Dateline Florida
By TIMES WIRES
Published July 18, 2007
A LOT OF TOES WRIGGLED IN SAND
A record-setting 19.5-million people visited Florida state parks this past year, pumping nearly $900-million into the economy, state officials reported Tuesday. The most popular? Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin, above, which more than 975,000 people visited in fiscal year 2006-07. St. Andrews State Park in Panama City came in second with 890,000 visitors, followed by John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo with 860,000 visitors. The numbers represented a 7.6 percent increase over last year. Officials attributed the growth to the increasing popularity of nature-based tourism and the variety and quality of the state's park system, which includes 160 parks covering 700,000 acres.
Former NAACP leader takes up transient's case
The family of a homeless man who died Saturday in an industrial accident is getting some high-profile help. Lawyer Darryl Rouson, a former president of the NAACP's St. Petersburg chapter, will represent the family of Anthony Jackson, 35, who died after he became entangled in machinery at Pinellas' waste-to-energy facility. The county plant is managed by Veolia Environmental Services. Rouson said he would tell Veolia and the county to expect a claim. "There are some who are suggesting because he was transient and homeless that his life did not have great value," he said. "We vigorously dispute that."
Realtors out front and alone in support of amendment
Talk about lonely company. The Florida Association of Realtors said Tuesday that it will spend up to $1-million in support of the proposed constitutional amendment for "super" homestead exemptions. But so far, no other business groups have decided to support the effort, in part because the amendment does little for commercial property and nothing for owners of second homes. The amendment, up for statewide vote Jan. 29, would give homeowners the choice of staying with the Save Our Homes 3 percent assessment cap or taking up to $195,000 off their homestead value for tax purposes.