company, which also built Pasco County's Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club, blamed the credit crisis, falling home prices, low consumer confidence and high inventory for its troubles.

It promises "business as usual" as it restructures. TOUSA is the second builder active in the Tampa area to file for bankruptcy. The first was Levitt & Sons, active in Hernando County.

Florida's share of insurance settlement: $3-million

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced today that the state has reached a settlement with a large insurance carrier involved in a "pay-to-play" tactic used by Marsh & McLennan and other insurance brokers.

American International Group Inc. will pay $12.5-million to Florida and eight other states, as well as the District of Columbia, to resolve allegations that some of its insurance subsidiaries engaged in bid-rigging and price-fixing in the commercial insurance market. Florida's share is about $3-million.

AIG and several of its insurance subsidiaries allegedly conspired with Marsh and other brokers by submitting fake bids to create the illusion of a competitive bidding process in the excess casualty commercial insurance market. Investigators determined that despite the appearance of a fair bidding process, the broker had already decided which insurer would receive a particular policyholder's business. As part of the scheme, AIG paid the brokers "contingent commissions" that were not disclosed to policyholders and in return received other lucrative business.

The Florida Attorney General's Office, Department of Financial Services and Office of Insurance Regulation will receive approximately $3-million of the settlement. The money will be used to fund a reimbursement pool for affected policyholders and repay state agencies' investigative costs.

Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Fake bomb slips through Tampa airport security

TAMPA -- A fake bomb slipped past security at Tampa International Airport, CNN reports.

A tester from the federal Transportation Security Administration told officers that the device wrapped around his lower back was a back brace. "He gets through, which in real life would mean a terrorist was headed toward a plane with a bomb," CNN reports.

The TSA hires and trains security officers to check passengers at the airport; calls for comment were not immediately returned.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

New homes sales drop by a quarter

U.S. new home sales dropped 26 percent last year, from 1.05-million in 2006 to 774,000 in 2007, according to the Department of Commerce.

Sales seemed to worsen as the year progressed. Single month sales comparing December 2006 to December 2007 showed a drop of 40.7 percent.

While the Feds didn't have specific numbers for the Tampa Bay area, local housing analysts says sales are off more than 50 percent here. Florida's glut of real estate has hit new home construction harder.

-- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Pasco couple accused of payroll fraud

A Pasco County couple whose payroll firm allegedly left clients with more than $1-million in unpaid taxes was arrested this morning.

  Ronald D. Mascitti, 42, and his wife, Elizabeth, 52, were arrested at their 7903 Genoa Lane home in Land O' Lakes. Both face a slew of charges, including grand theft, conspiracy and organized fraud. They're at the Land O' Lakes jail in lieu of $2-million bail each.

The couple ran a payroll service business called Professional Payroll Plus. According to former clients, the couple withheld payroll taxes but never turned that money over to the Internal Revenue Service. The bilked businesses are still on the hook to the IRS for the money. The couple filed for bankruptcy in May 2007 and listed pages of creditors owed $1.5-million. The also started a new company called Florida HR Solutions.

Read more:

Payroll firm leaves bitter trail

Payroll clients left in lurch

-- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

WellCare chairman and CEO resigns

Todd Farha, chairman and chief executive of Tampa's WellCare Health Plans Inc., has resigned, according to an email sent to employees this afternoon.

He said he will be succeeded as chief executive by Heath Schiesser, who was part of WellCare's management team when it was acquired from Dr. Kiran Patel in 2002, but who left the company in 2006.

Farha did not say why he is leaving or reveal his future plans.

WellCare is in the midst of a federal probe into allegations of health care fraud. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that WellCare's directors were negotiating the Farha's departure as well as two other executives.

No comment was immediately available from the company on the status of the other two executives, Paul Behrens, WellCare's chief financial officer, or Thaddeus Bereday, general counsel.

Florida nuke plants avoid drought woes with saltwater

Nuclear plants throughout the Southeast face possible shut downs as drought depletes their water supply, the Associated Press reports. Since nuclear plants are the cheapest for utilities to run, any shutdown could raise your electricity bill, as utilities are forced to buy higher-priced wholesale power or rely on more expensive fuels like natural gas.

But Florida nuclear customers need not worry, since its nuclear plants rely on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean for their water needs.

"No matter how bad the drought is, water levels in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic aren't going down," said Roger Hannah, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Progress Energy Florida's nuclear plant, Crystal River 3, draws its cooling water from the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Petersburg utility plans a new nuclear plant in Levy County that would do the same, drawing water from the unfinished Cross Florida barge canal and piping it several miles to the plant, and then several miles back out the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida Power & Light's two reactors at St. Lucie draw cooling water from the Atlantic Ocean.

Its two reactors at Turkey Point gets cooling water from a unique network of man-made canals that sprawl over 6,800 acres. The canals rely on rainwater and saltwater from Biscayne Bay to stay at the appropriate levels, said FP&L spokeswoman April Schilpp.

Nuclear plants, like other power plants, uses millions of gallons a day to cool the steam they use to turn turbines to generate electricity. The cooling water never comes into contact with the "process water" used to generate steam inside the plant or cool the reactors. Instead, the cooling water passes over pipes of steam, cooling and condensing it before the process water returns to the plant.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Tampa Electric cuts greenhouse gases

Who's green now? Tampa Electric said today they've met the greenhouse gas reduction commitments made to the Chicago Climate Exchange, cutting emissions 4 percent below the average from 1998 through 2001.

TECO Energy, Tampa Electric's parent company, joined the Chicago Climate Exchange in 2004, a year after the exchange was founded. Members make voluntary but legally binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gases. Companies that meet or exceed their reduction targets sell their "surplus" to participating polluters that couldn't meet their reduction targets.

"We are pleased with this recognition, which reinforces the hard work of our entire team to dramatically improve Tampa Electric's environmental profile, and we're proud of the resulting air quality improvements that benefit our customers and the communities we serve," said president Chuck Black.

Tampa Electric, often vilified by environmentalists for its coal-burning power plants at Big Bend, started a 10-year, $1.2-billion environmental improvement plan in 1998, the company said. Since then, it has cut emissions of carbon dioxide, mercury, as well as pollutants that cause smog and acid rain.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Wellcare's top three execs may be out, paper says

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, is reporting that the board of Tampa’s WellCare Health Plans Inc. is negotiating the departure of the company’s three top executives —including chairman and chief executive Todd Farha — amid a probe into fraud allegations at the managed-care provider. Details may be made public Thursday. The discussions with Farha, chief financial officer Paul Behrens and general counsel Thaddeus Bereday come three months after more than 200 federal and state agents raided the company’s Tampa headquarters.

Moffitt strengthens ties with UF, Shands

Tampa’s Moffitt Cancer Center is partnering with University of Florida and Shands HealthCare in Gainesville to improve cancer care and research at the three institutions.

The agreement includes extending Moffitt’s Total Cancer Care model to Shands patients, who will be asked to contribute clinical information and tissue to Moffitt's growing database from 15 hospitals.

The information will be used by participating doctors and researchers to tailor therapies to patients' genetic profiles.

Moffitt will also seek to integrate its "comprehensive cancer center'' designation from the National Cancer Institute with UF and Shands, leading to more NCI grants and clinical trials.

Dr. William S. Dalton, Moffitt’s president and chief executive, said the new alliance will only enhance his group’s long-standing relationship with the University of South Florida. "As far as I’m concerned, the family just got bigger,'' he said.

State still wants Allstate shut down

Claiming that Allstate Corp.’s failure to turn over documents is a crime, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation filed a brief today with the First District Court of Appeal seeking to suspend Allstate’s license to do business in the state.

Insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty last Thursday ordered that Allstate be banned from selling any new insurance policies in Florida. McCarty said Allstate had failed to turn over documents crucial to a state investigation into the company’s underwriting practices. Regulators also want to know why Allstate has not passed savings on to policyholders.

But after being shut down just one day, Illinois-based Allstate got the order overturned by the appellate court, and Florida’s third-largest property insurer was back in business.

"This doesn’t change the fact our agencies are open for business,'' said Allstate spokesman Adam Shores, "and we’ll continue to produce documents requested in the subpoena.''

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Feds to FPL: $208,000 fine for faulty nuke security

If you’re guarding a nuclear power plant, your gun better work.

That’s the message federal regulators sent Tuesday to Florida Power & Light. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed a $208,000 fine for four security violations at the utility’s Turkey Point nuclear plant, including security workers who deliberately broke the firing pins on their weapons.

The violations occurred in 2004 and 2005, according to the commission. The commission, a federal agency that oversees the safety of the U.S. nuclear industry, also faulted the Juno Beach utility for failing to promptly report the violations.

Three of the four employees involved worked for Wackenhut, and none of the four work at the plant now, said FP&L spokeswoman April Schilpp. Wackenhut still provides security, and the utility has improved training, she said. The utility has 30 days to appeal the fine, but has no plans to, she said.

“The NRC confirms that at no time was plant security compromised,” Schilpp said. “That’s the important thing.”

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

State Awards $25-million for biofuels

The state handed out $25-million in “Farm to Fuel” grants on Tuesday, including $11-million for two biofuel producers that have projects around Tampa Bay. But the money won’t be spent on local projects.

U.S. EnviroFuels received $7-million from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a $47-million sugar waste-to-ethanol facility in Venus. The company’s plans for an ethanol plant at Port of Tampa has been held up by a legal dispute.

Agri-Source Fuels, which has a biodiesel plant in Dade City, received $4-million for a new, $21-million biodiesel plant in Pensacola.

The state created the Farm to Fuel program to spur investment in biofuel production and research in Florida.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Well-known bank investor dies

Richard Paul Hunt, founder and chairman of Kendrick Pierce & Co., died Saturday in Tampa of lung cancer. Hunt, 66, built his firm into one of the leading investment banks specializing in community banks and financial service firms. Kendrick Pierce & Co. was responsible for advising in the organization and capitalization of more than 120 banks and thrifts in the area. His sons, Russ and Jeff, will co-manage the firm.

Alico Inc. board vote causes controversy

Two Florida legislators who are also grandsons of legendary Florida citrus baron Ben Hill Griffin Jr. may end up in court as a result of a board vote taken this morning.

State Sen. J.D. Alexander was reportedly elected to replace his cousin, state Rep. Baxter Troutman, on the board of Alico Inc., a public company controlled by Griffin's descendants. Alexander and Troutman are Griffin's grandsons.

Alexander, a Republican from Lake Wales, joins his father (Alico's chief executive) and brother-in-law on the nine-member Alico board. Both Alexanders have been strong proponents of developing Alico's 136,000 acres, which are now largely agricultural.

Troutman has urged restraint in changing direction at one of the state's largest landowners. "I'm very disappointed,'' said Troutman, who said he expects to challenge the board vote in court. "It clearly shows a one-sided vision to this business in the future."

See full story on Alico

Appeals court lifts Allstate ban

One day after Florida regulators ordered Allstate Corp. to stop selling all lines of new insurance in the state, the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee granted Allstate's emergency motion and lifted the ban.

Allstate argued in its motion that regulators did not give prior notice before issuing the ban, and that regulators can only use their power to shut a company down in the event of an emergency, which Allstate said does not exist.

A spokesman for insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty said regulators will ask that the order be reinstated, and will look into other penalties, including fines. 

Regulators want Allstate to turn over hundreds of documents and explain why the company has not complied with state law and lowered its rates. 

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Florida unemployment rate hits 4.7%, worst in more than 3 years

Florida's unemployment rate rose to 4.7 percent in December, up from 4.3 percent in November and the highest rate since September 2004. Year-over-yearJob growth was an anemic 1.1 percent, the slowest in four years.

Although the trend is negative, Florida's numbers remain better than those for the nation as a whole. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 5 percent in December. Here are more details.

- Helen Huntley, Times personal finance editor

Odyssey Marine consultant accused of insider trading

An Odyssey Marine Exploration consultant credited with spotting the priceless Black Swan shipwreck last year has been accused of insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the federal agency, Ernest Tapanes quietly bought 42,000 shares of stock in the Tampa company for roughly $150,000 after discovering the Black Swan last April and then sold the shares after Odyssey publicly disclosed its find on May 18.

Tapanes and the SEC recently signed a consent agreement regarding the alleged insider trading. Under it, Tapanes agreed to disgorge his alleged $107,000 profit and pay an additional $107,000 penalty, but he neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing.

- Scott Barancik, Times staff writer

State files Allstate order

As a follow to yesterday's announcement, Florida's Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty issued an order suspending Allstate Companies from writing new business in the state until they comply with subpoenas from his department. The order has been expanded to include all lines of insurance, including life, medical malpractices and workers comp. Originally, state regulators were focused primarily on Allstate's auto business.

The order applies to all Allstate companies as well as its Encompass auto and property affiliates.

Existing Allstate and Encompass policyholders and renewals are not affected by the order.

- Kris Hundley Times staff writer

Orlando tree proponent gets attention

Call him Larry "Butterfly'' Tackett. An Orlando man threatened to camp out in a sycamore on his property to keep Progress Energy from cutting it down.

The St. Petersburg utility has been conducting "vegetation management'' programs along its transmission corridors, explained C.J. Drake, spokesman for the utility. Trees that grow too high or too close to the line can sag into the lines, causing a fire, or fall on the lines in severe weather, disrupting service, he said.

"We don’t cut down trees for the sake of cutting down trees. We’re doing this to ensure reliability,'' Drake said.

Tackett built a platform in the tree and threatened to camp there if utility workers returned with chainsaws.

It's a method made famous by California’s Julia "Butterfly'' Hill, who sat in a centuries-old redwood for more than two years.

Reached by phone Thursday, Tackett said he hopes to preserve three trees in exchange for an agreement to keep them well trimmed. The trees shield the power lines from view, he said. Cutting them down would decrease the value of the home he and his wife bought less than two years ago.

The publicity got Progress Energy’s attention, and he has a meeting with officials Monday morning, he said. The platform in his tree remains empty, and Tackett said he’s sleeping snug in his own bed until then.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer, and John Martin, Times researcher

Catalent completes layoffs in St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG -- Catalent Pharma Solutions, the maker of gel-caps for such popular drugs as Advil, is paring its St. Petersburg work force.

The manufacturing plant off Roosevelt Boulevard was owned until April by Cardinal Health, when the division was acquired for $3.3-billion by the Blackstone Group. A Catalent spokesman said an unspecified number of layoffs were taking place in St. Petersburg because of an unanticipated change in demand for certain products.

The cuts will mostly affect production workers and will be completed today.

Catalent's St. Petersburg plant had about 600 employees before the layoffs; globally, Catalent has 10,000 employees at 30 facilities.   

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

A Q&A on the Allstate situation

Florida's insurance commissioner today suspended Allstate's license, barring the company from writing new auto insurance policies in the state.

Tom Zutell, spokesman for the Office of Insurance Regulation, answered questions about the announcement:

Why was Allstate singled out?

It wouldn’t be singling out. We are focused on them because of questions we have about their relationship with rating organizations such as AM Best and Hurricane modeling companies and industry trade groups.

What happens now?
This afternoon, the Office of Insurance Regulation will issue an immediate final order suspending the license known in the industry as Industry Certificate of Authority for three companies in the Allstate Group. All three companies, Allstate Insurance, Allstate Indemnity Company and Allstate Property and Casualty Company, write auto insurance policies, which is the most profitable line of insurance in Florida.

