Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, May 22
May 22, 2007
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Governor Crist Joins Governors in Asking Congress to Find Explanation for Escalating Gas Prices
22 Governors request U.S. Congress to initiate a bipartisan inquiry
TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist joined 21 other Governors in calling for a congressional inquiry into the sudden, unexplained spike in gas prices. The bipartisan group of Governors sent a letter yesterday to Congressional leaders, asking for federal hearings and an investigation into the rising price of gasoline.
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A.M. Best Special Report: U.S. Hurricane Catastrophe Review — One Blow Away From $10 Gas
OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A well-aimed hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could couple staggering insured catastrophe losses with severe economic disruptions as the storm tears through the dense, onshore and offshore infrastructure of the region’s all-important petroleum industry. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita gave a taste of the possibilities in 2005. Now, forecasts for the upcoming season suggest the quiet passage of 2006 may have been a greater aberration than was the mayhem of 2005, given current, long-term atmospheric trends.
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Three percentage-based property tax relief proposals in works
Finding a balance of savings and fairness that pleases the House and Senate proves difficult.
TALLAHASSEE – One method of property tax relief may be “too rich” for counties with low real estate values, another would disproportionately benefit Florida’s wealthiest homeowners, and the third could create inequities among taxpayers from one county to another.
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Generator law hits gas stations
After Hurricane Wilma swept through Florida in 2005, causing massive power outages, one frustration was gas stations that had fuel but no way to pump it.
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Florida storm losses may run $3.5 bln a year
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 18 (Reuters) – Florida may face an average of nearly $3.5 billion a year in hurricane damages over the next three decades, an insurance industry official said on Friday.
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Coasts brace for a busy hurricane season
With hurricane season about to get under way, residents of coastal areas are watching the forecasts and hoping for a repeat of last year’s mild season. But already two leading storm experts have called for a busy hurricane season. The official government forecast is due out Tuesday.
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Editorial: Fund storm center, keep its identity
With the start of the 2007 hurricane season only days away, the new director of the National Hurricane Center last week continued his urgent pleas for funding to bolster the center’s prediction capabilities. Director Bill Proenza’s highly publicized pleas for help may rankle some of the bosses at NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration), but the importance of his message — saving lives — justifies the directness of his appeal.
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Homestead exemption facing changes
Legislature plans to end tax deadlock
State lawmakers have committed to ending their deadlock over slashing property taxes by giving a steroid injection to Florida’s 70-year-old homestead exemption.
House and Senate negotiators met Monday for the first time since the end of the regular session to begin fine-tuning the tax-cutting approach they’ll try to place on the ballot next month.
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Giuliani’s primary goal: Florida
The state, and its new early vote, will be central to his campaign strategy.
Get ready to see a lot of Rudy Giuliani in Florida.
As Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday signed a bill making Florida one of the earliest presidential primary states, Giuliani was already gearing up to take full advantage. The former New York City mayor for weeks has been beefing up his Florida campaign team, having decided to make the Sunshine State a pivotal part of his strategy for winning the Republican presidential nomination.
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Governor Crist Signs Legislation Creating Paper Trail for Florida Votes
Moves Florida presidential primary to last Tuesday in January
WEST PALM BEACH – Governor Charlie Crist today signed House Bill 537 that will establish a paper trail for all votes cast in Florida elections. The election-reform legislation will provide optical scan machines for counties that do not already have them for Election Day voting and early voting sites. The legislation also changes the date of Florida’s presidential primary to the last Tuesday in January.
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Family members guilty in insurance fraud case
Four family members who ran now-defunct Aries Insurance Co. in Miami pleaded guilty Monday for their roles in a multimillion-dollar insurance fraud and must pay $5.5 million to their victims, Attorney General Bill McCollum said.
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House bill would limit industrial banks
Legislation barring commercial companies like Wal-Mart and Home Depot from owning a special sort of bank overwhelmingly cleared the House on Monday.
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Researchers studying the potential effects of climate change say increased wind shear in the Atlantic Ocean could slow the formation of hurricanes. Vertical wind shear is a tearing action that can pull a storm apart.
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INTERVIEW-MetLife aims to double S.Korea market share
SEOUL, May 21 (Reuters) – MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer by assets, aims to double its share in South Korea, with the domestic life insurance market seen growing 5-10 percent annually in the next few years, the head of its South Korean unit said on Monday.
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Witness: Attacker Pondered Katrina Gang
NEW YORK (AP) — A fashion writer accused of sexually abusing a former co-worker while dressed as a firefighter hoped to go to New Orleans and lead a gang of angry Hurricane Katrina survivors, a psychologist testified Monday.
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De Niro files motion to dismiss lawsuit
Robert De Niro has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit brought against him by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co.
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