The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, FL) articles from September 2006

The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, FL) archives from September 2006

Cigna puts price tag on some medical costs.
September 30, 2006... Byline: Phil Galewitz Sep. 30--To get your hernia repaired at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center costs $3,190. But up the road at the Jupiter Outpatient Surgery Center it costs $580. If you get your cataracts removed at Good Samaritan...

Fair Housing Center alleges racial bias.
September 30, 2006... Byline: Linda Rawls Sep. 30--Shelby Robinson worked two jobs to put a roof over his family's head in Palm Beach County's unaffordable housing market. He couldn't afford to buy a home, with the median price of existing homes approaching...

State acts against e-mail scam.
September 29, 2006... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Sep. 29--Attorney General Charlie Crist sued a Plantation-based e-mail provider Thursday, accusing the company of billing at least 20,000 Floridians for a service they didn't sign up for. Also on Thursday,...

Office Depot buys into China's office supplies market.
September 29, 2006... Byline: Pat Beall Sep. 29--Office Depot is breaking into China. The Fortune 500 office supply chain Thursday announced it bought a controlling stake in Beijing-based AsiaEC, one of the largest dealers of office products and services...

Florida offers new energy-efficient sales tax holiday.
September 28, 2006... Byline: Susan Salisbury Sep. 28--Face it: Your old refrigerator has seen better days. It's time to bid the venerable icebox farewell, but before you go out and just pick one up, the state wants to offer you a deal: If you'll wait a...

Nabi Pharmaceuticals to weigh possible sale.
September 28, 2006... Byline: Stephen Pounds Sep. 28--The Nabi Biopharmaceuticals Inc. board is considering a possible sale of the company after months of pressure from hedge-fund investors who have demanded a public auction of the firm. Nabi, a Boca...

Which insurance plan treats patients best? It depends what care they need.
September 27, 2006... Byline: Phil Galewitz Sep. 27--Cigna is the best at getting infants immunized. Aetna is the best at helping diabetics control their blood sugar. UnitedHealthcare is the best at making sure older women get regular mammograms. These...

Marine industry hunts for ways to hook skilled workers.
September 27, 2006... Byline: Eve Samples Sep. 27--A shortage of skilled tradesmen is hamstringing growth at some Treasure Coast marine businesses, and a group of industry leaders gathered Tuesday to learn strategies for doing something about it. About...

FPL: We won't wait forever.
September 27, 2006... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Sep. 27--FPL Group Inc.'s chief executive compares his company's rocky path toward a merger with Constellation Energy Group Inc. to the plight of Mario in the classic Nintendo video game Super Mario Brothers. ...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Pat Beall column.(Column)
September 25, 2006... Byline: Pat Beall Sep. 25--YIKES! NOW THOSE ARE PROPERTY TAXES: We wanted to write about economist David Lereah's mattress; the walking sharks of Indonesia; why Steven "Smilin' Bob" Warshack's mother made the U.S. Attorney's Office read...

BankAtlantic Boynton branch open until midnight.
September 25, 2006... Byline: Jeff Ostrowski Sep. 25--Walk into BankAtlantic's branch here as late as midnight, and you can make a deposit or withdrawal, check your safe-deposit box, even close a loan. The office is one of eight BankAtlantic (NYSE: BBX)...

Researchers take natural path to protect crops from unwanted insects.
September 25, 2006... Byline: Susan Salisbury Sep. 25--George Schneider and his 10 co-workers can count on being stung by imported fire ants just about every single workday. But the welt-spotted crew of state researchers gets its revenge in due time. ...

BluWood ready for primetime television debut.
September 25, 2006... Byline: Lori Becker Sep. 25--A Boca Raton company will make its television debut next weekend, as its blue-colored wood helps a Michigan family keep their home mold-free. WoodSmart Solutions -- the developer of a chemically treated...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Alexandra Clough column.(Column)
September 24, 2006... Byline: Alexandra Clough Sep. 24--BIG NAMES CAUGHT UP IN FUND'S COLLAPSE: What a tangled web the KL Financial fraud has weaved -- and how many people are being caught up in it. Some high-profile names are starting to appear on the...

Coverage dispute puts out village workers.
September 23, 2006... Byline: Phil Galewitz Sep. 23--The village of Wellington is caught in the middle of a battle of health industry titans. About 220 village employees no longer have easy access to three Palm Beach County hospitals because HCA Inc., the...

Wal-Mart to sell $4 generic drugs.
September 22, 2006... Byline: Phil Galewitz Sep. 22--Wal-Mart said Thursday that it would cut the price on nearly 300 generic drugs to $4 for a 30-day prescription, including seven of the 10 most popular. The discount program will launch today at 65...