What does this mean for Allstate customers?
Absolutely nothing. Any policy holders are absolutely unaffected by the suspension. Claims would still be serviced, customers would still be able to afford assistance from agents. There will be no obstruction or interference in services of existing policy holders.

What does this mean for customers who are in the process of getting a policy?

Any customer who has signed a binder must be covered.

- By Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Tourism officials worry about downturn

New statistics have sparked worries among tourism officials that their industry is already suffering from an economic downturn.

Fewer visitors traveled to Pinellas County while Tampa International Airport saw a decline in air travelers at the end of last year, according to statistics released today.

The number of overnight visitors to Pinellas in November dropped 1.2 percent from a year earlier, the third consecutive monthly decline. Even more worrisome, visitors staying in commercial lodging fell 7.3 percent.

At TIA, passenger traffic was down 4.2 percent in December after a 2.1 percent drop in November.

- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

MarineMax: 2008 looks even bleaker than first thought

Marinemax’s future looks even bleaker than predicted several months ago. Citing "the increased uncertainty caused by weakening economic conditions," the Clearwater-based boat distributor withdrew its 2008 earnings forecast Wednesday and declined to hazard a new guess.

MarineMax also reported preliminary figures for the year-end quarter. It lost 35 to 38 cents per share and saw a 9 percent decline in same-store sales.

- Scott Barancik, TImes staff writer

State suspends Allstate's license

Florida's Insurance Commissioner suspended Allstate's license in the state, prohibiting it from writing new auto insurance policies. Commissioner Kevin McCarty's action came a day after he abruptly halted a scheduled two-day hearing, saying Allstate had failed to provide all the documents state regulators subpoenaed.

The Illinois-based insurer is the second-largest auto insurer in Florida. The suspension applies to Allstate Insurance Co., Allstate Indemnity Co., and Allstate Property and Casualty Co. Existing policyholders will not be affected. Allstate must continue to service them, and the companies will have to continue to make statutory filings.

Allstate can continue to write new homeowners policies, but it hasn't done so for years.

McCarty said the suspension will last until Allstate complies with the state's subpoena. "It will be lifted when I am satisfied that we have received each and every document we need to properly investigate the important issues before us," he said.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Regulators abruptly halt Allstate hearing

TALLAHASSEE - After just three hours of sometimes heated exchanges today, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty abruptly adjourned a rare two-day hearing on Allstate Floridian's underwriting practices.

McCarty accused the company of sending regulators a 51-page objection to the subpoenas, while also sending more than 30,000 documents that included little or nothing of value. "They sent us rate filings already posted on our Web site,'' McCarty said.

No date was set for the hearing to resume.

Regulators want to know about Allstate’s relationships with rating services, trade groups and hurricane modeling companies.

--Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

ChoicePoint to close St. Pete operation

ST. PETERSBURG - More than 80 people will lose their jobs when ChoicePoint Inc.'s St. Petersburg office closes by April.

The operation at 10051 Fifth Street N is one of six employment service centers in the ChoicePoint system, with workers doing preemployment background screening for businesses and non-profit organizations.

A spokesman for the Alpharetta, Ga., company said business slowed with a decline in hiring nationwide.

The St. Petersburg work will be consolidated at other ChoicePoint locations. The company has operated the St. Petersburg office since 1998 when it acquired Applications Profiles.   

--Kris Hundley, TImes staff writer

 

Retails forecast sobering 2008

The consumer spending pull back that haunted retailers holiday shopping season will linger well into 2008. "It's going to be an ugly year for retailers," said Brian Tunick, who follows the industry for J.P. Morgan.

The National Retail Federation gathered in New York for its annual convention, forecasts a 3.2% gain in general merchandise sales for the first half of the year. That's less than the 4% sales gain government agencies are expected to release Tuesday for the two month holiday season.

"We have a guarded outlook for sales, but we do not see a recession," said Rosalind Wells, the federation's chief economist.

Nonetheless the Nation's big retail chains are reacting to what's been described as their industry's worst sales performance in 5 years. Most chains, which normally close 2 to 3 percentage of their worst performing stores every year, will double that in the next few months analyst said. New store growth is being pared, a move that exerts more pressure on mall developers such as those trying to fill two malls under construction in East Pasco County.

Cypress Creek Town Center and Shops at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel are trying to herd retailers into projects at a time when retailers are being extra cautious about committing to stores in new suburbs.

-- Mark Albright, Times Staff Writer

Bank of America-Countrywide deal is good news in Tallahassee

Money managers at the State Board of Administration made a big bet last year that Countrywide would make it through the mortgage market turmoil without having to file for bankruptcy. Now it looks like that bet has paid off with Bank of America coming to the rescue. The SBA's Local Government Investment Pool holds a whopping $650-million in Countrywide CDs in its troubled "B Fund." Those CDs begin to mature Feb. 5, with the last of them coming due in June. Other SBA-managed portfolios have about $110-million in Countrywide securities.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

Citrus crop not hurt by cold

Last week's cold snap didn't hurt Florida's citrus groves. The state's largest citrus growers' organization reaffirmed its 2007-2008 crop estimate Friday, saying it still expects producers to see a 30-percent increase over last year's harvest.

Florida Citrus Mutual said growers should end the season in July with 168-million boxes of citrus. That's a big improvement from last year, when hurricanes, pests and diseases reduced Florida's orange and grapefruit harvest to the lowest in 17 years. But don't expect orange juice prices to drop. The increase in citrus supply this year is expected to merely replenish inventory and reduce the need for imports.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

TECO Energy's 2007 results slated for Feb. 5

TECO Energy, parent company of Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas, will announce its 2007 earnings on Feb. 5, the company said Thursday. The company will talk about 2007, including its debt retirement plans and the sale of TECO Transport, and look ahead to 2008. It faces continued debt retirement in efforts to improve the company’s credit rating. The company also anticipates the need for new power generation and will have to find ways to meet that demand now that plans for a new "clean coal" plant in Polk County have been shelved. The Webcast will be available at www.tecoenergy.com. The Webcast and earnings call will be at 9 a.m. on Feb. 5. Results for 2007 will be announced before the market opens. Tampa Electric has about 670,000 customers and a capacity of about 4,600 megawatts.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Sysco puts Zephyrhills plant on hold

Sysco Food Services is suspending plans to build a 393,000-square-foot distribution center in Zephyrhills, employing 250 people, Pasco County Commissioner Michael Cox said this morning.

The company still is pursuing land purchases and design, but problems cropped up during environmental reviews and financial pressures have forced the company to hold off, Cox said. He said Sysco ultimately still wants to create the distribution center.

The County Commission agreed by a 5-0 vote to not spend any money on roads or other improvements until the company renews construction planning.

"They're moving forward with the purchase of the properties. They're moving forward with the design of the project," Cox said. "What they have not funded is the construction of the project."

UPDATE: County officials say Sysco anticipates a six-month delay, although no money will be spent until the company and the county agree in writing.

- David DeCamp, Times staff writer

Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede sold, closed

Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede dinner theater attraction in Orlando was closed abruptly Monday, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The 13-acre site along Interstate 4 near Walt Disney World was sold to an undisclosed buyer.

An amusing farewell video from Bill Gates

On his last day at Microsoft, Bill Gates offers his final keynote address. He offers a comedic look at what's next for him. Watch it here; you'll get a laugh:

Clearwater chamber of commerce president departs

After three years running the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce, Beth Coleman left the organization Dec. 31 to pursue community and governmental relations work.

Coleman was recruited in 2004 from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to run the 1,700-member Clearwater chamber. In Coleman's absence, chamber vice president Kevin Gartland was appointed interim president. The job pays about $100,000 a year.

-- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Trump Tower Tampa rings in New Year with lawsuit

Hopes for an end-of-the-year resurrection for Trump Tower Tampa faded this week as the project's Tampa developer continued to wrangle in court with New York tycoon Donald Trump.

Trump had sued Tampa's SimDag L.L.C. in May, alleging the developer of the proposed 52-story tower failed to abide by its end of a licensing deal and owed Trump more than $1-million.

Trump had agreed to let SimDag build the tower in his name for half the profits from the sale of 190 condos.

This week, SimDag, which had hoped to restart the project with a financing deal in December, counter-sued Trump in Tampa federal court. SimDag maintains Trump breached a confidentiality agreement when he went public with his complaints in May.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Times Publishing puts CQ Press on the block

Times Publishing Co., publisher of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, plans to sell CQ Press, a book-publishing subsidiary. Andrew Corty, corporate vice president, said the move reflects Times Publishing's decision to direct investments towards the newspaper and CQ's Publication division.

CQ Press has been consistently profitable, publishing about 100 new titles a year for the library, college and professional markets, Corty said. The New York investment banking firm Jordan Edmiston Group has been hired to handle the transaction.

- Times staff writer

Few power outages reportes from cold

Energy officials will know later this morning whether the dip in temperatures overnight pushed electricity use to new heights, but said only a few outages were reported throughout the Tampa Bay area as chilly homeowners cranked up the heat.

Progress Energy spokesman C.J. Drake said the system handled the freezing temperatures well.

Tampa Electric spokesman Rick Morera said about 550 of its 675,000 customers in Hillsborough and Polk counties were without power. Some residents lost power in the Ybor City area, southern Hillsborough and in Winter Haven.

"There are little pockets here and there,'' he said. "They're scattered.''

Some local utilities expected record-breaking electricity use, since Floridians rely heavily on electric heat. Florida's energy use tends to peak in winter, precisely because so many people use electricity for heat, instead of oil or natural gas.

"We're certainly expecting more usage than normal because of the cooler temperatures,''  said Progress Energy's Drake.

Morera said early numbers indicate the company's electricity usage will not be a record.

"It doesn't appear we're going to set any new winter peak,'' he said.

Florida reaches million-dollar settlement with insurance carrier

Florida and nine other states have reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with a large insurance carrier involved in a pay-to-play scheme.
The Travelers Companies Inc. will pay $6-million to a multistate task force to resolve allegations of rigging rates in the commercial insurance market, according to a release from Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's office Monday.
Travelers had allegedly conspired with insurance giant Marsh & McLennan and other brokers and submitted fake bids, thereby inflating insurance premiums. The brokers had already determined among themselves which insurer would receive a particular policyholder’s business, a release said.
Florida alone is receiving $1.1-million, which will pay for a reimbursement pool for affected policyholders and repay the state's investigation costs.

- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

St. Pete's Universal Health Care admits violations

After nearly a year of legal battles, Florida insurance regulators reached an agreement today with Universal Health Care and Universal Health Care Insurance Co.

Insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty had recommended liquidating the St. Petersburg-based Medicare insurer in February after it failed to meet a state-imposed deadline for shoring up its financial reserves.

According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Universal Health Care Insurance admitted to failing to file complete quarterly financial statements and to having significantly underestimated its 2007 nationwide premiums by more than $816-million, exceeding the initial projections of $56-million.

"This left the company with insufficient policyholder surplus required to support the volume of business projected, placing it in a hazardous financial position," regulators said in a statement.

BlackRock fund having liquidity problems

The money manager called on to rescue a troubled state investment fund is having some troubles of its own.

BlackRock Inc. suspended cash redemptions on the $1-billion BlackRock Cash Strategies LLC fund because of liquidity problems. BlackRock told investors that they'd have to take securities instead of cash if they wanted out. The fund only has 25 investors, all of them large institutions, and all of them decided to remain in the fund, BlackRock said.

Unlike Florida's Local Government Investment Pool, the BlackRock fund was not designed to be run like a money market fund, but was considered an "enhanced" cash managment fund. BlackRock officials declined to say exactly what investments were in the fund, but said it was likely that some are similar to those in the Florida fund, which BlackRock is now managing. The Florida fund's primary problem has been mortgage-backed securities, which investors no longer want to buy because of problems in the credit markets.

Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

What's a Wii worth?

What would you give to get your hands on a Wii?

A boat?

A diamond ring?

A pool table?

Those are some of the things people have offered for the coveted game console seldom seen at stores.

Tell us what you would trade for a Wii:

What's a Wii Worth?
What would you give for a Wii?
Jewelry
Laptop
Nothing, not interested
Up to $400
PlayStation

City Council approves Hyde Park rezoning

TAMPA -- Tampa City Council approved a controversial condo project for Hyde Park Village today.

The 4-2 vote paves the way for a $100-million project that includes 90,000 square feet of retail space and 8- and 9-story condominium towers.

The issue must now be revisited in a second City Council reading, which will take place Jan. 10.

City Council member Charlie Miranda cast the deciding vote after missing last week's meeting, which resulted in a 3-2 vote. Council members Linda Saul-Sena and Mary Mulhern voted against the project.

"There are things that have to change to make things work and operational," Miranda said of the struggling outdoor shopping complex. "This will give the city the opportunity to have a lot more (people) walking, a lot more activity and a lot more communication."

-- Emily Nipps, Times staff writer

McCollum: Stop Crist-Seminole gambling deal

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum plans to ask a federal court to block the Department of the Interior from approving a deal that would allow expanded gambling for the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

The compact signed by Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminoles in November allows Las Vegas-style slot machines and card games including blackjack and baccarat in seven tribal casinos, including the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. In return, the state would get millions of dollars in taxes.

The deal requires approval by the Interior Department, which regulates Indian gaming. McCollum's suit, which is expected to be filed Friday in Washington, argues that Interior cannot sanction the compact while the agreement is being challenged before the Florida Supreme Court by House Speaker Marco Rubio, who says it requires legislative approval.

Here's McCollum's statement on the suit: "Today I have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior asking for an injunction to be granted preventing the Secretary from publishing and making effective our state’s compact to expand Indian gaming until the Florida Supreme Court rules on its validity," McCollum said in announcing the suit. "The issue at stake here is not how the Florida Supreme Court should rule on the matter before it, but rather the right our state has to resolve this matter before an action is forced by the Federal government. The uncertainty of the compact’s validity will create profound concern should the compact be considered valid Federal law before it has been clarified appropriately by the Florida Supreme Court.''

-- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Jeb denies role in SBA debacle

Gov. Jeb Bush told the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday via email that he was not involved in Lehman Brother's business dealings for the State Board of Administration.  The Times asked Gov. Bush if his relationship with Lehman Brothers (first reported on the Buzz) influenced the State Board of Administration's work with Lehman Brothers. Nearly half the downgraded or defaulted investments in the SBA portfolio were purchased from Lehman Brothers, according to documents SBA released today.

Gov. Jeb Bush emailed back: "The answer to your question is an emphatic no."

Syniverse completes acquisition of BSG wireless

Tampa-based Syniverse Technologies today said that it completed its acquisition of the wireless service business of Billing Services Group Limited.
Syniverse, which provides technology for the global communications industry, is buying  European company BSG for $290-million in cash, including debt to be refinanced at closing. The acquisition allows the company to serve more than 500 customers in more than 100 countries, a release said.

