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Talk of the bay: Wild ride ranges from Outback to race track

By Times Staff
Published April 18, 2007

Chris Sullivan's horse sense is growing. Last year, the Outback Steakhouse co-founder joined several other investors to buy a thoroughbred horse at a Central Florida auction. Buffalo Man wasted little time pursuing a Kentucky Derby berth before fracturing an ankle in February. Now come reports that Sullivan and six partners are seeking permission to build a $15-million to $20-million race track in southeastern Kentucky. No horseburger jokes, please.

Yet another insurer cuts back policies

The incredible shrinking property insurance market is about to get even smaller. First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Co. recently began notifying about 40,000 of its 97,000 customers statewide that their homeowners policies will be canceled as they come up for renewal. The company, a subsidiary of Travelers Indemnity, based in Hartford, Conn., has about 19,000 policyholders in the Tampa Bay area. Like Allstate Floridian, Nationwide and Liberty Mutual before them, First Floridian cited Florida's vulnerability to hurricanes as the reason for the cuts. Last year, First Floridian, which sells both auto and property policies in Florida, paid a $21-million dividend to Travelers and reported $70.5-million in profit, the highest since at least 2000.

Port brass among ID scheme targets

An alleged identity thief targeted two big wheels at the Tampa Port Authority: port commissioner Joseph Diaz and deputy director Zelko Kirincich. Daniel Glenn of Lakeland was charged last week with copying a database containing information on thousands of people with port security access badges. Both Diaz and Kirincich received calls from companies asking about credit applications made in their names. "They had my Social Security number and my date of birth," Diaz said. He didn't blame port authority officials. But former port security chief Bruce Hoffman said he wasn't surprised at the agency's "complacency" when he learned his personal information was stolen, then used to apply for a credit card.

[Last modified April 17, 2007, 23:37:40]