Lucrative Hispanic TV station market lures Boca Raton investor.
September 22, 2006... Byline: Jeff Ostrowski Sep. 22--Investor Richard Rochon is making a $267 million bet on a money-losing collection of TV stations, many of them in out-of-the-way cities like Amarillo, Texas, and Waterloo, Iowa, and most of them too small...

Palm Beach County, Fla., business leader, law firm honored for community role.
September 21, 2006... Byline: Lori Becker Sep. 21--WEST PALM BEACH -- Kathy Foster credits her many successes to her greatest loss. A business owner and top executive of a nonprofit group, Foster said it all began when her 5-year-old son Christian died in...

Geo to acquire CentraCore.
September 21, 2006... Byline: Stephen Pounds Sep. 21--The Geo Group Inc. will buy CentraCore Properties Trust, a correctional real estate investment trust, for $356 million and assume CentraCore's $40 million in debt, the companies said Wednesday. The...

Virgin Islands church leases 10 acres to T-Rex.
September 21, 2006... Byline: Pat Beall Sep. 21--T-Rex Capital is heading to the islands. The Connecticut-based developer with a presence in Boca Raton has persuaded a Virgin Islands church to lease it 10 acres fronting Coral Bay in St. John. At 21...

Florida attorney general spurns Citizens Property Insurance's rate proposal.
September 20, 2006... Byline: S.V. Date Sep. 20--Attorney General and hopeful Gov. Charlie Crist tore into state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Tuesday, pushing through a Cabinet meeting a requirement that the company hold three public hearings and a...

FPL inspection uncovers pinhole-sized leak in pipe.
September 20, 2006... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Sep. 20--A pinhole-sized leak may be why 900 gallons of fuel oil flowed into Tampa Bay from a Florida Power & Light Co. off-loading terminal near the utility's Manatee Energy Center, an FPL spokesman said...

Mobile video-game business brings arcade experience to parties.
September 18, 2006... Byline: Stephen Pounds Sep. 18--For years, parents have endured the noise and the crowds of arcade centers on their children's birthdays. Now they have an alternative. Terry Shea, 52, owner of the Sir Speedy print shop on Dixie...

Although canker war is over, ideological battle persists.
September 18, 2006... Byline: Susan Salisbury Sep. 18--When word came down in January from top U.S. Department of Agriculture officials that Florida's citrus canker eradication program was over, three retired scientists living in the state uttered a...

Tiny Moore Haven embracing FPL's proposal to build plant.
September 18, 2006... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Sep. 18--The Moore Haven Restaurant closes at 2 p.m. But for the farmers and other early risers, the eggs start cooking at 5 a.m. in the tiny building, which is painted Smurf blue and marked by little more...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Eve Samples column.(Column)
September 18, 2006... Byline: Eve Samples Sep. 18--OFFICE HUB PLANNED AT TRADITION: Carling Technologies Inc. may have dashed Port St. Lucie's dreams of scoring a corporate relocation when the firm decided in June to stay in Connecticut, but that doesn't mean...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Alexandra Clough column.
September 17, 2006... Byline: Alexandra Clough Sep. 17--CONDO'S NAME A MOVING TARGET: A condo by any other name would be less confusing. We're talking about Bacara, a Boca Raton condo conversion. When marketing first began in 2004, developers chose...

Port St. Lucie jettisons bedroom image for boardroom.
September 17, 2006... Byline: Eve Samples Sep. 17--The last time Gov. Jeb Bush set foot in Port St. Lucie for a splashy business announcement, he helicoptered in to trumpet the creation of 1,600 jobs at a home shopping channel call center. It was 1999,...

Organic farmers face hazards.
September 17, 2006... Byline: Kylene Kiang Sep. 17--Besides paying higher production costs than conventional farms, U.S. organic growers are facing another challenge: the outsourcing of America's organic crop demand to foreign countries, including Mexico and...

Foreclosures in Treasure Coast area of Florida spike, mirroring national trend.
September 14, 2006... Byline: Linda Rawls Sep. 14--Foreclosure rates in the Treasure Coast soared in August, but if there was a silver lining for homeowners in Martin and St. Lucie counties is was that the increase paled in comparison to Palm Beach County,...

Palm Beach County, Fla., foreclosures quadruple national rate.
September 14, 2006... Byline: Linda Rawls Sep. 14--Foreclosure rates in Palm Beach County soared in August to more than four times the national rate -- and rose a sobering 226 percent compared with the same month last year, a study released Wednesday shows....

University of Florida study may clear sugar harvest haze.
September 14, 2006... Byline: Susan Salisbury Sep. 14--BELLE GLADE -- When sugar cane is harvested each year in Palm Beach, Hendry, Martin and Glades counties, smoke, ash and fires are a familiar part of the process. Just before the cane is cut, more than...