- By Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

FCC eases media ownership rules in big markets

The federal government Tuesday cleared the way for major newspapers to purchase neighboring TV stations, and vice versa. In a 3-2 partisan vote, the Federal Communications Commission loosened a rule it created in 1975, which prohibits a company or individual from owning both a daily newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market.
Now, so-called “cross-ownership” will be allowed in the country’s 20 largest media markets, which includes the No. 13 Tampa Bay area. But there are restrictions: The transaction can involve only one major newspaper and one TV station (or radio station). The TV station cannot be among the top four in the market. And at least eight “major media voices” must remain in the market.
Media General, based in Richmond, Va., is allowed to own the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-Ch. 8 because it was grandfathered in, along with dozens of other cross-ownership arrangements, when the FCC enacted the rule. The FCC would not comment on the ruling’s effect on the Tampa Bay area, but in essence, it will not change the Tribune/Ch. 8 arrangement.
The ruling, in theory, opens the door for the St. Petersburg Times to buy a lesser-ranked TV station in the Tampa Bay area. Company executives said they had no plans to do so.
Media General praised the FCC’s decision but advocates a complete repeal of cross-ownership rules in all markets.
“All of the FCC’s own studies make the same point: Cross-ownership means better local television news,” company president Marshall N. Morton said in a statement.
Outside of the bay area, Media General has four cross-ownership deals operating under waivers from the FCC, including one in the Panama City market, where the company owns a TV station and the Jackson County Floridan.
Since late 2006, the FCC has traveled the country to hold six public hearings on cross-ownership, including one in Tampa in April.
Tuesday’s decision was along party lines: The FCC’s Republican chairman and two Republican commissioners voted in favor of loosening the cross-ownership rules.
The media have changed considerably since 1975, they reasoned. Cable TV and the Internet have negated concerns about one entity having control of a media market, they said in a news release.
The commission’s two Democrats voted against loosening the rules, echoing the sentiment of many legislators.
The White House said it supports Tuesday’s ruling and has pledged to turn back any congressional opposition.

Christina Rexrode, Times staff writer

PSC changes net metering rules

Good news for people who want to put a wind farm in their back yard.

The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved rule changes for “net metering.” That’s when your electric meter rolls backward to reflect power you produce at home.

The commission expedited interconnection, expanded eligible power to any type of renewable instead of just solar photovoltaic systems and increased the size of eligible systems from 2 kilowatts to 10 megawatts, enough to power more than 6,000 homes.

If no comments or requests for hearing are received, the rule will be filed for adoption with the Secretary of State.

Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Allstate continues its fight

A month after its request for rate increases was shot down, Allstate Corp. has petitioned state regulators for an administrative hearing. The third-largest property insurer in Florida, Allstate is seeking the highest statewide average rate increases of any major insurer in the state -- 41.9 percent for Allstate Floridian policyholders and 28.3 percent for Allstate Indemnity.

Two smaller Allstate companies want statewide average rate increases of 39.7 percent and 41.6 percent. In Pinellas County, that translates to an average 125 percent increase; in Pasco, the average increase would be about 21 percent. “We believe this process allows us to push for our ultimate goal,’’ Allstate spokesman Adam Shores said Tuesday. “We need an adequate rate to protect our customers.’’

If the process is not derailed, and it typically is, Allstate could wind up in appellate court. In the meantime, Allstate must use its most recently approved rates, which decrease premiums an average of about 14 percent.

The Northbrook, Ill.-based company has fewer than 375,000 homeowner policies in Florida, down from about 750,000 five years ago. The Tampa Bay area accounts for about 18,000 Allstate customers.

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Florida renewable energy farm project might head to Texas

Biomass Investment Group, which planned a 20,000-acre "e-grass" farm and power plant in Florida, might instead build the farm in Texas, a company representative said Thursday.

The project also changed ownership to Innovative Energy Group of Florida based in Navarre. according to papers filed last week with the Florida Public Service Commission.

The company has been unable to find enough suitable land in Florida, said Robert "Schef" Wright, an attorney representing the project.

"We haven't given up on Florida," said Wright, "but we have not had success at getting 18,000 acres of land for 25 years at a price that would work."

Trouble finding the right property has delayed the project two years. In May 2006, Progress Energy Florida agreed to buy power from the company's planned 130-megawatt plant. The plant was supposed to come on line in 2009, but the in-service date has been pushed back to Dec. 1, 2011, Wright said. The company will try to have the plant working earlier.

The company plans to grow a fast-growing reedy grass known as arundo donax. Many environmentalists consider the grass an invasive species, and its growth is strictly regulated in California, which has spent millions of dollars trying to eradicate it.

Wright said he did not think the plant would be invasive in Florida or Texas. He also did not foresee any problems in getting the appropriate permission to grow the grass in Texas. The company plans to work with university agricultural cooperative services to help control the grass.

The grass would be heated and converted into a liquid fuel that would then be transported to the company's Florida power plant, probably by barge, Wright said. The company has not selected a site for the farm or the power plant. Ideally, the farm would be in southern coastal Texas near a port. The power plant would be somewhere between Tampa and Apalachicola, again near a port, and near Progress Energy transmission lines.

If the fuel is shipped by fossil-fuel powered barges, will it still offset enough carbon dioxide emissions to be worthwhile from a climate change standpoint?

Wright said he was "99.9 percent sure" that the e-grass power plant would produce less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuel plants. However, the company has not looked into it.

"I'll agree with you that ultimately everything needs to be looked at on a total carbon cycle, and I can't say we have done that," Wright said.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Progress announces deal to buy power from biomass plant

In an effort to increase its renewable energy portfolio, Progress Energy Florida announced Tuesday another agreement to buy power from a biomass plant.

The new plant will burn yard trimmings and waste wood and have a 75 megawatt capacity, or enough electricity to power about 46,000 homes. It will be built by Biomass Gas & Electric. The Atlanta-based company already has an agreement with Progress Energy Florida for a separate, 75 megawatt plant announced in July.

The new addition will add 75 megawatts of renewable power to Progress Energy Florida’s system. It brings the amount of renewable power Progress has agreed to buy in the past two years to 280 megawatts, or enough to power 170,000 homes.

Still, that’s just a 10th of the utility’s customers and underscores the difficulty of finding reliable, cost-effective, renewable power on a large scale. Here’s a list of renewable agreements Progress Energy has signed in the past two years:

- In May 2006, Progress Energy agreed to buy 130 megawatts from a Biomass Investment Group plant powered by “E-grass.” Arundo donax is a fast-growing reedy grass. Considered an invasive species by environmental groups, its growth is tightly restricted in California, which has spent millions of dollars trying to eradicate it. Biomass Investment Group has so far not been able to find 20,000-acres to grow the grass and construct its plant. Originally slated to start producing power in 2009, the date has been pushed back to 2011.

- In July, Progress Energy agreed to buy power from a 75 megawatt biomass plant fueled by wood waste and yard trimmings. Atlanta-based Biomass Gas & Electric expects to have the plant on line in early 2011. The North Florida location has not yet been announced.

- On Tuesday, Progress Energy agreed to buy another 75-megawatts from BG&E. The plant is slated to come on line in June 2011, and will be built in Central Florida.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

South Florida lands another research institute

State officials have signed off on $94-million for Germany's Max Planck Society to build a research institute in Jupiter. The state money will be matched by $93-million from Palm Beach County. Max Planck expects to open a bio-imaging center near the Scripps Research Institute. The project is expected to bring 1,824 jobs to the region over 20 years.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Dagwood's sandwich chain reorganizes

A start-up facing a severe cash shortage, Dagwood’s Sandwich Shoppes has laid off all but a skeleton crew of four at corporate headquarters and launched a search for new investors and a top executive. In May 2006, Dean Young, Clearwater-based creator of the Blondie comic strip, called Dagwood’s the realization of his dream of a quick-serve restaurant chain that celebrates his main character’s love affair with all sandwiches great and small. Since then an investor group that put up most of the money took charge in September. It pressed Lamar Berry, a Popeye’s Fried chicken veteran and Young’s hand-picked choice to get the chain off the ground, to step down as chief executive officer. Young also stepped aside as chairman of the restaurant company in place of another investor in the venture, Bill Ryan of Alexandria, La.
The company laid off about two dozen workers at its corporate headquarters last Thursday and on Monday briefed area franchisees about the quest for new investors and the CEO search.

- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Home prices drop in Pinellas

The November home sales numbers are out for Pinellas County. One thing stands out: The median single-family home price plummeted year to year from $215,000 to $185,000. Monthly median home prices have been notoriously volatile. They have been bouncing between $198,000 and $225,000 this year in Pinellas.

But $185,000 is a new low this year, and a 14-percent plunge might be a new record, at least since the last housing slump in the early 1990s. Single-family home sales were off 31 percent from November 2006 to November 2007, from 586 to 407. Keep in mind that sales weren't that great a year ago to start with.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

New No. 2 at Progress Energy Florida

Progress Energy announced today the moves of two top executives.

Jeff Corbett, 48, currently serves as vice president in charge of energy delivery for Progress Energy Florida. He heads to the same job at Progress Energy Carolinas, where he will report to Lloyd Yates, president and CEO of the Carolinas utility. Corbett came to Progress Energy in 1999, starting out at Progress Energy Carolinas after nearly two decades at Virginia Power. He joined Progress Energy Florida in May 2006.

Michael Lewis, 45, will move up from vice president of distribution at Progress Energy Florida to replace Corbett. Lewis will be based in St. Petersburg and report to Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of Progress Energy Florida. Lewis has worked for the company for 22 years, holding management positions in Ocala, Crystal River, and Pasco and Pinellas counties. He assumed his current position in 2004.

The changes will take effect Jan. 2. Progress Energy is a Fortune 250 company based in Raleigh, N.C. It includes Progress Energy Carolinas and Progress Energy Florida, which have a combined generation capacity of more than 21,000 megawatts.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Medicaid investigators target area oxygen providers

State Medicaid officials said Friday morning that preliminary audits of 10 oxygen providers in the Tampa Bay area earlier this week raised sufficient concerns about fraud to merit further investigation. The providers include three locations of Clearwater's Lincare Holdings Inc., ASAP Home Oxygen in St. Petersburg, BayCare Home Care in Largo, Mercury Enterprises in Clearwater, Matrix Medical in Plant City and CareMed Respiratory Services, Respitek and Rotech Oxygen in Tampa.

Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, secretary of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, said the investigation focused on oxygen concentrators, machines that provide oxygen for patients with emphysema, because they are the most frequently billed item of durable medical equipment in the state's Medicaid budget, at a cost of about $8-million per year. Among the issues found in the early investigation were providers billing for equipment that had never been received by a patient; unlicensed personnel handling patient education; and equipment installation and equipment that wasn't being serviced.

Agwunobi, who directed an investigation in October into billing for oxygen nebulizers in Miami, said the Tampa Bay area activity was the second phase against "the bad guys in Florida." "There's been collaboration across state agencies, with AHCA, the Department of Health and the Attorney General's Office working together so those who siphon valuable dollars from the care of vulnerable people are taken care of," he said.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer   

Iorio: Airport retail expansion should reflect local flavor

A makeover of Tampa International Airport's restaurants and retail got the green light Thursday, but only after Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio insisted on something that reflects Tampa's local flavor.

"I think we're making a mistake having all the retail be 'anywhere' USA,'' Iorio told fellow members of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority's governing board.

When a representative of concession contractor HMS Host suggested that Ron Jon Surf Shop and a Florida-theme gift store filled the bill, she balked. "I'm thinking city of immigrants," she said. "You want people to step into a shop and say, 'This city I'm about to visit has a personality to it.' ''

Executive director Louis Miller agreed to include a shop with Tampa Bay-related products as part of the plan. By next December, the airport will have 10 new retail and food and beverage brands in the main terminal and four airside buildings. They will include a Harley-Davidson branded merchandise store, a Tommy Bahama's, a Sam Snead's Tavern and the first Carrabba's Italian Grill in an airport location.

- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Former Comptroller Bob Milligan will oversee state investments

The trustees of the State Board of Administration this afternoon appointed former Comptroller Bob Milligan as interim executive director. He replaces Coleman Stipanovich, who resigned last week.

Milligan's No. 1 job is to restore the confidence of local government investors, who were chagrined to discover last month that the board was taking more risk with their money than they knew. The fund was temporarily frozen, and withdrawals are now restricted to stem a run on the fund. However, the SBA job encompasses far more than the $10-billion local government fund. The board manages about $180-billion in assets, including one of the largest public pension funds in the country.

As comptroller, Milligan served as one of the board's trustees, so he is familiar with its operations. This year he has been working with the Department of Financial Services as insurance consumer advocate. "He is a proven leader," said Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who nominated him for the job.

Milligan has been challenged with improving communication with investors, making recommendations regarding the search for a permanent director and preparing to hire a permanent manager for the local government fund, a job that the investment advisory firm BlackRock has taken on for 90 days.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

Clearwater student lender agrees to cut out deals with colleges

A student loan company in Clearwater signed a settlement with attorneys general in Florida and New York today, agreeing to end revenue-sharing deals with 63 colleges and five sports marketing companies.

Student Financial Services Inc., which does business as University Financial Services, will end what state officials called a kickback scheme with the institutions. Among the universities with ties to the lender were the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida, Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University and Nova Southeastern University. The lender had paid for rights to use school names, logos, colors, mascots and team names when advertising its loans directly to students, giving the false impression that the lender was recommended by the school.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

CVS agrees to be clear about Extra Care Rewards

CVS, the Woonsocket, R.I., drugstore chain with 669 stores in Florida, has agreed to be more clear about what hoops its Extra Care Rewards members must negotiate to cash in earned rewards.

After loyalty card members complained that their account balances were not posted quickly enough, advertised prices were not always available or they were not informed that some involved mail-in rebate delays, the chain Monday settled a deceptive trade practices investigation launched by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. The chain agreed to contribute $30,000 to McCollum's volunteer senior sleuths program and pay $25,000 for the the cost of the investigation. CVS admitted no guilt and said the complaints sprang from a printing delay problem that was fixed in April.

- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Troubled fund reopens for withdrawals

Cities, counties and school boards withdrew $1.2-billion when the state's Local Government Investment Pool reopened for business this morning. The pool was shut down for a week while State Board of Administration trustees came up with a plan to salvage it. The board isolated $2-billion worth of troubled securities in a "B" fund from which no withdrawals are permitted. That holds about 14 percent of depositors' previous balances. Today's withdrawals were from the "A" fund holding the high-quality securities, which began at $12-billion. Net withdrawals (after subtracting $7-million in deposits) took the "A" fund down to $10.85-billion. Depositors can withdraw up to 15 percent of their money, or $2-million, whichever is greater, without penalty.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

State orders four companies to stop illegal health insurance solicitation

Florida insurance regulators Wednesday ordered Affinity Health Plans, National Alliance Healthcare, the National Trade Business Alliance Association, and the National Alliance of Associations to stop soliciting Florida consumers. Affinity and National Alliance Healthcare also must pay all outstanding claims and refund all money collected from Florida consumers within 10 days. According to regulators, Affinity and National are soliciting consumers through fax-blasting ads to purchase health insurance, dental insurance, hospitalization coverage, accident insurance, vision, hearing and chiropractic insurance. Because none of the companies is licensed by the state, each transaction is considered a felony under Florida law. "This kind of unethical business practice will not be tolerated, so I am stopping it," Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said in a statement. "Consumers should not have to try to sort through scams like this when attempting to buy health insurance."

About 800 Florida consumers have purchased insurance through either Affinity or NAH since July 2006. The companies’ actions have generated numerous complaints and have led to more than $100,000 in unpaid claims. Consumers with questions or concerns should call the Department of Financial Services’ Consumer Helpline at 1-877-693-5236 or visit www.myfloridacfo.com.

