Archive for July, 2009
Property Tax Collections Still Look Gloomy
Florida’s school districts could have a half-billion dollars less to spend in 2010 under gloomy new forecasts approved by state economists on Thursday. Even as there is some talk about glimmers of hope in the national economy, the meltdown in the real estate market continues to drag down property values in Florida. Economists forecast that [...]
A Smile By Any Other Name is Still a Smile
Words are what we use most often to communicate information or a thought, but we transfer a lot of ideas from one person to another using means other than the written or spoken word. For example, we smile. A smile is a complex way of indicating what we think to someone else because there are [...]
‘Jon and Kate’ Get Off the Couch
When “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ returns to TLC on Monday (9 ET/PT) after a month-long hiatus – and endless tabloid coverage over the reality couple’s separation – you’ll see some changes. “The iconic couch is gone and replaced by separate interview chairs for Jon and Kate,” says TLC chief Eileen O’Neill. “You will see [...]
Millions Finding Radically New Careers
The automotive industry was the only life Ed Wozniak knew. As a teenager, he would take apart vintage cars, soup them up and put them back together in a weekend. His father was a machine repairman, and Wozniak got an apprenticeship doing similar work for Chrysler. But in late 2007, after he took a buyout [...]
At Biofuel Summit, Bronson Says More Drilling Needed
Drilling for old-fashioned oil in near shore Florida waters should be part of the nation’s energy diet, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson said Thursday at a conference about increasing the use of newer fuel types. After speaking at the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ fourth annual “Farm to Fuel” summit in Orlando, Bronson told [...]
Weekend Video Game Playlist
This weekend’s full of gaming. Still. Kyle Orland: Just heard my review copy of “Wii Sports Resort” is in the mail, so I’ll be throwing fake Frisbees to virtual dogs all weekend. I’ve also got a boatload of free iPhone/iPod Touch games to play for an upcoming feature (that’s what we in the industry call [...]
Planet Bull’s-Eye
The year is 2109. Celebrations continue as mankind’s heroic, century-long, quintillion-dollar effort to lower the global mean temperature by 1 degree has paid off: July 2109 is just as hot as July 2009. Few can contain their jubilation. But even as the carbon-neutral champagne corks fly, the sky darkens. A projectile of a different kind [...]
FCCJ Prepares for Big Changes: What’s in a Name? Quite a Bit!
In a few years some person will tell a friend that they graduated from FCCJ. That person’s friend will give them a puzzled look. What’s FCCJ? Oh, you mean Florida State College? Yes. Officially, Florida Community College at Jacksonville becomes fully operational as Florida State College at Jacksonville on August 1st of this year. The [...]
Will White House Beers Recalibrate Obama?
The following editorial was written by Al Neuharth, the founder of USA TODAY. Thursday night’s beer bull session at the White House among the president, the policeman and the professor in the Cambridge controversy captured the attention of the news media and the public. Whether it soothes feelings between Harvard faculty members and cops who [...]
Aaron Bean Reconsidering State Senate Bid
The landscape of the District 8 State Senate race may soon be changing significantly, with new reports that Former State Representative Aaron Bean held a campaign meeting today to discuss the future of his bid for the seat previously held by Jim King. The Jacksonville Observer has learned from a reliable source who had first [...]
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