FPL targets Glades County for plant.
September 13, 2006... Byline: Kristi Swartz Sep. 13--Florida Power & Light Co. said Tuesday it plans to build a "clean coal" power-generation plant on Glades County sugar cane land that will make enough electricity to serve 650,000 homes. The proposed...

Marina appraisals defended.
September 13, 2006... Byline: Lori Becker Sep. 13--If Palm Beach County marina owners want to protect their waterfront businesses from skyrocketing land values, they'll have to change the way the entire state assesses property. That was the message...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., residential real estate column.(Column)
September 11, 2006... Byline: Linda Rawls Sep. 11--HOUSING REPORT SEES NASTY FALL: There hasn't been much good news to report lately on the real estate beat. If you think you've seen the worst, however, a leading global financial services company says you...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Eve Samples column.(Column)
September 11, 2006... Byline: Eve Samples Sep. 11--TORREY PINES, SPINOFFS MAY REENERGIZE HOUSING MARKET: Big home builders have been warning Wall Street for months that housing demand just isn't what it used to be. They're slashing profit targets as stocks...

Firm's goal: Yard waste into usable fuel.
September 11, 2006... Byline: Susan Salisbury Sep. 11--Many of the tree limbs and palm fronds that piled up in the yards of South Florida after two powerful hurricane seasons ended up lining landfills. But one day soon, yard waste like that could be...

Big ERs in works to meet demand.
September 10, 2006... Byline: Phil Galewitz Sep. 10--Two local hospitals have started expanding their emergency rooms, becoming the latest to keep up with surging demand. Jupiter Medical Center will spend more than $6 million to nearly double the size of...

Business Development Board seeking longer contract with county.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Jeff Ostrowski Sep. 7--The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County will ask county commissioners next week to agree to a five-year, $5.2 million deal as its one-year contract with the county expires. Kelly Smallridge,...

Marina owners protest taxes.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Lori Becker Sep. 7--Facing another year of triple-digit tax increases, Palm Beach County's marine industry is fighting back. A group of marina and boatyard owners have teamed up to challenge the way their properties are...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Pat Beall column.(Column)
September 4, 2006... Byline: Pat Beall Sep. 4--RETAILERS GET BOOST FROM ERNESTO: Apologies to the newly popular Mr. Dylan of 1960s fame, but you really don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. You could just be a stock broker. In...

Florida appoints commission to help solve the energy riddle.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Sep. 4--A doctor, a utility board member, a health-care executive and a state lawmaker are among the nine people who will help decide the way Florida gets, produces and uses its energy for the next several...

Plan to use grass for power in Florida worries environmental group.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Susan Salisbury Sep. 4--A crop trademarked as E-Grass that is being planted to provide electric power sounds like something an environmental group would favor. But The Sierra Club, as well as Florida agencies that deal with...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Eve Samples column.(Column)
September 4, 2006... Byline: Eve Samples Sep. 4--BIOTECH BET MAY NOT PAY FOR A WHILE: With the state and local governments putting hundreds of millions of dollars on the table to win big biotechnology companies, it begs the question: How might the wager pay...

The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Alexandra Clough column.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Alexandra Clough Sep. 3--Sticks and stones may break his bones, but words will cost E. Llwyd Ecclestone. That's what David S. Feder hopes, anyway. Feder is the former president of the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm...

Florida's long disciplinary process doesn't protect patients, critics say.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Phil Galewitz Sep. 3--Dianne Hedrick of Royal Palm Beach had to have her left leg amputated after a doctor accidentally removed part of her artery during a varicose vein surgery. Ralph DiGiovanni of Boynton Beach had a fatal...

How Florida investigates 8,000 complaints of medical mistakes each year.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Phil Galewitz Sep. 3--The 15-member Board of Medicine works in conjunction with the state Health Department to investigate complaints and discipline doctors. Once a complaint is filed, the department has six months to investigate...

Case studies: Real stories of medical mistakes.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Phil Galewitz Sep. 3--Dianne Hedrick's varicose vein surgery was supposed to be a simple outpatient procedure to relieve her chronic leg pain. But during the 2000 operation at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach,...

Study: Too many jobs in state have low pay, meager benefits.
September 2, 2006... Byline: Jeff Ostrowski Sep. 2--Florida's economy ranks among the nation's strongest by some measures, yet too many workers toil for low wages and stingy benefits, says Florida International University labor expert Bruce Nissen in his...

ANALYSIS: Flying under new security seems speedier.
September 2, 2006... Byline: Linda Rawls Sep. 2--The skies have not been friendly for nearly five years, but in August they seemed to take a turn toward downright inhospitable. A terrorist plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes from London had resulted in an...

FPL to lower rates slightly Jan. 1.
September 2, 2006... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Sep. 2--Your utility bill is going down next year. And it's going to stay down even when Florida Power & Light Co. asks for more money to pay for a new natural gas plant that will open in May. FPL said...