- Times staff writer

Among changes, Carrabba's coming to TIA

Hungry travelers should find some changes on the menu at Tampa International Airport this time next year.
What’s in: veal marsala from Carrabba’s Italian Grill, wheatgrass shots at Zia Juices and Popeye’s New Orleans spicy chicken. What’s out: Taco Bell burritos, Edy’s ice cream and waffle fries at Chick-fil-A.
Officials with Tampa International and HMSHost, the airport’s master concessions operator, have mapped out a plan to bring six new food and beverage brands into the main terminal and two oldest “airside" terminals.
The deal is part of a proposed five-year extension of the company’s airport contract through 2015. The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority governing board is scheduled to vote on the extension at its Dec. 13 meeting.
If the agreement passes, HMSHost and subcontractors will pay $13.7-million to build out and remodel restaurants and retail stores. Work would start early next year and wrap up by December — in time for the 2009 Super Bowl in Tampa, said HMSHost spokeswoman Susan Goyette.
The biggest change would bring Carrabba’s, the chain owned by Tampa-based OSI Restaurant  Partners, into its first airport location next August, said Diane Vercelli, senior director of properties and contract administration at the airport.
Carrabba’s would replace the Wharf Grille & Brewhouse. a traditional seafood restaurant that suffered from thin crowds. It rang up revenues of just over $111,000 in September, less than a quarter of the till at T.G.I. Friday’s just a few steps away.

Clearwater's PODS bought by Bahrain firm

A Bahrain-based company is the new owner of Clearwater’s PODS Enterprises Inc.
Arcapita Inc., stakeholders in Caribou Coffee and Church’s Chicken, is the U.S. arm of Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank. The Middle East firm makes investments based on Islamic law, known as Shari’ah.
Arcapita, which also has offices in London, Singapore and Atlanta, didn’t return calls. PODS has repeatedly declined to speak on the deal.

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission granted the Clearwater storage container company an early clearance on antitrust concerns. In a Nov. 6 filing with the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations, PODS Acquisition Holding listed Arcapita’s Atlanta office as its principal address. The four company officers listed are part of Arcapita’s corporate investment team.

“They are a premier private equity firm that has an excellent reputation, and it’s no secret that a lot of their capital comes from Bahrain,” said John McDonald, senior managing director at Tampa-based Hyde Park Capital Partners, LLC.

What makes Arcapita’s strategy interesting is its devotion to the Shari’ah. The Islamic law bars the company from investing in financial firms that offer credit or charge interest, or companies associated with pornography, gambling, pork or alcohol. Fried chicken and storage units are okay.

- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Florida Chamber offers mixed message for state's economy

Florida is a leader in job creation, income growth, exports and high-tech development. But our housing's too expensive and foreign tourists and companies increasingly pass us by.

That mixed economic message came from the Florida Chamber Foundation, an arm of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which released a report Tuesday called New Cornerstone Revisited. It's an update of a 2003 report aimed at improving the state's economic competitiveness.

One of the biggest problems cited was a 60 percent increase in housing prices since 2003, which has put homes out of reach for many middle-income workers.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Stipanovich resigns as state board restructures troubled fund

Coleman Stipanovich, executive director of the State Board of Administration, resigned this morning in the midst of a crisis that damaged the credibility of the manager of the state pension funds and other public funds. Access to the SBA's $14-billion Local Government Investment Pool has been frozen since Thursday as a result of a run on the fund.

Stipanovich's resignation came at the end of this mornings SBA meeting, at which the board approved a plan for restructuring the investment pool, allowing participants access to part of their money as soon as Thursday morning. The board adopted a plan to create "A" and "B" funds, as described in this BlackRock report. The board also appointed BlackRock Inc. as interim manager of the investment pool for 90 days while a search for a permanent manager takes place. The fund had been managed in-house by an SBA employee. It ran into serious problems with $867-million of securities that defaulted or had to be restructured and another $1.2-billion that are considered "under stress" due to credit issues.

An advisory committee of local government investors will continue to work with BlackRock. Here is the investors' advisory committee report.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

Climate change release a hoax, group admits

Tampabay.com posted a news item this morning pertaining to the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. The release was a hoax by another group called Rising Tide North America looking for publicity for its cause. The group sent out a mock press release, set up a fake Web site, and, using fake names and the name of a faux public relations agency, called reporters and pretended to represent the partnership. Several news organizations, including tampabay.com, posted the fake information on their Web sites before the real U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a consortium of businesses and environmental groups, alerted them to the hoax. Read more about the hoax at the New York Times Web site.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Investors may get partial access to state fund

Local governments aren't likely to get full access to their money in a $14-billion state-run investment pool any time soon.

BlackRock Inc., a consultant hired to advise the State Board of Administration, says it will recommend that the fund be split into two parts. The largest share -- 86 percent -- would be in an "A" fund containing top-quality investments that would allow limited withdrawals, possibly with redemption fees for those who withdraw large amounts. Another 14 percent (about $2-billion)  would be in a "B" fund holding the troubled securities, with no withdrawals on demand. Instead, investors would have to wait for the securities to mature to get their money -- and contend with the possibility that they might never get it. BlackRock consultants said they ruled out the possibility of the pension fund rescuing the Local Government Investment Pool by buying the troubled assets.

An advisory committee of local government officials said it wants the state to guarantee that investors will receive 100 percent of their money back. It supports the two-fund scenario but opposes redemption fees.

The State Board of Administration -- Governor Charlie Crist, CFO Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum -- meets Tuesday to consider recommendations to shore up the fund. The fund was frozen last Thursday in the wake of an avalanche of withdrawals.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

Home Depot Lays Off 750 at Brandon Call Center

Home Depot Inc. on Monday told 750 staffers who coordinate home improvement installation services from a Brandon call center that they will lose their jobs Jan. 28.

The move is part of the struggling Atlanta home improvement giant's efforts to save money and enhance the customer experience in its stores. Two similar facilities that employ 10 each in Dallas and Chicago also will be closed.

Home Depot opened the call center in 2001 to handle in-home installations jobs sold in 550 stores east of the Mississippi River such as window treatments, flooring, decor and mill work. The scheduling and bidding for jobs now handled over the phone at the call center will be returned to the store departments where the projects were sold. It will be up to store managers to decide whether to add staffers to handle the extra work. A few functions such as water heater replacement, will be outsourced to a call center operated by a third party in Orlando. Home Depot has no plans to continue leasing the call center building.

"It was a tough decision," said Stephen Holmes, a Home Depot spokesman. "Unfortunately, there is no good time to do this."

- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Cemex's Florida operations acquired by global group

International building materials group CRH has acquired the Cemex readymixed concrete and concrete block operations in Florida and Arizona for a total of $250-million.

The Florida operations being acquired comprise 26 concrete plants and six block plants. The readymix business operates in five market areas -- Tampa, Southwest Florida, Orlando, Jacksonville and the Panhandle, while the block business operates primarily in the Tampa/St. Petersburg and Fort Myers/Naples areas.

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Ex-PSC Commissioner Rudy Bradley accepts fine and censure

Former Public Service Commission member Rudy Bradley’s long-running encounter with the Florida Commission on Ethics ended Friday. In his second ethics case in five months, the former St. Petersburg lawmaker accepted a public censure and reprimand and a fine of $1,270 for being wined and dined twice by utilities he regulated as a state official, in violation of Florida law.

Bradley reimbursed his hosts for the dinners at the Palm restaurant in Miami and the Blue Door in Miami Beach, but an investigation concluded that he was short $270 of their true cost. The commission also fined Bradley $1,000.

In a case decided in July, Bradley was fined $5,000 for reading from a Verizon memo as part of a rate hearing, in violation of a law that bans ex parte communication between PSC members and the utilities they regulate.

-- Steve Bousquet, Times staff writer

State suspends investment fund withdrawals

As cities, counties and school boards withdraw billions of dollars from a shaky state investment fund, Gov. Charlie Crist and two other top state officials voted Thursday to suspend all future withdrawals from the fund, pending a review by an independent adviser.

The action, in an atmosphere of crisis, came at a special meeting of the State Board of Administration, which consists of Crist, CFO Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum -- the three officials with the responsibility of overseeing the state's investments.

"Let's stop the bleeding," Crist said, echoing Sink's proposal to suspend all withdrawals from the fund.

The withdrawals -- at least $3.5-billion Thursday alone before the vote, and $10-billion over the past two weeks -- has come from a fund known as the local government investment pool, managed by the state. The 25-year-old fund has a solid track record of producing healthy rates of return.

Read more of Steve Bousquet's report here.

Read Helen Huntley's original report here.

Ex-Certegy worker pleads guilty to stealing 8.4-million consumer records

William G. Sullivan, a former database administrator at Certegy Check Services in St. Petersburg, pleaded guilty this morning to stealing 8.4-million consumer financial records from the company's database and selling them for a total of $580,000.

The 54-year-old Largo man could receive up to 10 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties when he is sentenced early next year. Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a reduced sentence if Sullivan provides meaningful assistance with their ongoing investigation of the theft.

- Scott Barancik, Times staff writer

Wesley Chapel mall announces tenant line-up

WESLEY CHAPEL -- The biggest mall under construction in the Tampa Bay area released its line-up of tenants Wednesday, saying it’s about three-quarters of the final list.

The Richard E. Jacobs Group, developer of the 1-million-square-foot Cypress Creek Town Center, listed 42 business names, led by a SuperTarget, Kohl’s, AMC Theatres cinema, Linens-N-Things, Books-A-Million and Circuit City. The mall is due to open in fall 2008, and mall officials say more names will be announced in coming months.

Here is its who's who list, so far:

AMC Theatres
Akaya Japanese Steak House
Asphalt
Bamboo Creek Asian Bistro
Books-A-Million
Caribbean Adventures Travel
Circuit City
Claire’s Boutique
Coldstone Creamery
Dress Barn
Family Christian Bookstore
Famous Footwear
Fish City
5 Guys Original Hamburgers
Game Stop
Hair Matrix
Hallmark
Jamba Juice
Justice for Girls
Kohl’s
Linens-N-Things
MacDill Federal Credit Union
Matoi Sushi
Mattress Firm
Motherhood Maternity
Movie Stop
Nail Trix
Old Navy
P.F. Changs
Panera Bread
Payless Shoe Source
Picture Factory
Red Brick Pizza
Soccer Corner
Sports Authority
Staples
SuperTarget
T-Mobile
TGI Friday’s
Urban Flats
Vitamin Stop
Yankee Candle

Home sales in October off nearly a third

Tampa Bay area existing home sales declined about 30 percent last month, from 2,419 in October 2006 to 1,700 in October 2007, the Florida Association of Realtors said.

The state's average home sales decline was 29 percent, and Orlando, Miami and Fort Myers suffered a greater drop than Tampa. Condo sales in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties declined about 17 percent  year over year, from 545 to 454.

Ocala, whose housing market thrived last year after Tampa's tanked, saw the greatest drop in October sales at 54 percent.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Evel Knievel, Kanye West settle dispute

TAMPA -- Famed daredevil and Clearwater resident Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel and rapper Kanye West have settled a lawsuit, the parties announced today.

Knievel sued West for imitating him in the rap video for West's Touch the Sky.

Google aims for green cheaper than coal

Google today announced plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to make renewable energy cheaper than coal.

The campaign, called RE<C, will focus at first on solar thermal, geothermal and wind power. The program will hire experts and engineers to investigate new technology, and the company plans to invest in breakthrough renewable energy projects.

"Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic that this can be done in years, not decades," said Larry Page, co-founder of Google and president of products. One gigawatt could power a city the size of San Francisco, a news release said.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Study: Tampa has worst home price decline among 20 metro areas

Tampa home prices have dropped an average of 11.1 percent the past year, the steepest fall among 20 major metro areas ranked under the the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday.

Tampa nudged out other stressed housing markets like Miami, Detroit and San Diego in the period between September 2006 and September 2007.

The average decline in the index was 4.9 percent.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Tech Data reports higher earnings

Robust sales and business improvements in Europe helped Tech Data Corp. beat analysts' estimates and quadrupled third-quarter earnings, the Clearwater company said Tuesday.

For the quarter ended Oct. 31, the IT distributor's profits rose to $40.9-million, or 73 cents per share compared to $9.6-million or 18 cents per share for the same year-ago period. Analysts were expecting 60 cents per share. Last year the company took a hit on its third-quarter earnings because of a $6.1-million restructuring charge and $2.8-million consulting costs related to the company's European restructuring program.

"While there is still work to do as we improve upon execution and profitability, we are pleased to see our European operations performing at or ahead of our expectations and delivering stronger working capital metrics," said Bob Dutkowsky, chief executive officer.

Sales for the recent quarter jumped 9.1 percent to $5.92-billion. The company expects revenue of $6.35-billion to $6.50-billion for the fourth quarter ending in January, lower than analysts' predictions of $6.52-billion. Buoyed by the results, Tech Data shares rose 71 cents to $35.70 at one point during premarket trading.

- Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Tampa Bay Lightning terminates deal with buyers

The deal Absolute Hockey Enterprises was hoping to put together to buy the Lightning from Palace Sports & Entertainment apparently is dead.

Palace Sports nixed the purchase agreement when Absolute Hockey did not come up with a required $5-million payment. Now the investment group has splintered as Coral Springs real estate developer Jeff Sherrin is suing Hollywood producer Oren Koules for allegedly failing on Nov. 13 to make a capital contribution of $4.16-million.

Sherrin is asking $50-million in damages.

The suit was filed in the 13th judicial circuit in Hillsborough County.

The other known members of the investment group are Mark Burg, Koules’ business partner, former Blue Jackets president Doug MacLean and Tampa attorney Steve Burton.

While the deal as originally announced with much fanfare on Aug. 7 is no longer valid, don’t be surprised if a deal is resurrected at a later date with Koules or a group led by him.

Koules has a minor hockey background and always expressed his interest most fervently. He said shortly after the sale was announced that he already had depth charts on his desk in Los Angeles.

But that apparently is not something that will happen quickly.

The bombshell is another blip in a process that has been anything but smooth. At the news conference announcing the original sale of the team, the St. Pete Times Forum lease and 5½ acres of adjacent land for about $200-million, the group said it would announce the rest of the investment group in a week to 10 days.

But names were difficult to come by, and while Berg and Burton were brought on board, MacLean always maintained at least one other investor had yet to be named.

Absolute Hockey said repeatedly it hoped to close the deal by the end of November. There also was a Dec. 31 deadline in the purchase agreement to finalize the transaction.

But when the deal did not make it onto the agenda of NHL Board of Governor’s meeting Wednesday and Thursday in Pebble Beach, Calif., it was obvious the deal was not progressing as quickly as hoped.

-- Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer

On Cyber Monday, tips for safe shopping

Coined in 2005, Cyber Monday is the day consumers head back to work after Thanksgiving and Black Friday and shop to take advantage of online bargains.

Here are some things you should know to be smart -- and safe -- online shoppers today. Many of these recommendations come courtesy of the U.S. Department of Commerce and online retailing experts.

-- Buy from a reputable source. If the site doesn't look secure, it probably isn't. Confirm the online seller's physical address and phone number in case you have questions or problems.

-- Check an online retailer's privacy policy. It should let you know what personal information the Web site operators are collecting, why, and how they're going to use the information. If you can't find a privacy policy -- or if you can't understand it -- consider taking your business to another site that's more consumer-friendly.

