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Briefs and news of note

By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published July 26, 2006

Orlando: 'Don't feed homeless'

You won't find the homeless at Walt Disney World, but over in the real Orlando, they have been lining up for free food for the past year at the Lake Eola downtown park, courtesy of the group Food Not Bombs (which had similar feedings in downtown Tampa). But on Monday, the Orlando City Commission banned charitable groups from feeding the homeless in downtown parks, citing safety and sanitary problems for businesses. The American Civil Liberties Union vowed to sue, saying it's a superficial fix that ignores the city's homeless problem.

Legislature gives parks lifesavers

Florida will buy defibrillators for 75 state parks this year, thanks to money from the Legislature. The first machine went to Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park in Pasco County. "By installing life-saving defibrillators and providing staff training, we can ensure that Florida's parks protect guests as well as our natural resources," said state environmental chief Colleen M. Castille. State Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island, sponsored legislation appropriating $92,000 for the devices. The Red Cross estimates that 50,000 of the 200,000 deaths from heart attacks in the United States could be prevented if a defibrillator were immediately available.

Kleman leaves his latest post

Dan Kleman spent a record nine years as Hillsborough County administrator but is leaving his latest government post after only two. Kleman, 60, has resigned as Jacksonville's chief operating officer without a new job, the Florida Times-Union reports. He said he hopes to stay in Jacksonville. And he said he was mostly happy in the job, though a City Council member said otherwise. He left Hillsborough after county commissioners voted to fire him in the face of workplace complaints in some of his departments.

'Miami Vice' shows off city's edgy side

The new Miami Vice movie gets the red carpet treatment in Miami Beach on Friday. But don't expect the 1980s Miami as seen on TV. "Instead of pastel hues, colorful art deco architecture and views of sun-baked beaches, the new Miami Vice favors industrial neon, downtown skyscraper architecture and a palette heavy on blacks and blues," the Miami Herald reports. "If Miami came off as an undiscovered paradise on TV, then the film portrays the city as an adolescent now grown up: more mature, developed and decidedly edgier and more dangerous." The reason: director Michael Mann wanted to show the city as it is, not was.

[Last modified July 26, 2006, 05:28:35]