spenser1058

Our folks who like tall buildings will be glad to hear Lakeland's proposing a height of 120'! Apparently, there were already a couple of buildings as tall as 141' though. http://www.theledger.com/news/20180614/move-will-impact-historic-districts From the Ledger

(A) Jernigan is correct; (B) Congresswoman Murphy supported SunRail phases 2 & 3: https://murphy.house.gov/uploadedfiles/rep_stephanie_murphy_legislative_update_august2017.pdf (see page 9 of her legislative update for details;) (C) Urban Mail Carrier is correct in that Ms. Murphy does not have the transportation clout Mica had after 20+ years in office (and had the mega contributions from transportation firms like CSX to prove it.) However, does that mean he was to be our anti- civil rights congressman for life? If so, please tell your GOP friends as they are the ones supposedly all in for term limits (but ignore it for their longtime members.)

Joy Wallace Dickinson on the soon-to-be-history Orlando Youth Center: Youth Center building to dance into memory http://bit.ly/2JVyT8f From the Sentinel

Saaaaaaaaalute! *looks for an old Hee Haw tape to stick in the VCR*

I was reading an article on downtown Orlando on metro Jacksonville.com and one of the comments referred to 55 West's visor as a "Cap'n Crunch hat." I liked that.

A performing arts center for Tavares? Yep, Tavares. It seems Lake's county seat is growing like a weed and may be ready to take things up a notch: Tavares looks to add performing arts center to booming downtown http://bit.ly/2JSFvEn From the Sentinel

For those who believe we're just a one-trick pony, the most recent Metro Orlando unemployment numbers offer some surprises. We of course lead the state for the 38th consecutive month in job growth, but here's the twist: job growth in construction, manufacturing and finance all beat out tourism growth. Orange, Seminole jobless rates dip to 2.9 percent http://bit.ly/2HUgeEQ From the Sentinel

Wegman's and Publix are at the top of the list again in the Market Force survey of customer satisfaction, with Wegman's moving to the top spot this year. Walmart brings up the rear at #22. Interestingly, you don't have to be pricy to score well: German discounter Aldi comes in at #4. Meanwhile, Winn-Dixie may be "getting better all the time" but that only got them a #18 finish. https://amp.businessinsider.com/best-grocery-stores-in-america-2018-6

Thanks for that. I didn't know if there was a sizable Colombian population locally and where much is made of Brazilian, Canadian and U.K. visitors, I haven't seen much reporting on the number of Colombians making the trip.

The Raleigh News and Observer notes that the Kroger-branded stores in the Research Triangle are closing. Kroger notes the market is "overstored" and will still be a player there as it also owns longtime Carolina favorite Harris Teeter (which will remain.) NC is in the middle of a supermarket war with Wegman's and Publix entering the market as well as Aldi cousin Lidl. They already had more brands than we do in Orlando because of Publix' dominance here, but it does present the question: how many of the new chains we're now seeing can fit in the local market before we also see a shakeout? It's obvious the grocery store model is changing. Who will still be here 10 years from now? http://amp.newsobserver.com/news/business/article213231154.html

"Has Trump Irreversibly Altered the GOP's Foreign Policy?" https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/will-trumps-view-of-the-world-outlast-his-presidency/562799/ SAY WHAT? What could that possibly have to do with I4 and Lexus Lanes? Oddly, they're related. The above article by Ron Brownstein in The Atlantic notes that the Trump administration has decided to tear apart the Western alliance and all of the agreements cobbled together since the internationalist Eisenhower administration won out over the isolationists in the Taft wing of the Republican Party. But that's not the only big decision made back then. The Eisenhower folks also created the interstate system, the largest public works project ever seen, to be funded primarily by gas taxes instead of tolls. It wasn't a new argument then and it certainly isn't now. Coming out of the Great Depression and World War II, there was a consensus that we were all in this together. CEOs were entitled by consensus to make maybe 50 times more (unlike today's 180+ multiple) than their blue-collar employees, but the working stiffs were also entitled to look forward to owning a home and being able to send the kids to government-funded state universities. It worked, splendidly, and the US interstate system was the envy of the world, not only moving goods seamlessly across the continent but jump-starting the domestic tourism Industry with everything from roadside Holiday Inns to clam dinners at Howard Johnson's and the creation of the theme park business (it's not an accident that just about every major theme park in the country sits next to an interstate highway.) All of that held sway until the 1980's and the ideological wing of the GOP worked with the business interests to change the rules. Whether it be big pharma, middlemen taking huge profits on student loans, huge parking fees from privatizing meters in Chicago and sewers in Birmingham and, yes, tolling portions of statutorily guaranteed to be free interstates, there was money to be made in public finance. How was it justified? All of a sudden a meme went out courtesy of ALEC and conservative media that people simply wouldn't make the investments required anymore. It was untrue, as we learned when a Republican county like Duval (Jacksonville) voted to remove the tolls on the bridges and replace it with a sales tax increase. (Needless to say, the citizenry was not pleased when FDOT recently decided to add rolled Lexus Lanes to their freeways. Neither were the good folks of Republican Seminole County when the Florida Turnpike Enterprise -which runs the Seminole portion of FL 417 - decided it would be a good idea to expand by adding Lexus Lanes and charging additional tolls on an already tolled facility. Let's be clear - tolls on top of tolls!) Unfortunately, the academic remained in its ivory tower on this and remained complicit. There is certainly a case to be made for congestion pricing, but it needs to be limited to highly congested downtown urban areas, not broad swaths of an MSA. Reality is absolutely correct (think about that for a moment, we're in agreement) that the sweetheart deals made between multinational firms and legislators are being paid for on the backs of working men and women, whose wages are already stagnant. The irony of course is that in the long run, we're paying more. Have you considered how much more complexity is involved to redesign I4 and its some tolled, some not Lanes and their connections to off and on ramps as compared to simply raising the gas or sales tax and adding a lane or two? But then, that's OK too, because investment banks can make even more inflated interest and fees on the additional spending? And for the transit types, that's money that can't be allocated to spending on bike lanes, buses or rail. It's a shell game in which only a few will benefit. Where I disagree with Reality is that this was not a game engineered locally. In Florida, the major roads are controlled in Tallahassee and Orlando, as the newest and smallest of the major MSAs, doesn't control the process. That has to take place statewide. Change Tallahassee in order to get real change in Orlando.

I'm curious if there's a reason for 3 flights to Bogota. I understand something like Brasil because of all the tourists (and increasing business connections in the I-Drive area) but is there something that ties us with Colombia or vice versa?

It's currently the First Green Bank at Orange and Robinson. It started out as Citizens Bank in the 60's but has had so many names I can no longer keep up. And is about to get another one.

That's a good point. I was thinking back to Manuel's on the 28th and Arthur's 27 and some others that have gone away, but you're right, we're seeing more again. I suppose, like everything else, it's cyclical. And, of course, the Citrus Club has been there through all of it. Now if we can just get back Top O' Citizens on North Orange.

I suspect this may not bode well for the continuation of the amusements on the Broadwalk. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna883466 From NBC News