-- Use a credit card. It's safer than a debit card and gives you a hard-copy statement for your records. If you pay by credit card online, your transaction will be protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act. Do not send cash under any circumstances.

-- If you get an email or pop-up message while you're browsing that asks for financial information, don't reply or click on the link in the message. Legitimate companies don't ask for this information via email.

-- Be clear on the terms of any deal, like refund policies and delivery dates. Read the seller's description of the product closely, especially the fine print.

-- Know what it will cost. Check out Web sites that offer price comparisons and then compare "apples to apples."

-- Factor shipping and handling -- along with your needs and budget -- into the total cost of the order.

-- Print the transaction information for your records. Read your credit card statements as you receive them and be on the lookout for unauthorized charges.

-- Can you return the item for a full refund if you're not satisfied? If you return it, find out who pays the shipping costs or restocking fees, and when you will receive your order. A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule requires sellers to ship items as promised or within 30 days after the order date if no specific date is promised.

-- If you think you are a victim of an online shopping fraud, during the transaction try to work them out directly with the seller, buyer or site operator. If that doesn't work, file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General's office or Florida's consumer services or check the blue pages of the phone book under county government.

- Times staff writers

So far, so good for stores as shoppers flock to deals

[Kelly Newbill, of Largo, makes her third trip to her car after a morning shopping at Tyrone Square Mall. Lara Cerri | Times]

Spurred by Black Friday discounts that were deeper than usual, Tampa Bay area shoppers flooded local malls and stores all night and well into the morning on Black Friday, the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping season.

At one Tampa Bay area Best Buy, people who waited two nights to snag computer deals complained about 11th-hour arrivals crowding up in line, then buying the maximum to resell on eBay. At Toys "R" Us checkout lines snaked so far around the gridlocked store that some shoppers didn't even realize they were not in a line.

After scoring 4 a.m. deals at JCPenney, shoppers actually ran to catch the 5 a.m. opening-bell doorbusters at Sears, then the 6 a.m. discounts at Macy's in Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg.

Whether the discount-induced buying binge will last is the big question as merchants worry that a weakening economy will slow down below a tepid forecast 3 percent retail sales gain in Florida.

"We've all got our fingers crossed," said Rick McAllister, chief executive of the Florida Retail Federation.

This year many Black Friday veterans changed their tactics as stores tried to get sales nailed down earlier. Comp USA was opened at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving, dangling HDTV deals and slicing up 25 free pumpkin pies for shoppers who might have missed their dessert to get there.

Lois McKee, a St. Petersburg mother of four, usually is out hunting for deals at 5 a.m. This year she pulled an all-nighter.

She left home at 10:30 p.m. Thanksgiving night for the Prime Outlets at Ellenton. Her four kids couldn't stay awake past 3:30 p.m. After dropping them back at home, she and a nephew napped in a parking lot waiting for Wal-Mart to open at 5 a.m., then they hit a Staples.

Home at 8:30 a.m. she shopped JCPenney.com online for a quesadilla maker she saw advertised at a sale price if bought before a specific hour.

"I can't find it,'' she said. "I'm going back to the mall to get it."

- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Let the shopping begin

[Michael Urso, of Tampa, rejoices as he walks into a Tampa Best Buy at 5 a.m. Carrie Pratt | Times]
View more photos

1 a.m. Ellenton: Jean Wakefield and her daughter, Chelsea Rainier, thought it might be fun to hit the shops at Prime Outlets in Ellenton for Black Friday shopping. Their shopping outing turned into one big traffic nightmare.

Wakefield, 47, and Rainier, 16, left their home near Fourth Street and Gandy Boulevard in St. Pete at 11:20 p.m. They hit bumper-to-bumper traffic 35 minutes later on I-75 South in Manatee County.

By 1:15 a.m., they could see the spotlights from the outlet mall shining into the black sky. But traffic was at a standstill. "Did they not know this would happen?" Wakefield wondered aloud.

They debated whether to push on, or to bail and make their way back around to the Sunshine Skyway on lesser-used roads. Three minutes later, she maneuvered her Honda Pilot out of the exit lane. The car's tail lights disappeared in the distance, past the endless line of others who would stay the course.

Back to bed for the two? Nope. "We might go to Kohl's," Wakefield said.

***

5 a.m. at Best Buy: Michael Urso, of Tampa, yells as he walks into the opening of the Tampa store.

Urso was shopping with his family and his brother's family. The families had been camping outside the store since 11 p.m. Wednesday. They were there for the deals on laptops, desktop computers and digital cameras.

This is Urso's sixth year of shopping for deals on Black Friday. Best Buy opened at 5 a.m. with a line around the building.

***

5 a.m. Old Navy: There were 200 people lined up at the WestShore Plaza mall store to receive free MP3 players (with a minimum purchase). The digital players were gone in 15 minutes, store clerks said.

Chandini Mansingh, a seventh-grader at Mann Middle School in Brandon, got the last one. "I was very happy," she said as she and her two friends left the store with new clothes and shoes.

-- Carrie Pratt and Jan Wesner, Times staff

TECO Energy rating upgraded to investment grade

TECO Energy earned an “investment grade” rating from Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, marking the progress of the company toward paying off debt and restoring the health of its balance sheet.

The rating service raised the corporate credit rating of TECO Energy, parent company of Tampa Electric, to BBB- from BB, and said the company’s outlook is stable. The upgrade cited the company’s plans to pay down its $3.5-billion in debt, and the recently announced $405-million sale of TECO Energy’s shipping business, TECO Transport.

Sherrill Hudson, TECO Energy chairman and CEO, said in a statement, “We are very pleased to have our corporate credit rating upgraded by Standard & Poor’s and grateful for the hard work of our entire team, which made it possible for us to achieve this milestone in our continued financial improvement.”

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Lotto winner pleads guilty to tax charges

TAMPA -- A onetime Florida Lotto jackpot winner pleaded guilty in open court today to filing a false tax return.

Rhoda Toth signed a plea deal earlier this month, taking responsibility for filing false tax returns in 2000, 2001 and 2003. The Internal Revenue Service says that Toth owes more than $1.1-million and her husband, Alex, owes more than $1.4-million in back taxes.

The Spring Hill couple won $13-million from the Florida Lotto in 1990. They filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection several years ago.

Rhoda Toth entered her plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins. She must now wait for a sentencing date to be set by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich.

At a hearing in August, Jenkins declared Alex Toth unfit for trial based on his physical and mental condition. She ordered him to a federal medical facility for treatment.

- Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Judge: Why hasn't millionaire paid up?

Steven Green, center, seen leaving federal court in February, has $222-million in assets according to his financial statement. [Carrie Pratt | Times

TAMPA - A federal judge had a question for millionaire landlord Steven Green today: Why hasn't he paid  a single penny of the $4.1-million he owes?

Green, a 42-year-old investor and New York philanthropist, has $222-million in assets, including $8.86-million in cash and brokerage accounts, according to his financial statement. But he hasn't used any of it to pay restitution ordered by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew after he pleaded guilty to tax and fraud charges.

"There appears to be a substantial amount of cash that could be used to pay the restitution,'' Bucklew said at today's hearing. "Why can't it be paid?''

Because he's on shakier financial ground than it seems, his attorneys said.

Green suffered debilitating injuries during a hit-and-run crash in May while preparing to report to prison. He was then three months into an eight-month grace period that Bucklew granted so he could sell assets and pay the restitution.

The crash left him unable to care for himself, according to his attorneys, and he receives $5,000-a-day rehabilitation at New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Green's attorneys said some of the cash shown on his financial statement was encumbered by a loan, and they said they feared using the rest might lead to the financial collapse of Green's investment company.

Bucklew ordered another hearing on Dec. 10, where Green's top financial officer will be asked to testify. The judge also asked federal prosecutors to interview Green's doctor or visit Green in rehab to verify his condition.

Bucklew sentenced Green to 33 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to using a phony Social Security number to obtain a $9-million loan to purchase the Amberwood Apartments in Tampa and for failing to file income tax returns from 1999 to 2001, when his personal income topped $3.1-million.

- Jeff Testerman, Times staff writer

Group: Parents need to watch for hazardous toys

Evan Alexander, 3, left, and Dylan Grensel, 2, play with some safe toys in the Children's Choice Daycare facility after a press conference at the Children's Choice Learning Center at Tampa General Hospital today.

TAMPA -- Despite the recent wave of toy recalls, hazardous toys are still on the market, consumer advocates warned today at a news conference in Tampa.

Increased inspections and stiffer punishments for makers of unsafe toys are needed to protect children, said leaders of the Florida Public Interest Research Group, who released their annual toy safety report, "Trouble in Toyland." They were joined at Tuesday's news conference by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, one of 150 co-sponsors of legislation to crack down on unsafe toys.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission desperately needs more funding and more inspectors, Castor said. The agency has only one inspector for toys, she said.

"Frankly, this is outrageous," Castor said. "Unfortunately, this agency has been starved for resources over the years."

Parents need to be vigilant as they shop for toys this holiday season, consumer advocates said. Common hazards include lead paint, magnetic toys, and choking hazards. Lead is a poison that can cause neurological problems. If children swallow more than one magnet, they can stick together inside a child's body, causing intestinal damage or other problems. And even if a toy doesn't have small parts, parents should inspect it for pieces that can break off, creating a choking hazard.

- Lisa Greene, Times staff writer

Measure seeks to help My Safe Florida Home eligibility

Senator Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, has filed a bill to help those that applied for the My Safe Florida Home program but were deemed no longer eligible by the rule changes that occurred during the 2007 session. Senate Bill 644 will grandfather those applicants into the program allowing them to receive matching grants for structural improvements to their homes. Approximately 7500 applicants statewide were affected by the rule changes, over 1000 of which are in the Tampa Bay area. Representative Franklin Sands, D- Weston, is sponsoring the bill in the House.

-- Tom Zucco, Times Staff Writer

Lawsuit against Raymond James expands

The three women who sued Raymond James Financial in September alleging discrimination have been joined by six others, including two current employees. The women filed an amended complaint this week detailing more ways that they say the St. Petersburg-based company has penalized women, paid them less, denied them opportunities for advancement, and hired and promoted men known for harassing women or treating them in a demeaning manner.

Broker Andrea Duda, who still works for the company, says she was demoted as manager of the Ann Arbor office this summer after returning from leave for breast cancer treatment even though the office's financial  performance exceeded projections for the past two fiscal years. A younger, less-experienced male manager got the job.

In addition to the parent Raymond James Financial Inc., the lawsuit names subsidiaries Raymond James & Associates, Raymond James Financial Services and Eagle Asset Management. A copy of the amended complaint is available at blogs.tampabay.com/money. The company declined to comment.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

Allstate's rate increase rejected

It took Florida regulators less than 24 hours to reject a proposal by the Allstate group to raise property insurance rates in Florida by a third statewide.

After a three-hour hearing Thursday, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation notified Allstate on Friday that its request for rate increases ranging from an average 41.9 percent for Allstate Floridian to 28.3 percent for Allstate Indemnity would be denied.

The third-largest property insurer in Florida, Allstate said it needed the higher rate to insure for future hurricanes and build its reserves. But regulators questioned that, saying among other things that the model Allstate used to predict those storms was not approved by the state.

Recent changes in Florida law were to have led to lower costs to insurers, with the savings passed on to policyholders. "The rates proposed by the Allstate companies do not pass along all the savings reasonably available as a result of the expansion of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund,"  Florida insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty said Friday.

Allstate can petition the state for an administrative hearing through the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH). In the meantime, homeowners insurance rates previously submitted by the Allstate companies will remain in effect until the process is concluded. Those rates range from an 11 percent to a 14 percent decrease.

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Unemployment keeps inching upward

Florida's unemployment rate is slowly, but steadily, on its way up, and October was no exception. The state's jobless rate was 4.2 percent in October, up from 4 percent the month before -- and 3.2 percent the year before. Despite the budget shortfall, the government managed to create 18,400 jobs over the year.

- Christina Rexrode, Times staff writer

First American Title to pay $5-million in kickback case

After a yearlong investigation by the Department of Financial Services and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, First American Title Insurance Co. has agreed to pay $5-million in penalties and costs after allegedly paying kickbacks to builders, bankers, real estate agents and brokers for the referral of business in violation of state and federal law.

The investigation looked into whether First American had created and utilized limited partnerships to act as sham title insurance agencies as a means of funneling prohibited payments for the referral of business. The limited partnerships enlisted real estate agents, mortgage brokers, banks and homebuilders who referred business to First American's sham title insurance agencies, resulting in unfair financial gains to First American and its affiliated title insurance agencies.

Under terms of the agreement, First American is required to sever its business relationships with 87 of its limited partnership title insurance agencies in Florida, and to conduct future business activities under strict requirements subject to review of a monitor who will report inspection results on a monthly basis for a period of one year.

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

A fourth coal plant falters

Southern Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company, and the Orlando Utilities Commission pulled the plug Wednesday on their joint venture to build a 285 megawatt coal gasification plant slated for the Stanton Energy Center near Orlando. Uncertainty over carbon regulation prompted its withdrawal, said a release from the company.

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, know as IGCC, produces less smog and acid rain pollutants, but it produces just as much carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, as a traditional coal plant. Experts say that IGCC, which turns coal into a compressed gas before combustion, is the best platform for capturing carbon. But capturing the carbon and storing it, perhaps in saline aquifers deep underground, remains unproven in Florida.

Tampa Electric canceled its plans for a second IGCC plant at its Polk Power Station in October. If Gov. Charlie Crist or Congress puts a price on carbon, IGCC could become prohibitively expensive, utility executives worry. It's the fourth Florida coal plant to derail since June, in part due to Crist's outspoken opposition to coal.

- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Deal expands gambling in Florida

Seminole chairman Mitchell Cypress (l) shakes hands with Gov. Charlie Crist today during a news conference announcing a deal to expand gambling at tribal reservations. [Steve Bousquet | Times]

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida has reached a 25-year deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that will expand the types of casino gambling allowed in the state, Gov. Charlie Crist announced this afternoon.

Under the deal, the tribe is allowed to operate Las Vegas-style slot machines and has exclusive rights in Florida to run card games such as blackjack and baccarat at its seven casinos on tribal lands, including the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa.

Blackjack and baccarat are not allowed now anywhere in Florida.

The agreement makes the state a partner with the tribe in an effort to keep casino gambling from spreading beyond the Indian reservations. The state forfeits revenue from tribal gambling if any expansion beyond tribal lands is allowed. That provision would undercut efforts by the state's parimutuel facilities to match the tribe's deal.

Ikea opens in Orlando

Shoppers at Ikea opening this morning. [Maurice Rivenbark | Times]

A throng of 2,000 eager and curious shoppers lined up to check out the grand opening of the new Ikea in Orlando this morning.

While many who stormed the doors were Ikea veterans who have been making furniture-buying pilgrimages to other states for years, the first in line was Dianna Felch, a 48-year-old home health care worker from Lakeland, who camped out at the door for three days. She did it for the rewards, which included a $90 share, a free bed for her dog Skitter, a $250 gift certificate and two Ikea water bottles.

"I love Ikea now, but until last week I thought it was a cell phone company," she said.

- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Foreclosures bad in Tampa-St. Pete, but not as bad as Miami

When it comes to home foreclosures, Tampa-St. Petersburg Clearwater was rated the 19th worst of 100 major metro areas in the United States.

