Stormy history of Florida's Pigeon Key
(Chicago Tribune © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
Reporting from Pigeon Key, Fla. Getting to Pigeon Key these days isn't as easy as it used to be. In years past, it was a popular place to take a break -- and maybe grab a cold drink or dash a few lines on a postcard -- during the long drive from Miami to Key West. A ramp from the two-lane highway led to the island, which some described as the nation's mos...
Annual museum event takes visitors 'back in time'
(Daytona Beach News-Journal © 03/24/2010)
Men of Menendez re-enactors participate at the Walk Back in Time at the Florida Agricultural Museum Saturday. N-J | Mark Estes People, including many children, were wearing "bloody" bandages at the Florida Agricultural Museum this past weekend. No, there hadn't been a disaster, at least not in present-day Florida. But the white cloth bandages were proof they...
New dinosaur revealed in Utah
(Detroit Free Press © 03/24/2010)
WASHINGTON -- A new species of dinosaur has emerged from the rocks of southern Utah. Buried by a collapsing sand dune, perhaps 185 million years ago, the new dino probably was a plant eater and an early relative of the giant animals later known as sauropods, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of the journal PLoS One. Named Seitaad ruessi, the species was 10 to 15 feet long and 3 to 4 feet h...
Dead panther found at Big Cypress National Preserve
(Ft. Myers News-Press © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
Get an in-depth look at Florida panthers. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recovered the carcass of a panther from the Addition Lands of Big Cypress National Preserve on Monday after her VHF collar signal was discovered in mortality mode during a routine aerial monitoring. The adult female panther was estimated to be 5 years old when captured in November of 2009. The cause o...
Lee County population drops
(Ft. Myers News-Press © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
Special page: Get an in-depth look at the 2010 Census. Lee County?s population dipped for the first time in decades last year, but state demographers view the decline as a temporary phenomenon fueled by a historic recession. Lee County ? which lost 1,801 residents from July 2008 to July 2009, according to census data released Tuesday ? is projected to see an increase of 1,500 residents this year...
Carol Saunders: Marinelife Center kicks off turtle nesting with 'A Night in Havana'
(Jupiter Courier © 03/24/2010)
The Loggerhead Marinelife Center held its annual Lights Out for Sea Turtles fundraising event, with a huge crowd of more than 250 supporters braving the chilly evening and packing the oceanside center Feb. 26 to enjoy the inside-outside “A Night in Havana” in Juno Beach. The gala party is held each year to kick off the beginning of sea turtle nesting season, taking place on our local beaches from...
Briefing on First Phase of High-Speed Project Today at The Lakeland Center
(Lakeland Ledger © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
LAKELAND | Central Florida political and business leaders will be briefed on the status of the first phase of the Florida high-speed rail project this morning at The Lakeland Center. The meeting was organized by Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields and includes Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. Other participants are key Florida Department of Transportation officials, other officials invol...
Cabinet Approves Property Easement for Legoland
(Lakeland Ledger © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet on Tuesday approved an easement of two acres in the historic Cypress Gardens parcel to Merlin Entertainments. The easement is for Merlin's Legoland attraction on 120 adjacent acres. Merlin plans an additional attraction on the new parcel that would extend into approximately 2 acres of the 29-acre protected parcel that contains the gardens and...
CoCo Key Hotel opens first resort in Orlando on I-Drive
(Orlando Business Journal © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
The $40 million, 386-room CoCo Key Hotel & Water Resort-Orlando is prepping for an April 15 opening, with plans to hire 40 more staff before Memorial Day weekend, bringing its employee total to 190. The hotel sits on 9.5 acres on International Drive — the heart of Orlando’s tourist area. CoCo Key Hotel features a 54,000- square-foot outdoor water park, including four pools and ...
2 tour buses crash near Epcot; 8 injured
(Palm Beach Post © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
A Walt Disney World bus rear-ended a charter bus near the entrance to the Epcot theme park Tuesday, injuring eight people, only one seriously. Seven passengers were taken to nearby hospitals for minor injuries. Reedy Creek Fire Department Deputy Chief Bo Jones says the Disney bus driver was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center with critical but not life-threatening injuries. There were n...
Tannehill renews pitch for crosswind runway
(Panama City News Herald © 03/24/2010)
PANAMA CITY — Airport Authority board Chairman Joe Tannehill is usually unflappable, presiding calmly at board meetings that can sometimes grow contentious over issues such as budgets, industrial development or sod. On Tuesday, he took the unusual step of moving out from behind the board member’s dais to renew his strong support for building a crosswind runway at the new airport under...
America's got a huge appetite for shrimp
(Pensacola News Journal © 03/24/2010)
As Pvt. Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue so memorably says about cooking shrimp in the movie "Forrest Gump": "You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's shrimp-kabobs, shrimp Creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried." Grilled shrimp? Bacon-wrapped shrimp? Shrimp gumbo? Yup. When it comes to top-shelf Gulf pink shrimp, it's best to keep it simple, ac...
Museum takes new look at air, water, land and life
(San Antonio Express-News © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
LOS ANGELES — Watch maggots munch on liver. Stand in the path of a flash flood. Roam around a kelp forest. Nearly 10 years in the making, the $165 million Ecosystems Experience opens Thursday with its one-of-a-kind view of the world at the California Science Center. And it's free. Plants, animals and do-it-yourself science take up nearly every inch of the two-story, 45,000-square-foot (4,180-sq....
Consultant assails Sarasota County's lack of spending to promote tourism
(Sarasota Herald-Tribune © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
It might be hard to tell with all the out-of-state license plates around town right now, but Sarasota County's great beaches, arts and restaurants are getting less promotion up north than similar venues in many other Florida communities. That message was delivered to the County Commission on Tuesday by a consultant who studied the county's tourism marketing and told commissioners flatly that "y...
2012 GOP convention site team set to visit Tampa/St. Pete next week
(St. Petersburg Times © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
Members of the site selection team for the 2012 Republican National Convention will tour Tampa and St. Petersburg next week. RNC chairman Michael Steele and Florida fundraiser Al Austin will host a news conference on Tuesday at the Renaissance Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg. On Monday, stops include the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa Convention Center, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Channelside ent...
Ex-Lowry Park Zoo director Lex Salisbury opens Giraffe Ranch attraction in Pasco
(St. Petersburg Times © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
A setting right out of Africa. Only it's northeast Pasco. That's how Lex Salisbury describes his ranch north of Dade City, which he is marketing as a giraffe attraction that visitors can tour for $59 each. The former Lowry Park Zoo director — who resigned in 2008 amid a controversy over transferring animals between the zoo, his Safari Wild venture in Polk County and his northeast Pasco ranch — h...
Unkempt BayWalk shopping center needs a range of improvements
(St. Petersburg Times © 03/24/2010) (Registration Required)
What BayWalk complex needs won't cost a thing | March 14, Sandra Gadsden column Unkempt complex needs range of fixes I enjoyed Sandra Gadsden's article on BayWalk. My wife and I used to go there for dinner and a movie all the time. Here are some of the reasons we no longer go there. • The biggest problem was not protesters, but teenagers. We were inundated by hundreds of rowdy teenagers loiteri...
Traveler's Aide: When a hotel claims a refundable rate isn't
(USA Today © 03/24/2010)
Question: In November 2009, I booked a stay online at the Holiday Inn in London for two nights at the end of March. The hotel immediately charged my credit card $417. I thought it was odd that they charged me for the stay in advance. My confirmation e-mail indicates that I could cancel the booking without penalty until the arrival date. I later decided to stay in a different area of the city ...
