Showing posts with label Central Florida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Central Florida. Show all posts

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Video: 60 Minutes reports on Obama's economy in Orlando and Central Florida: Homeless kids living in cars. If you missed this powerful 60 Minutes story last year, see it Sunday night at 7 p.m. Eastern: heart-breaking hard times for kids in Obama's America - Hard times generation: homeless kids, reported by Scott Pelley; #60Minutes, @ScottPelley, @60Minutes


CBS News 60 Minutes Preview: Hard Times Generation. Above, Arielle and Austin Metzger. CBS News anchor Scott Pelley goes to Central Florida to document a slice of life under Obama you may've missed: kids and their parents forced to live in cars. 
See his report on Sunday night at 7 p.m. Eastern.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7389253n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

CBS News 60 Minutes: Hard times generation: Homeless kids,

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Ex-Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer's corruption trial looks to be the hurricane that Charlie Crist didn't anticipate -and Greer's going to sing!

Let the games begin!

Based on what I've read this afternoon in this post from the always-reliable Central Florida Political Pulse politics blog, ex-Florida GOP (RPOF) chairman Jim Greer's trial looks to be the hurricane that Charlie Crist didn't anticipate and the one that will cause him the most damage this summer.
What did the Governor and when did he know it?

When it comes out that
Governor Crist was not only NOT the paragon of ethics and rectitude he styles himself as publicly, and was, in fact, as oblivious to the nefarious machinations of Greer & Co. at the RPOF -or did he just look the other way?- as he was with so many matters of state and public policy that he SHOULD'VE been paying attention to, the simple question will be, was Governor Crist oblivious or careless?
It's one of the other, but can't be neither.

For those of you who have been coming to this blog for a while or who have spoken to me over the past few years at one public policy gathering or another, you know that I'm not saying anything new here when I observe that I and many other Floridians are still greatly troubled by the fact that someone who has done such a remarkably crummy job as governor, someone whom I voted for 4 years ago, to my regret, would have the gall to want a promotion, rather than try to actually get some badly needed things done before it's too late.

Based on what I have observed in terms of how vast the differences are between what Crist ran on doing four years ago and what he's done -or in many cases, HASN'T DONE- for the future opf this state, the best place for Charlie Crist after his term ends is his wife's mansion in New York, the same place he'd be spending so much time at if he got elected to the U.S. Senate anyway.

After all, isn't that what he promised his wife when he convinced her to let him run for Senate?
More time in NY with her and her family and not stuck in hot and humid Florida?

------


Orlando Sentinel

Central Florida Political
Pulse politics blog
Greer lawyer: We’ll make people talk
Uncategorized — posted by Aaron Deslatte on July, 6 2010 4:54 AM

By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel


A criminal defense attorney for former Florida GOP chairman
Jim Greer on Monday promised to make defense witnesses of some of the most powerful people in Florida politics – Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and state Republican chief John Thrasher.

That’s one long-time ally – Crist – and two enemies.

J. Cheney Mason also said he’ll depose two other GOP power brokers who have become Greer adversaries – prospective Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, of Winter Park, and soon-to-be Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, of Merritt Island.

Read the rest of the post at:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2010/07/greer-lawyer-well-make-people-talk.html

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Swedish retailer H&M plans 2 stores for...not South Florida, but Central Florida -where all the Svenska flickor shop

The H&M in Washington is about six blocks east of The White House.
Meanwhile, in the year 2009, there's still no general interest
bookstore within the city limits of Miami.
Congratulations!
---------------------

Swedish retailer H&M plans 2 stores for Central Florida


Orlando's fashion scene will get a little more hip this fall, when Hennes & Mauritz -- more commonly known as H&M- opens its first Florida stores here.


As part of a 225-store international expansion this year, Central Florida will get a double dose of the Swedish clothing retailer that sells trendy, inexpensive fashions.


H&M first said it would open in Florida Mall, then last week announced a second location for Sanford's Seminole Towne Center. Florida Mall officials said their H&M should open in late October or early November. Seminole Towne Center's target opening date is Nov. 1.


"I couldn't be more excited," said Anna Powers, a 30-year-old Orlando resident who blogs about shopping and fashion. "It is going to inject more of that kind of New York, urban city vibe we lack a bit."


H&M has a huge and loyal following throughout the country. Founded in Sweden more than 60 years ago, H&M first opened stores in the United States in 2000 and now has 169 stores here. H&M has 1,700 stores in 33 countries around the world. Last month, it opened a location in Beijing.

The retailer has made a name for itself with "fast fashion" -- cheap versions of just-off-the-runway styles, many designed in-house. Stores whip customers into a buying frenzy with "capsule collections" -- limited quantities of inexpensive clothing from well-known designers such as Stella McCartney. Like new store openings, the collections generate buzz and crowds that line up outside stores hours before they open.


"I think they really understand that people who have a real urge to follow fashion often are working on beer budgets even if they have champagne appetites," said David Wolfe, creative director for The Doneger Group, a New York-based fashion consulting firm.


Wolfe said he doesn't think other stores will suffer as a result of H&M entering the market. "H&M is so unique in what they do, they don't cannibalize other people's business," he said.


The company, which recently was selling tops as low as $8 online and dresses for between $20 and $25, says it ensures low prices in several ways: efficient distribution, large volume purchases and a limited number of middlemen.


Despite its loyal shoppers, H&M has struggled along with just about everyone else in the retail industry. The company's same store sales have decreased recently. Most recently, its March same-store sales were down 3 percent.


H&M spokeswoman Nicole Christie said in an e-mail H&M's business model "helps us to stay balanced even during economic downturns." She also noted some advantages to expanding during a recession, such as improved employee retention and good real-estate opportunities.


Wolfe said he thinks H&M will enter the Orlando market just at the right time, providing an option to people who "have been thinking, 'Fashion can't be a part of my life any more, it costs too much.'"


Christie described Central Florida as "a strong retail market" with many customers who have clamored for a local location.


Powers, who shopped weekly at H&M in New York City as a graduate student, said she'll probably visit the Florida Mall H&M a couple times each month.


Meanwhile, she noted that some of her friends here in Orlando -- moms in their 30s who have lived in Central Florida for years -- have yet to get hooked.


"They have no idea," Powers said. "I've tried to school them on the wonderful opportunity they have."


Sandra Pedicini can be reached at spedicini@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240.

---------------------------------
See also:
and