The firm RealtyTrac in a report released this morning said the region listed 13,562 foreclosure filings on 9,126 properties in the third quarter of this year that ended Sept. 30. That's one filing for every 93 households.

Cities worse off than Tampa-St. Pete include Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Detroit, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta and San Diego.

The filings don't necessarily mean people are losing their homes. In most cases, RealtyTrac captures households that have defaulted on home loans. Most of the homes escape bank repossession.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Rays planning waterfront ballpark

ST. PETERSBURG - The Tampa Bay Rays are planning a $450-million stadium on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront site of Al Lang Field.

The stadium, with about 35,000 seats, would be paid for primarily by the team, which would contribute about $150-million, along with the proceeds of the sale of development rights to Tropicana Field. The team hopes to attract a private developer to build a large retail/residential complex at the Tropicana Field site. The team also would seek as much as $60-million in future state sales-tax revenues, which would require approval by the Legislature.

"We are excited about the possibilities of these projects, and the economic benefits that they would bring to our community,'' Rays president Matt Silverman said at a late Friday night news conference at Tropicana Field. "We would certainly involve the public in any process related to this.''

St. Petersburg voters would need to approve the new stadium because it is public property. The city would attempt to sell the land to the county so it wouldn't have to pay property taxes. The Rays would ask for a longterm lease.

The new stadium would be open-air, but it could be covered with sail-like material on a cabling system. Some seating areas would be air conditioned.

The stadium would be built on the site of the longtime spring training stadium that the team is leaving next year.

The new stadium would be positioned so that balls hit over the right-field fence would splash into the water, similar to the Giants stadium in San Francisco.

-- Aaron Sharockman and Marc Topkin, Times staff writers

Busch Raises Admission by $3

Theme park owner Anheuser-Busch Cos. on Friday bumped up full-price admission to its bigger Florida parks by $3 but unveiled a variety of discounts to cushion the blow.

Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa now cost adults $64.95 plus tax and Sea World pricing will get closer to its crosstown rival parks in Orlando at $67.95. Walt Disney Wolrld's four theme parks are $71 each.

Busch will make permanent what had been a periodic offer of a $10 discount on tickets purchased in advance, either online by Florida residents or seven days in advance among out-of-state vacationers. The popular Florida Fun Card, also promoted as "Pay for a Day, Come Back All Year," will return for its eighth year in 2008. That ticket allows Florida residents to visit one Busch park all year for the price of one day's admission. Those tickets go on sale online and at Publix Super Markets Nov. 26.

Busch also extended its multi-day and multi-park discount ticket options to include Aquatica, a new water park Busch will open near Sea World in March.

-- Mark Albright, Times Staff Writer

Man accused of stealing laptops from Outback pleads not guilty

Eric Almly pleaded not guilty Friday to theft charges related to 11 missing laptop computers from the Tampa headquarters of Outback Steakhouse.

During the Friday morning arraignment in downtown Tampa, the judge warned Almly to keep his distance from Outback, one of several well-known Florida companies that say they were victimized by Almly.

Police said Almly pretended to have business at companies such as Outback and Sykes Enterprises in Tampa and Burger King and Lennar Homes in Miami. Instead, he waited for opportune moments to escape with company laptops in a shoulder bag.

He's accused of selling many of the computers on eBay after erasing their hard drives.

- Times staff writer

Merck agrees to $4.85-billion Vioxx settlement

Merck & Co. said Friday morning it will pay $4.85-billion to settle thousands of lawsuits over the painkiller Vioxx. It is believed to be the largest drug settlement ever. The Trenton, N.J., drugmaker faced personal injury lawsuits involving 47,000 plaintiffs and about 265 potential class-action lawsuits, claiming injuries due to use of Vioxx, which was pulled off the market in September 2004.

The agreement calls for plaintiffs to meet several criteria to qualify for a settlement. Merck, which has been fighting each Vioxx claim individually, said the agreement was not an admission of fault. In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of new Vioxx lawsuits filed, in Florida as well as across the country, as the deadline for claims neared.

- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Snipes: Ocala too racist for tax trial

OCALA -- Actor Wesley Snipes calls Ocala a "hotbed of Klan activity" in federal court documents, arguing that the city is too racist to seat a fair jury at his tax evasion trial.

The motion filed this week in federal court calls for the charges to be dismissed or the venue changed. It also includes results from a telephone survey, commissioned by Snipes' attorneys, that says 63 percent of people polled in Ocala think the Confederate flag is a sign of pride rather than prejudice.

In the Southern District of New York, where Snipes wants his trial moved, about 33 percent of people polled expressed similar views, the survey says.

"The government ... deliberately chose the most racially discriminatory venue available to the government, with the best possibility of an all-white southern jury," Robert G. Bernhoft, Snipes' attorney, writes in the motion.

Snipes' ethnic background is African-American and Native American, and he has strong ties to the Latino community, Bernhoft says.

"While many Ocala jurors may be fair, substantial pockets of prejudice persist," Bernhoft writes. "Just one or two prejudiced jurors can prevent Snipes a unanimous verdict of impartial jurors, and such a risk is uniquely present here in compared to Manhattan. It is the real reason for the government's exceptional venue manipulation: a jury as partial and prejudiced as possible against Snipes."

The U.S. Attorney's Office declined today to comment on the motion.

"Our response will come through the court," said U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Steve Cole.

Snipes, 45, was born in Orlando and recently lived in Windemere.

The Blade and White Men Can't Jump star surrendered to federal authorities in December on charges that he defrauded the Internal Revenue Service of more than $11-million in taxes.

Also named in the indictment are Eddie Ray Kahn, a tax protest group leader from Sorrento, and Douglas P. Rosile, an unlicensed accountant from Venice. The three men are accused of conspiracy to defraud the IRS and presenting a false claim for payment to the agency.

Prosecutors say Kahn and Rosile helped Snipes, who earned $5-million to $8-million per film in the mid 1990s, file amended tax returns for 1996 and 1997. They said he didn't owe taxes and was due refunds of $4-million and $7.3-million.

In September, Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges denied Snipes' request to have his trial moved to New York City from Ocala. He also denied a request from Snipes to have his trial separate from the two co-defendants.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

[AP photo]

Homes sales up a tad in October in Pinellas, Pasco

September marked one of the worst months for home sales in the Tampa Bay area, but October showed some improvement.

In Pinellas County, existing home sales increased from 709 in September to 767 in October. In Pasco County, sales increased from 380 to 383 month to month.

Year over year, sales were still down 25 percent in both counties, but the decline was less steep than it was in September. Pinellas sales were off 31 percent in September. Pasco's were off 40 percent.

September's worse-than-normal downturn was blamed on banks skittish about lending in light of record foreclosures. Hillsborough County's home sales statistics weren't immediately available.

- James Thorner, Times staff writer

Southwest offers a premium fare

In an effort to attract more high-paying business travelers, Southwest Airlines will sell a premium fare that guarantees customers will be among the first on board to choose their seats.

The new "business select'' fare that goes on sale tomorrow morning will cost from $10 to $30 more than the current refundable full-fare one-way ticket. Customers will be in the first, or "A,'' boarding group no matter how late they buy a ticket. They also will receive extra Rapid Rewards frequent-flier credits and a free drink.

The airline also announced a new elite program, called "A List,'' that will automatically check in customers who've flown 32 one-way or 16 round-trip flights within a year, making it likely they will be in the first boarding group. Southwest doesn't assign seats, instead using an "open seating'' system in which passengers board on a first-come, first-served basis based on when they check in. Many business travelers won't fly Southwest because they can't choose their seat.

Chief executive Gary Kelly said Wednesday that the change is aimed at winning over those travelers and should generate at least $100-million in new revenue annually. Southwest is the No. 1 airline serving Tampa International.

- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Fuel costs to drop for area electric customers

The cost of 1,250 kilowatt hours from Tampa Electric this year: $141.02.

The cost starting in January 2008: $140.81

The monthly savings: 21 cents

The chance for a lower electricity bill: priceless

The cost of fuel for electric customers served by Progress Energy Florida and Tampa Electric will actually go down starting in January. Tampa Electric said its typical customers, using 1,250 kilowatt hours a month, will see a 21 cent drop in their monthly fuel price. Progress Energy customers will see a $2.23 drop in the price of 1,000 kilowatt hours to $108.11.

The utility's fuel bills turned out lower than they expected this year, causing them to calculate a lower cost next year. The Public Service Commission approved the new fuel rates today.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Gas prices soaring as oil climbs $2 a barrel

Tampa Bay diesel prices broke a record today, and regular unleaded prices continued to climb as oil prices rose more than $2 a barrel to $96.21 on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning.

Regular unleaded prices in the Tampa Bay area average $3.011 per gallon, up from $2.769 a month ago and $2.15 a year ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. But the pain is worse for drivers who use diesel fuel, which hit an all-time Tampa Bay high of $3.288, up from $3.046 a month ago and $2.584 a year ago.

The government said today that oil prices are likely to remain high and volatile. An increase in production is expected and will help the situation, but oil still is expected to remain above $80 a barrel on average over the next several months. Demand continues to grow in the U.S. and worldwide in spite of high prices.

- Helen Huntley, Times staff writer

Feds set Nov. 15 gaming deal deadline

The Interior Department has told Gov. Charlie Crist it will allow the Seminole Tribe of Florida to put Las Vegas-style slot machines in its casinos if the state and tribe don't sign a deal to expand gambling at Seminole casinos by Nov. 15. In a letter received at the governor's office Monday, Assistant Interior Secretary Carl J. Artman noted that Crist's staff and the tribe are "deep into negotiations'' over an agreement that would permit slots and card games like blackjack at seven Seminole casinos in Florida, including Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood.

But he wrote that the tribe now competes "on an unfair playing field'' because Florida allows slot machines at three tracks in Broward County. Interior officials extended deadlines in August and October. But this is different, said George Skibine, director of the department's office of Indian gaming. Artman "is essentially putting his word on the line here,'' he said. The tribe has sued in federal court in Miami, asking a judge to order the Interior Department to issue procedures that allow ''Class III games.'' Attorneys for the government must respond to the tribe's motion for summary judgment in the case by Nov. 15.

-- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

HSN Will Be Spun Off

Twelve years after using Home Shopping Network as the first building block of what grew into his sprawling e-commerce conglomerate, IAC/InterActiveCorp Chairman Barry Diller today unveiled plans to spin the St. Petersburg TV shopping network off as its own separate stock.

It's part of a larger move by Diller to focus IAC on exploiting the budding media and advertising opportunities of the Internet and simplify his 60-brand conglomerate by breaking it up in five pieces by spinning off four of them as their own stocks much like he did with Expedia Inc., two years ago.

IAC shareholders will each get a proportional ownership stake in each of the five companies. The move comes with IAC stock suffering a year-long slump and some of the architects of his empire pushing for change.

Diller will maintain his stake and control over each entity, but the news sets up a series of events before the actual spinoffs are executed in the second or third quarter of 2008.

Existing management teams, including HSN president and CEO Mindy Grossman, will get more freedom to run their businesses independently. John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media and IAC's biggest shareholder, will have a new avenue to renegotiate the terms of his strained relationship with Diller.

Malone, who controls TV shopping rival QVC, first lured Diller to HSN by turning over voting power of his shares to Diller. "There was a time when (Wall Street paid) a 20 percent premium for Diller's leadership,'' Malone told the Wall Street Journal two weeks ago. "Today you could argue there is a Barry discount."

Diller said his announcement Monday was the "the first of several dominoes to fall" as the details of the spinoffs are resolved in the coming months.It was not reaction to Malone, he said. Rather it is but an attempt to simplify a corporate structure that had gotten too unwieldy for investors to fathom.

-- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

WellCare acknowledges lawsuit, files earnings

TAMPA - WellCare Health Plans Inc. said today that a former employee filed a whistleblower lawsuit in Leon County against the Tampa managed care company the day after the Oct. 24 raid on its headquarters by federal and state authorities.

Though WellCare officials said they have not seen the lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday that it involved claims by a former financial department employee of WellCare's Harmony Behavioral Health subsidiary that the company defrauded the Florida Medicaid program of more than $35-million over five years.

Whistleblower lawsuits are typically sealed until the government reviews the allegations.

Meanwhile, WellCare issued its unaudited financial statements for the quarter ending Sept. 30. Earnings were up 61 percent to $1.71 per share from $1.06 a year ago while revenues increased to $1.43-billion, compared to $1-billion a year ago.

WellCare officials said the company's quarterly filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission would be delayed until its independent investigation is complete.

-- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

State Farm back to 50,000 dropped policies

That report Friday morning that State Farm would drop an extra 24,000 coastal policies starting next year? After saying the numbers were accurate, State Farm now says it had the wrong numbers. Last summer, State Farm said it will not renew 50,000 wind polices. But late this week, it upped that to 74,000. That’s important because regulators had recently brokered an agreement with State Farm that allowed the company to drop no more than 50,000 policies in exchange for a 9 percent rate reduction. "We intend to comply with the settlement agreement,'' said Office of Insurance Regulation spokesman Tom Zutell, "and apparently State Farm does, too.''

- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

TECO announces 3Q earnings

TECO Energy announced third-quarter earnings this morning of $92.8-million, or 44 cents a share, compared to $79.7-million, or 38 cents a share, in the third quarter of last year.

The Tampa energy company, owner of Tampa Electric, recently announced the $405-million sale of its transport unit. That sale should be completed by year-end, and will help the company accelerate its debt reduction plans and improve its credit rating, said TECO Energy Chairman and CEO Sherrill Hudson.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

BayWalk is for sale

ST. PETERSBURG -- BayWalk, the popular downtown entertainment and retail complex, is on the market.

"We're in the business of developing, investing and selling assets," said Craig Sher, the CEO of Sembler, which developed the $40-million complex in 2001. "Is there a cash need? No."

Included in the package deal is also 36,000 square feet of retail space in the Midcore garage complex on First Avenue N between Second and Third streets. BayWalk's 150,000 square feet, including 80,000 square feet of movie theater, is one block north.

The complex of restaurants, bars and retail stores that attracts 3-million to 4-million visitors a year is credited with helping to spark the recent downtown renaissance. When the complex was proposed, downtown was slumbering and the nearest movie theater was miles away.

"We're proud of our BayWalk legacy," Sher said, adding that other factors also contributed to reviving downtown. "It's still a central meeting place and public forum. It hasn't been without its issues, but that's a measure of its success."

The complex has become so popular that it was the center of controversy as antiwar activists staged protests there. It also is a magnet for teenagers, whose sometimes unruly behavior has disturbed some BayWalk visitors.

Shortly after BayWalk opened, Sembler also partnered in building the $50-million Centro Ybor, a similarly designed project in Tampa's Ybor City. That location has been less successful, and the company sold its interests in that development last year.

"That's the risk you take," Sher said. "It's a big gamble."

Sher said BayWalk and Midcore are almost completely leased and operating well, but that in examining the companies' portfolio, executives decided these assets could fetch attractive prices to fund further expansions. He said Sembler has been steadily growing its assets and now manages about 60 properties in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico, owning about half of those. He said commercial property has been fetching good prices lately so the company decided this was a good time to offer BayWalk.

The complex was part of a complicated deal to redevelop the downtown. Dating back to the 1980s and the Bay Plaza venture to create a three-block retail center, BayWalk was originally to be the North Core parking garage. When Bay Plaza bailed out, Sembler and partners stepped in to revive the deal.

