News and notes
By TIMES WIRES
Published September 21, 2006
Artificial reef of old tires ends up as total blowout
It seemed like a good idea at the time: take old tires no one wants and turn them into an artificial reef off Fort Lauderdale. Instead of luring game fish, the 2-million tires that have accumulated over 36 acres of ocean floor since the 1970s are damaging sensitive coral reefs and littering Broward's shoreline, the Miami Herald reports. "They thought it would be a good fish habitat. It turned out to be a bad idea," said William Nuckols, project coordinator for Coastal America. "It's a coastal coral destruction machine." Strong tides cause the tires to knock against coral reefs, and some have washed ashore. Now, the Navy, Broward County and a few other groups are looking at a three-year plan to remove the tires.
Nature Conservancy buys land for preservation
In what's being described as the largest conservation land purchase in the history of the South, the Nature Conservancy has bought 11,500 acres in the Panhandle from International Paper. The Conservancy now will sell the property to the state of Florida for preservation. Because the land links Blackwater River State Forest with preserved land that buffers some of the Panhandle's military bases, Tuesday's purchase also will create huge wildlife corridors for such species as the Florida black bear.
Governor sours on land deal sweet for owners
Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet have decided they aren't ready to hand a $17.7-million profit to developers in a $50-million deal to buy northeast Orange County wilderness, the Orlando Sentinel reports. "You can sugarcoat it. You can appraise it. You can talk about it. You can do whatever you want, but at the end of the day, that's a pretty good entrepreneurial profit," Bush said. He and the Cabinet postponed a decision for two weeks so state officials can either justify the deal or negotiate a lower price.
Sounds like ending from that Hollywood out west
A struggling actor got his happy ending at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood. Freddy Howard, 53, of Sunny Isles Beach thought he won nearly $260,000 in a free promotional jackpot last month. But casino managers told him there'd been a computer glitch and he hadn't won a dime. So Howard did the usual: He lawyered up. Though the Seminoles, who also own a Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, are immune to lawsuits, the casino decided to pay him anyway. "We are making this payment as a gesture of goodwill, and I am pleased to tell you that Mr. Howard has accepted," said Allen Huff, chairman of the Seminole Gaming Commission.
Would he do the same off the Sunshine Skyway?
Would you jump off a bridge for $20? Mark Giorgio did. Giorgio, 47, was counting his money as he walked across the U.S. 41 bridge over the Manatee River on Monday when a $20 bill flew over the rail. He followed. And plummeted 50 feet into the river. Then he swam about 100 yards to fish out the bill.
"I got my money back, hell, yeah," Giorgio told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "Twenty bucks is a lot of money when you're broke."