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Talk of the bay: Caged asterisk makes point for Bright House

By Times Staff
Published June 26, 2007

Tired of the asterisks that mask additional fees in fine print on your bills? The latest Bright House Networks ads say that it has caged the dreaded monster that digs holes into your pockets. The campaign, which debuted in the print media Sunday, shows a man posing with a caged asterisk. "It's a reminder to all consumers to pay attention to the ads out there along with their hidden contracts and asterisks, " said Joe Durkin, Bright House spokesman. Competitor Verizon, who Monday announced a new fleet of test vehicles for Florida, contends there aren't any hidden fees attached to its offerings. "There's a li'l bit of desperation from Bright House, " says Kevin Laverty, Verizon spokesman.

Pearlman world tour arrives in L.A.

Lou Pearlman made the first leg of his trip home over the weekend. But he won't be back in Orlando for about two weeks. The onetime boy-band mogul landed in Los Angeles from Guam, where FBI agents served him with a federal arrest warrant for bank fraud. Pearlman will be held there until the U.S. Marshals Service arranges a flight on a jet for federal detainees to its hub in Oklahoma City. From there, Pearlman will wait to fly with other detainees to Tampa, Jacksonville or Miami, said Marshal's Service spokesman Jimmy Disbrow in Orlando. They'll send a van to pick him up from there, he said.

We Floridians like to be our own bosses

Floridians are doin' it for themselves. Florida ranked third highest in the nation when it came to increases in people going into business for themselves, said a U.S. Census Bureau report released Monday. The state saw a 7.6 percent growth rate from 2004 to 2005 in the number of businesses without a payroll, compared with 4.4 percent nationally. Hillsborough County beat the national average by a wider margin, with 8.3 percent growth in "lone wolves." The most popular industries are no surprise: real estate, rental and leasing topped the list, followed by professional, scientific and technical services.

[Last modified June 25, 2007, 23:18:17]