The city consolidated property to make the deal happen and gave the land to Sembler in exchange for a $1.45-million mortgage, said city attorney John Wolf. The conditions of the mortgage would require repayment, however, only if Sembler made a windfall on any subsequent sale.

"It was designed against them making a tremendous profit," Wolf said. "I told the City Council at the time that we'd never see that money. But that's what redevelopment projects do. That's why you give an incentive. And it worked."

- Paul Swider, Times staff writer

Florida Aquarium unveils expansion plan

Kids will be able to upload their own videos, download podcasts and use their cell phones to learn all about hundreds of new fish at a exhibit scheduled to open at the Florida Aquarium next year.

Ocean Commotion, scheduled to open in the fall of 2008, will take the Tampa attraction beyond the static display of live marine life and printed story boards to a new high-tech level. The $1.3-million exhibit, which will replace Sea Hunt, is part of a $6-million expansion of the $100-million dollar facility projected over the next five years.

Most of the money will come from private donations with some local government support. The aquarium is owned by the city of Tampa, but run by a nonprofit corporation. The operational budget of $14-million was balanced by $675,000 in city subsidies in 2007. Revenues generated by the facility have gradually reduced the subsidy from $1-million a year in 2002.

- Mark Albright, Times staff writer

Regional rail through airport previewed

Image of proposed light rail system at Tampa International Airport. [Special to the Times]

TAMPA -- Tampa International Airport board members got a preview today of what one piece of a regional rail system for the Tampa Bay area might look like and cost.

Engineering consultants PB Americas recommended a route that would run through 3.5 miles of the airport and stop at the existing main terminal and a future north terminal. The train would zip over roads and under elevated airliner taxiways. (See video)

The cost: $190-million to $230-million in current dollars.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said the price wasn't out of line compared to billions the state is spending to improve the area's interstate highways. "In the long run, this is cheaper,'' she said. "This is congestion-proof.''

Hillsborough and Pinellas officials and the state Department of Transportation are studying regional rail plans. "This is maybe 20 years away,'' said Louis Miller, the airport's executive director. The $360,000 study will help officials avoid doing anything that would interfere with a future route, he said.

-Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Tampa Bay wins $3-million in health care technology software

Tampa Bay wrestled against more than 90 communities and walked away with a $3-million grant in software that would help accelerate the adoption of electronic health records in the region.

The Center for Community Health Leadership, an organization sponsored by North Carolina-based Misys Healthcare Systems, said in a release that Tampa won the award because of its health care reputation and its commitment to community data sharing.

Tampa's application was spearheaded by David Schlaifer, CEO and president of Doctors' Administrative Solutions, LLC. Tampa Bay is the second community, following New Haven, Conn., to receive the grant.

-Times staff writer

Progress Energy announces flat third-quarter earnings

Progress Energy announced flat third-quarter net earnings of $319-million, or $1.24 per share, compared to $319-million, or $1.27 per share, for the same period last year. The per-share decrease is due to an increase in the number of shares outstanding.

Third-quarter earnings from continuing operations were $292-million, or $1.14 per share, compared to $273-million, or $1.09 per share, last year.

Bill Johnson, Progress Energy's chairman, president and chief executive officer, reaffirmed the company's core ongoing earnings guidance for 2007 of $2.70 to $2.90 per share.

Johnson recently took over for for Bob McGehee, former chairman and CEO, who died in October after suffering a stroke.

Progress Energy, based in Raleigh, N.C., owns two regulated utilities, including Progress Energy Florida based in St. Petersburg. The Florida utility serves more than 1.7-million customers and has a total generating capacity of more than 9,200 megawatts.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

AirTran names new CEO: Fornaro

Robert Fornaro, who directed the rapid growth of discounter AirTran Airways as president, was named the airline's chief executive officer Wednesday.

Fornaro, 54, succeeds Joe Leonard, AirTran's chairman and CEO for the last eight years. Leonard will remain chairman of the company headquartered in Orlando.

When the two airline veterans arrived in 1999, AirTran was in financial shambles. They bought new Boeing jets to replace aging DC-9s and kept a tight rein on expenses.

AirTran's fleet has grown more than three-fold to 137 jets. Annual revenues, $450-million in 1998, are expected to hit $2.4-billion this year. AirTran has been profitable every year since 1999.

"We've gone from a troubled, weak airline with a poor image to one with quality that's very high," Fornaro said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

HSN comeback gains traction

In the first quarter since launching a new on-air look for its 30th birthday, HSN on Wednesday reported an uptick in sales.

The network reported a sales gain of 5 percent for the quarter, which officials at parent IAC/InterActiveCorp said was evidence of a turnaround taking root. The sales gain was 2 percent if the comparison reflected sales of America's Store, HSN's second network which was closed down last spring.

Former Nike executive and HSN's new chief executive Mindy Grossman "and her team have now become acclimated and are beginning to demonstrate the great retailing smarts we knew they were capable of,'' said Barry Diller, IAC Chairman. IAC reported net income of $72-million, or 24 cents a share, down from $75-million, or 24 cents a share, a year ago.

Mark Albright, Times staff writer

We working stiffs are still unhappy

The good news: Tampa's worker confidence has halted its free fall.

The bad news: We're still ranked dead last in the Hudson Employment Index's monthly measurement of employee happiness. The latest data, released today, takes the pulse of workers in 11 major cities.

For theories on why the area's workers are getting so disillusioned, read Sunday's story in Working.

Christina Rexrode, Times staff writer

Tampa Bay area new home sales still hurting

New single-family home starts in the third quarter of this year in the Tampa Bay area were down 56.6 percent from the same period last year.

Starts numbered 1,732 from July 1 to Sept. 30 this year, versus 3,993 during the same months of 2006.

The Wednesday housing report by the firm Metrostudy contained some potentially decent news: New home inventory shrunk by 524 homes, and supply and demand could reach equilibrium in about a year.

James Thorner, Times staff writer

Target recruits UT biz students

Do you think of Target first when it comes to food? The Minneapolis-based retailer wishes you would.

The chain, which has more than 1,500 stores in 47 states, has turned to University of Tampa students for help. Target has opened a competition  for students taking a class called "Practical Strategic Assessment" at Sykes College of Business. Target wants to increase food sales at their SuperTarget stores, and figure out how to recruit the best workers. The UT students will brainstorm solutions, and Target will pick the best proposal on Dec. 7.

"The competition allows students to get real world experience dealing with strategic thinking in a competitive marketplace," said Dr. Jody Tompson, professor at UT's Naimoli Institute for Business Strategy. "And at the same time Target gets some fresh, out of the box solutions to real world problems."

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

STUDY: Energy costs beat food, health care

As if the housing news wasn’t bad enough, consumers will likely face higher energy costs in the coming season, said Consumer Federation of America on Tuesday.

“No Time to Waste”, the report by the Washington, D.C. non-profit, warned that home heating prices are on the rise while relief at the gas pump is nowhere in sight. The nation’s uncertain energy future has consumers worried, according to the federation’s poll. The poll registered broad support for better automobile mileage, more renewable energy, and more biofuel production. One sobering finding: household energy expenditures beat health care costs by 50 percent. Americans spent 23 percent more on energy than they did on food.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Lee Roy Selmon taking control of his namesake barbecue chain

OSI Restaurant Partners Inc., the Tampa-based owner of Lee Roy Selmon's barbecue chain, said Monday it will sell a majority stake in the 7-year-old business to an investment group led by Selmon, the former NFL star, and the chain's manager for an undisclosed sum. Selmon and chain president Peter Barli said they they were happy that OSI would retain a minority stake but that it was difficult getting the financial commitment they wanted for growth from a company nurturing such multiple chains as Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba's Italian Grill. Lee Roy Selmon's, which currently has six restaurants, now hopes to have 30 by 2012 and its first site outside Florida by 2010. The buyers would acquire an 80-percent stake in the chain while OSI would hold 20 percent.

-Scott Barancik, Times staff writer

TECO sells transport unit

Eager to pare its debt, Tampa-based TECO Energy this morning said it has agreed to sell its transport division for $405-million in cash to an investment group led by an affiliate of Greenstreet Equity Partners of Miami. http://www.tecoenergy.com/news/article/index.cfm?article=432

Taking out transaction costs and taxes, the deal is expected to net TECO between $370-million and $380-million.

"We are pleased with the outcome and believe that it is in the best interest of all concerned,'' TECO Chairman and CEO Sherrill Hudson said in a statement. "It is the best alternative for TECO Energy's shareholders -- allowing us to accelerate our debt retirement plan, strengthen our balance sheet and focus on our utility businesses.''

TECO Transport, which has employed about 185 workers locally, includes a fleet of a dozen ocean-going vessels, 20 river towboats and about 650 inland barges.  It also owns a transfer terminal at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Morgan Stanley & Co. acted as TECO's financial adviser in the deal, and AMA Capital Partners represented Greenstreet. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year.

-Jeff Harrington, Times staff writer

SRI snags $36.5-million contract

ST. PETERSBURG -- SRI International said today that it has won a five-year, $36.5-million contract to develop a system for improving port security in the United States. See the company's press release.

The "Maritime Domain Awareness'' system represents the first major project of SRI's National Center for Maritime and Port Security in St. Petersburg. Among other technologies, the project will use an underwater sensor developed at the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science as part of an integrated sensing system.

"Our goal has been to make St. Petersburg an international center of excellence for marine science and technology,'' said U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Indian Shores at a press conference announcing the deal this morning.

SRI, founded in 1946 as part of Stanford University, jump-started its fledgling St. Petersburg operation in January with $30-million in public funds and about 20 researchers hired from the University of South Florida's Center for Ocean Technology. The group is housed in temporary quarters on USF's campus while awaiting completion of a 40,000-square-foot lab on St. Petersburg's waterfront.

-Times staff writer

Renewable power cheaper and cleaner, scientists say

Making renewable energy 15 percent of our power will lower electricity costs and reduce greenhouse gas pollution, the Union of Concerned Scientists said today.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an energy bill requiring utilities to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources like wind, solar, geothermal or bioenergy by 2020. The Union of Concerned Scientists analysis said that such a bill could save consumers more than $13-billion and reduce global warming pollution by 126-million metric tons per year by 2020, the equivalent of taking 21-million cars off the road.

-Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

WellCare stock plunges

Shares of WellCare Health Plans Inc. have been in a free-fall this morning, after Wednesday's raid by more than 200 federal and state agents.

The company, whose shares were at $115.50 before trading was halted yesterday, saw its market capitalization decimated as the stock price dropped more than 60 percent.

-Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Syniverse reports third-quarter results

Tampa-based Syniverse Technologies Inc. today said its net income dropped 6.3 percent for the third quarter ended Sept 30.

Net income in the recent quarter was $16.5-million, compared to $17.6-million a year ago. Net income per share was 24 cents, a 2-cent decrease from the same period a year ago. Total revenue for the third quarter was $100.3-million, a 7.2 percent increase compared to last year. Syniverse announced its earnings before the market opened today. The company had a busy third quarter, opening a regional headquarters in Buenos Aires, and regional offices in Dubai and Brazil. Syniverse also continued its work with the European Commission for the phase II review of its acquisition of the wireless clearing and financial settlement business of Billing Service Group.

The company today also announced its offering of 20-million shares of its common stock by some stockholders via an underwritten public offering. The underwriters will have a 30-day period to exercise an option to buy up to an additional 3-million shares from the selling stockholders. The company will not receive any proceeds from the offering.

Syniverse shares were trading at $17.70 late in the morning, up 3.81 percent.

-Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Home sales continue to plummet

Bad news for sellers, good news for first-time home buyers: Sales of existing homes in the Tampa Bay area have fallen 40 percent over the past year, according to data released Wednesday by the Florida Association of Realtors. The median housing price in the bay area slipped 10 percent, to $200,700. Housing prices here haven't been below the $200K mark since the spring of 2005.

- Christina Rexrode, Times staff writer

Federal agents descend on WellCare

An FBI agent arrived about 9:25 a.m. and told employees they could leave for the day. [Chris Zuppa | Times]

TAMPA -- Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant this morning at the offices of WellCare Health Plans Inc. on Henderson Road, and people were seen removing materials from the building of the managed care company.

Acting U.S. Attorney James Klindt said FBI agents and law enforcement agents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Florida Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit were participating in the execution of the warrant at 8735 Henderson Road in Tampa. The ongoing investigation "does not directly concern, nor should it have any impact upon, the delivery of any health care service to any person," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The office gave no further details on the investigation. The FBI did not immediately return calls for comment.

Many employees were standing outside the offices this morning, talking on cell phones or heading to their cars to leave.

Steven Meitzen, 51, arrived at WellCare about 9:40 a.m. for a job interview. A sheriff's deputy stopped him when he exited a parking garage elevator and director him to stand with a crowd of about 20 employees waiting outside, he said.

"I was told by a member of the human resources that they thought it was a bomb scare, but they were locked down and not allowed to leave the building," Meitzen said. "Later on, I talked to someone who said (the FBI) had a subpoena and were looking for records."

Meitzen stood by for nearly half an hour, watching "a lot" of unmarked vehicles with flashing ligths surround the property.

"They had a lot of the entrances covered," Metizen said.

WellCare's Web site describes it as a leading provider of managed care services dedicated to government-sponsored health care programs focusing on Medicaid and Medicare plans, including health plans for families, children, the blind and disabled, and prescription drug plans.

Its 2.3-million members are nearly equally divided between Medicare and Medicaid programs, and it posted $3.8-billion in revenue last year, the vast majority of that from state and federal government reimbursements. Profits were $139.2-million, nearly three times its net income after going public in 2004.

In June, Medicare's parent agency announced that seven of the industry's biggest players have agreed to suspend marketing until protective measures take effect to guard against rogue agents enrolling customers in fee-for-service plans they didn't want or need. Among the seven: Tampa's fastest-growing publicly traded company, WellCare Health Plans Inc.

--Bill Coats, Times staff writer

-- Trading was halted in WellCare stock at 10:59 a.m. after it had fallen $5.47 a share to $115.50.

Gas up green

Finding ethanol and biodiesel in Florida just got easier. Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services just released a new Web site locater for those in search of bio-based fuels.

A reminder: E10 (a gasoline blend with 10 percent ethanol) can run in just about any gasoline engine, while E85 (an 85 percent blend) requires a special engine. Biodiesel can be used in virtually any diesel engine.

Tampa has three locations offering E10, and one offering E85 and a biodiesel blend. Hess and Hess Express stations offer E10 throughout the area, as do Murphy Oil stations, a fuel supplier at Wal-Mart parking lot stations.

--Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Pearlman's former lawyer hands over documents

Lou Pearlman's former lawyer avoided possible jail time Monday when she met a court-ordered deadline to turn over documents and electronic data related to the former music mogul's bankruptcy case.

Rene Chamberlain of Orlando had claimed that attorney-client privilege prevented her from complying with the order. Pearlman is in an Orlando jail awaiting trial on federal bank fraud charges while his assets are being liquidated in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Banks and investors claim he owes them about $500-million.

--Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Tampa International gets No. 3 rating

Tampa International Airport was rated as the third-best U.S. airport for business travelers by readers of Conde Nast magazine in its November issue. TIA was the highest ranked airport in Florida and the Southeast, followed by Orlando (No. 8) and Fort Lauderdale (No. 10). Nationally, only Portland (Ore.) International Airport and Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., were ranked higher.

--Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Hillsborough man arrested for alleged doctoring of Medicaid records

A Hillsborough County man is behind bars for allegedly seeking false Medicaid reimbursements totaling more than $41,000.

Theodore Gaines Hartzog, Jr. was arrested by officers of Attorney General Bill McCollum's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Investigators believe Hartzog, 47, who works for We Care Inc., a home community-based service company for the developmentally disabled, falsified at least 48 claims on behalf of one Medicaid recipient.

Authorities are charging him with one count of third-degree grand theft, a release from McCollum's office said.

Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Florida's jobless rate holds steady in September

Florida's unemployment rate was 4 percent in September, unchanged from the previous month. The jobless number for the Tampa Bay area also was unchanged, at 4.3 percent.

Both local and statewide numbers are lower than the national unemployment rate of 4.7 percent for September.

Unemployment has been creeping up since a year ago, however, when the Tampa Bay area was posting historic low rates of 3.4 percent while the state average was 3.2 percent.

Despite the rising unemployment rate, the Tampa Bay area continues to create new jobs. The local metro area has added 13,400 new positions over the past year, making it third behind the No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Orlando metro areas.

Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Odyssey ship captain freed in Spain

MADRID (AP) -- The captain of a treasure-hunting ship intercepted in a dispute over a $500-million undersea find was released Wednesday after being held overnight for questioning in a southern Spanish port city, his company said.

Sterling Vorus was detained after his ship, the Odyssey Explorer, was seized Tuesday as it sailed into Spanish waters from the British colony of Gibraltar off Spain's southern tip, police said.

Spain's Civil Guard held Vorus overnight in the port city of Algeciras after Vorus refused to let officers board his ship, Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration co-chairman Greg Stemm said. Police searched the vessel Wednesday, he said.

The dispute began when Odyssey Marine announced the discovery of a colonial-era shipwreck in May and said hundreds of thousands of ancient coins found on the vessel had been flown to the United States from Gibraltar.

Spain filed claims in a U.S. federal court over the find, arguing that if the shipwrecked vessel was Spanish -- or the treasure removed from its waters -- the treasure belonged to Spain.

Click here to read the full story from the Associated Press.

Progress Energy holds tribute for late CEO McGehee

[Atoyia Deans | Times]

Jeff Lyash, CEO of Progress Energy Florida,  gave the opening remarks this morning at a tribute for Bob McGehee, the late CEO of Progress Energy who died of a stroke last Tuesday in England.

The local tribute took place at the Mahaffey Theatre in downtown St. Petersburg. A memorial for McGehee held at the company's headquarters in Raleigh, N.C., was shown on closed-circuit television for local company employees and community leaders.

Times staff writer

Port director gets four-year contract

His bosses on the Tampa Port Authority board approved a new contract Tuesday to keep Richard Wainio as port director through 2012.

Wainio, 57, will earn $245,000 annually starting next March, about $10,000 more than his current salary. The agency will also pay $45,000 a year into a self-directed retirement account in lieu of contributing to his Florida state retirement.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio objected to a clause that will pay Wainio the entire value of the contract, more than $1-million, if the board fires him for reasons other than misconduct.

Such buyout clauses "bind a board's hands to do anything except in the case of extreme behavior,'' she said. But Iorio joined in the unanimous vote approving the contract to show support for Wainio's performance.

Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Insurance regulators subpoena Allstate, affiliates

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has issued subpoenas to several companies affiliated with Allstate Floridian in a probe of how they set property insurance rates.

The investigation, which directs Allstate to appear in a public hearing, seeks information on how the insurance company's reinsurance program works and its relationship to risk modeling companies, insurance rating organizations and insurance trade groups.

"The legislation enacted in January was very specific about its requirement that insurers reduce the rates they are charging for homeowners insurance,'' Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said. "We are continuing to investigate those companies that appear to be ignoring the intent of the legislature in its efforts to reduce premiums to consumers, and we want to hear the reasons behind those companies' actions.''

State regulators took similar action against State Farm, prompting a settlement in which the insurer agreed to a nominal insurance rate cut.

Among Allstate subsidiaries: Allstate Floridian Indemnity is seeking a rate increase of 28.3 percent; Allstate Florida Insurance is seeking a 41.9 percent hike; Encompass Floridian Indemnity a 38.4 percent increase and Encompass Floridian Insurance a 39.7 percent increase.

A public hearing is slated for Jan. 15 in Tallahassee.

Jeff Harrington, Times staff writer

Courant Institute courted by Scripps in Florida

An applied mathematics institute at New York University is the latest research operation being courted to join the growing cluster of high-powered biotech organizations in Florida. Dr. Richard Lerner, president of Scripps Research Institute, said Tuesday morning that he has been talking to officials of the Courant Institute of Mathematics about a possible expansion to the state.

Lerner, whose California-based organization now has a 200-person campus in Jupiter, said Courant -- a New York University division -- would be a valuable addition to the growing cluster of researchers on Florida's east coast. Among the interests of the mathematicians at Courant is development of algorithms used in medical imaging. The group was formed in 1935 by German mathematician Richard Courant and has 33 faculty members in computer science, 49 in math and 30 post-doctoral fellows. Lerner said he has discussed a possible Florida expansion with Courant director Leslie Greengard, who has a medical degree as well as a Ph.D. in math. Greengard's father, Dr. Paul Greengard of New York's Rockefeller University, is a member of Scripps' board of scientific governors.

Lerner stressed that talks with Courant were preliminary, but interest in Florida is growing, particularly since the decision by the German-based Max Planck Society to open an institute in Jupiter. Max Planck, which had two researchers win Nobel Prizes this year, is considered one of the world's leading research institutes. "We've got tremendous momentum now," said Lerner, who negotiated the 2003 deal with former Gov. Jeb Bush to bring Scripps to Florida with more than $510-million in public funding. "The game has changed." Lerner was speaking at the BioFlorida annual conference in Weston, Fla.

St. Petersburg funeral director suspended

A St. Petersburg funeral director who sent two sets of ashes to a family has been ordered to serve a six-month suspension and submit to other disciplinary measures. Leroy Sims Jr. was funeral director in charge of the now-defunct Serenity Memorial Funeral and Cremation Services, formerly located at 3301 Fifth Ave. S. The company went out of business, and its license expired last November.

The decision was handed down last week during a meeting of the Board of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services. An investigation was launched after the state received a complaint from a man who received two sets of cremated remains, both certified to be the remains of his father. Three other cases against Sims, involving business practice violations, also were brought before the board.

-- Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Orange estimate up for Florida's 2007-2008 season

Coming off the lowest harvest in 17 years, Florida's citrus growers were told to expect a 30 percent increase in the orange crop for the 2007-2008 season for a total of 168-million boxes.

Though the official USDA estimate was on the low side of earlier projections, grower Mark Weeler of Lake Placid was pleased. "That gives us a good price for our fruit without forcing increases in prices at the retail level."

Orange juice prices have risen to an average of $5.70 a gallon after three years of harvests hammered by hurricanes and canker. The USDA also predicted that Florida's grapefruit crop would be 25-million boxes, down slightly from last year.

Citrus is a $9-billion industry in Florida, and nearly 95 percent of the state's orange crop is used for juice.

At Progress Energy, Johnson succeeds former CEO McGehee

In the wake of the death earlier this week of Progress Energy chief executive Bob McGehee, the company's board of directors today unanimously elected William D. Johnson as chairman, CEO and president of the company, effective immediately. Johnson’s current position as chief operating officer will not be filled.

State to probe Arcadia insurance case

Following a report last week in the St. Petersburg Times, the Florida Department of Financial Services said Thursday it is looking into the plight of one of several dozen Arcadia homeowners who claim United Casualty Insurance Company of America paid for only a fraction of the damage to their homes after Hurricane Charley in 2004.

Officials are looking at the home of Roosevelt Brady, whose house remains off its foundation and has mold from a leaky roof.

A DFS official said the investigation could broaden. More than 40 Arcadia homeowners have sued United Casualty for breach of contract, and the Tampa attorney who represents the homeowners said more lawsuits could follow.   

Tom Zucco, Times staff writer

Bright House kicks off new 'Start Over' service

If you missed the first 15 minutes of your favorite movie while channel surfing, here's an option to catch up.

Bright House announced a new service today called Start Over, which will let viewers catch missing moments.

The feature, which works on the company's digital cable network with a regular remote, lets viewers rewind certain television shows already in progress. The service will be available to Manatee County customers Oct. 24 and expand throughout the bay area by the end of the year.

Madhusmita Bora, Times staff writer

Tampa Bay area homes sales suffer in September

Sales of existing single-family homes and condos in the Tampa Bay area fell 39 percent in September.

Realtors said homes sales totaled 1,823 last month in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties versus 2,972 a year earlier.

It was the lowest monthly sales number in at least five years and a steeper drop than normally occurs in September as summer vacations wind down.

Hillsborough sales fell 44 percent year over year. Pasco was next at 40 percent, followed by Pinellas at 31 percent.

Times staff writer

Progress Energy CEO McGehee dies

Robert B. McGehee, the chairman and chief executive officer of Progress Energy who had suffered an apparent stroke Sunday while on business in London, died Tuesday morning about 6 a.m. Florida time, the company said. McGehee had undergone surgery in London’s Charing Cross Hospital and remained Monday in intensive care. He was 64.

Progress Energy of Raleigh N.C., is a Fortune 250 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $10-billion in annual revenues. The company has two major utilities, including Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg. Tuesday morning, Progress Energy said its board of directors reviewed and approved an executive succession plan last month in anticipation of McGehee's retirement, which was expected to occur as early as next spring. The board is scheduled to meet Friday to take steps to implement that plan. The company said it will provide an update at the conclusion of that meeting.

-- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

St. Joe Co. slashing jobs

St. Joe Co., the state's largest landowner, is cutting nearly 80 percent of its work force, selling 100,000 acres and eliminating its dividend as it adjusts to Florida's moribund real estate market.

St. Joe owns more than 800,000 acres, most of it concentrated in the Panhandle. In announcing the restructuring, St. Joe's chief executive, Peter Rummell, said, "This is not a fire sale." About 10 years ago, the company began the process of transforming itself from a timber company into a real estate developer. Since then it has built commercial properties as well as high-end, second-home communities, mostly in northern Florida.

It has also been the prime advocate for a new airport in Panama City.

-- Kris Hundley, Times staff writer

Progress Energy CEO suffers apparent stroke

Robert B. McGehee, chairman and chief executive officer of Progress Energy, suffered an apparent stroke yesterday while on business in London, the company announced today. He underwent surgery in London's Charing Cross Hospital and remains in intensive care.

McGehee, 64, joined other Progress Energy executives in London to meet with investors. William D. Johnson, president and chief operating officer, will assume the CEO duties in McGehee's absence. The executive committee of the board of directors has appointed lead director John Mullin III as chairman.

Progress Energy of Raleigh N.C., is a Fortune 250 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $10-billion in annual revenues. The company includes two major utilities, including Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg.

McGehee has been chairman and CEO since 2004 and has been with the company since 1997, said spokesman Mike Hughes in North Carolina. Before joining Progress Energy, McGehee was chairman of the board of directors of Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway, a large law firm in Jackson, Miss. He earned a B.S. from the Naval Academy in 1966, and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1973. He served aboard nuclear submarines with the U.S. Navy.

McGehee lives in North Carolina with his wife, Jolene. They have four children and two grandchildren. His wife was not with him Sunday, but has since joined him in London, Hughes said.

-- Asjylyn Loder, Times staff writer

Tampa Electric shelves $2-billion "clean coal" project

TAMPA -- Tampa Electric announced this morning that it has shelved plans to build a $2-billion, 630-megawatt "clean coal" facility in Polk County.

The utility, the primary subsidiary of TECO Energy, said uncertainties over carbon regulation created too much risk for investors and customers. The plant was projected to go on line in 2013 and would have emitted annually between 4.1-million and 5.4-million tons of carbon dioxide, the gas believed to be the chief cause of climate change. (Read more here.)

Tampa Electric has repeatedly said it would capture and store some carbon "if required." So far, it isn't required. However, Gov. Charlie Crist in July signed an executive order meant to sharply curtail carbon emissions. Other states have made similar commitments, and there is a debate over federal regulation. New regulations could create a substantial cost for utilities that emit carbon, making coal -- a high carbon fuel -- far more expensive than it is today.

Trump Tower Tampa says it has loan commitment

TAMPA - Long-delayed Trump Tower Tampa, the proposed 52-story downtown luxury condo high-rise on the Hillsborough River, may get the financing it needs to go vertical.

Developer SimDag LLC has told buyers of some of the 190 condos that an undisclosed New York hedge fund has given the company a "commitment agreement" for a $200-million loan. Such a letter outlines the terms of a loan while listing conditions borrowers must meet before funds are disbursed.

The tower, announced with fanfare in February 2005, has struggled to find financing in the housing downturn. Construction is expected to take more than two years. New York tycoon Donald Trump is licensing his name to the deal in return for 50 percent of the profits on each condo unit.

The Related Group, a Miami developer with ties to other Trump projects, has expressed interest in taking over the project from SimDag.

-- Jim Thorner, Times staff writer

Hard Rock hiring 150 for expansion

TAMPA - The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa is looking to fill 150 new jobs for the second phase of its $120-million expansion that opens in mid November.

Most are food and beverage positions for the 490-seat Fresh Market dining room, a festival market-style restaurant with chefs cooking dishes at seven stations.

The Hard Rock is holding a job fair on premises today, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The hotel and casino now has 1,813 employees, of which 1,142 work full-time.

-- Steve Huettel, Times staff writer

Chairman of Tampa company may bid on Cubbies

As if coaching a Tampa-based coal-mining company weren't exciting enough, Walter Industries chairman Michael Tokarz may be vying to buy the Chicago Cubs.

Tokarz, an Illinois native and former Kohlberg Kravis Roberts executive who joined Walter's board in 1987, declined to discuss the rumor with the Chicago Tribune on Oct. 2 but didn't deny it. Comments from several business partners suggested it was true.

The Cubs were put on sale in April as part of a deal by real estate kingpin Sam Zell to acquire owner Tribune Co.

-- Times Staff Writer Scott Barancik

Economic scorecard: Tampa Bay area in middle of pack

The Tampa Bay region placed 4th among 6 comparable metro areas in an updated "regional economic scorecard" put out by the Tampa Bay Partnership.

The seven-county region surrounding Tampa-St. Petersburg beat out Atlanta and Jacksonville but trailed Charlotte, Dallas and Raleigh-Durham in five categories: employment, income, housing, innovation and education.

Our worst performance was in housing, where our lower average income relative to home prices placed us in last place.

--Times Staff Writer James Thorner

State Farm reaches rate deal with state regulators

State officials this morning said they reached a deal with State Farm Florida that would lead to an additional 2 percent rate cut for homeowners insurance, worth about $23-million. State Farm also said it will be refunding $23-million that it collected in error from policyholders. The company overbilled policyholders for an assessment due Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

State Farm, the largest private property insurer in Florida covering nearly one in four Florida homeowners, has about a million policies. The deal, reached by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and Office of the Attorney General, will be on top of a 7 percent rate cut that State Farm implemented in the spring.

All property insurers had until Monday to make a final rate filing with the state that would reflect savings it is passing on to shareholders from buying cheaper reinsurance through the state. The filing