Giant anteater born at Florida zoo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 19 (UPI) -- Stella-Abril, a 13-year-old giant anteater at the Jacksonville, Fla., Zoo, has become a mother for the fifth time, zoo officials said.

Zoo officials said the baby's sex won't be known until it is older and the right to name the infant will be auctioned off next month, the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union reported.

The baby was born Feb. 22. His father is named Killroy. The mother and baby are on display at the River's Edge exhibit, where the infant spends its time clinging to its mother's back.

Naming rights will be auctioned off at the zoo's annual ExZOOberation fundraiser on April 16.

Zoo officials said giant anteater births in captivity are relatively rare.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/03/19/Giant-anteater-born-at-Florida-zoo/UPI-30731300547266/#ixzz1JTt756GT

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Mobile museum recounts horrors of modern-day slavery in Florida

The sweltering box truck served as an overnight padlocked prison for enslaved Mexican and Guatemalan tomato pickers, who were forced to urinate and defecate in its corners.

Workers managed to escape through the truck's roof and report brutal abu

ses -- they had been kicked, beaten and chained -- to Collier County authorities in November 2007.

Their bosses later were sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. And the tomato-pickers' wheeled, windowless dungeon became a symbol for advocates devoted to eradicating human trafficking across Florida.

Sunday, parishioners explored the Florida Modern-Day Slavery Museum -- a replica of the cargo truck -- at Ascension Catholic Church.

"Can you imagine being locked in here?" Claire Maliszewski asked a trio of Boy Scouts inside the truck. "Goodness gracious. That's scary."

The Florida Modern-Day Slavery Museum features court documents, newspaper clippings, photographs of injuries, menacing chains and other educational displays highlighting indentured servitude in Fort Pierce, DeSoto County and elsewhere.

A key artifact: a blood-soaked blue-and-white striped shirt worn by a 17-year-old farmhand who was violently pummeled in 1996 in Immokalee after stopping work to drink water.

Hundreds of his fellow workers carried the stained garment during a nighttime protest march, said Margaret Gleeson, a museum volunteer.

The Diocese of Orlando has launched a human-trafficking awareness campaign highlighting Florida's agriculture and tourism industries.

The cargo truck travels today to Melbourne Central Catholic High. The display is not open to the public.

"Can you imagine when it's hot in the night?" Romeo Ramirez, a Guatemalan farm worker whose undercover work helped prosecute a Lake Placid citrus-slavery operation, asked of the poorly ventilated truck.

Read More

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110411/NEWS01/104110314/Mobile-museum-recounts-horrors-modern-day-slavery-Florida

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Disney says it generates $18.2 billion annual ripple effect in Florida

Walt Disney World and its related businesses in Florida generate an estimated $18.2 billion a year in economic activity and are responsible for more than one of every 50 jobs in the state, according to an impact study paid for by the giant resort.

The report, released Wednesday, found that Disney's theme-park operations in the state — which include Disney World, Disney Cruise Line and its Disney Vacation Club time-share business — account for 2.5 percent of Florida's cumulative gross domestic product.

"It was 40 years ago, in the fall of 1971, that we opened the gates of Walt Disney World. And we've been growing ever since," Disney World President Meg Crofton said at a Disney-organized breakfast in the Orlando Museum of Art to present the results to local government, business and civic leaders.

The eye-popping numbers stem from a report prepared by Arduin, Laffer & Moore, a Republican consulting firm whose partners include a budget director to former Gov. Jeb Bush, an economic adviser to former President Ronald Reagan, and the founder of the conservative Club for Growth political group. The firm examined data from Disney's 2009 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 3, 2009.

Disney released a two-page summary of its findings. The company would not release the full report because, it said, the report includes proprietary financial information.

The researchers found that Disney paid out nearly $1.8 billion in compensation to more than 59,000 workers in 2009. That equates to an average annual salary of approximately $30,508.

Disney said the researchers did not determine the median — or midpoint — salary for its workers. The average salary can be distorted by a small number of exceptionally high or low earners; Disney's senior-most executives in Florida are paid annual bonuses that in some cases have exceeded $1 million in a single year.

In addition to the wages paid, Disney purchased $2.3 billion worth of goods and services during the year, according the report, including an estimated $900 million from vendors in Florida. And third-party businesses operating on Disney property generated almost $600 million in sales, while vacationers to Disney spent another $1.7 billion at off-site businesses.

In all, that amounted to a cumulative direct economic impact of $6.3 billion. When researchers used computer models to include additional, "indirect and induced" impacts from Disney's operations, they said the total economic effect swelled to $18.2 billion and approximately 161,000 jobs.

For as big as Disney's presence has become in Florida since opening the Magic Kingdom four decades ago, the look of the company's growth has changed dramatically in recent years.

The company hasn't built a new theme park in Orlando since 1998, when it opened Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney World's fourth park. It has in recent years focused instead on wringing more revenue from its existing assets — capturing more of its guests' total vacation spending and luring new travelers to its parks — and moving into new businesses, such as cruises.

Disney executives say there is still ample room to grow through those strategies.

"I can tell you, it will still be significant, the potential future impacts," Al Weiss, the president of global operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in an interview after the presentation.

Read More

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-daily-disney/os-disney-economic-impact-20110413,0,7480432.story

Courteney Cox and daughter arrive home from Disney World as David Arquette celebrates 100 days of sobriety

Courteney Cox arrived back from Disney World with Coco today, looking a little tired but nevertheless content and happy.

The 46-year-old actress enjoyed a day at the theme park yesterday along with estranged husband David Arquette and their six-year-old daughter.

David was not seen with them as they touched down in Los Angeles, although he was busy tweeting news that he has now been sober for 100 days.

He posted an upbeat message on Twitter that read: 'I have 100 days of Sobriety today!!! Life is beautiful. :D'

Clearly the actor, who will be seen alongside Cox in the upcoming Scream 4, is feeling on good form following their magical family time.

He described the Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida as 'the most Magical Place on Earth' in an earlier tweet.

Read more: 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1374683/Courteney-Cox-arrives-home-St-Barts-holiday-David-Arquette-celebrates-100-days-sobriety.html#ixzz1Ivul1tdT

Safari Wild will have to wait on Commission

The proposal is an outgrowth of a controversy over an animal-oriented tourist destination called Safari Wild that was proposed in the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern.

A hearing officer last year struck down Polk County's approval of the project because it violated several county regulations.

This is the second time the proposed regulation had been continued because of questions about whether the regulations needed to be better defined.

"I don't think this is ready for prime time," Commissioner John Ryan said.

He said he wanted to exempt Class I and II wildlife from being part of agritourism.

Class I animals include lions, bears, apes, rhinoceros and other large animals that are potentially dangerous. Class II animals include monkeys, smaller cats, antelopes and other less dangerous animals.

Dr. Stephen Wehrmann, a veterinarian who is one of the owners of a game ranch that could take advantage of the ordinance, argued antelopes and other hoofed animals fall under the state definition of livestock and shouldn't be restricted.

Ryan said he'd be willing to discuss a revision, but said he wasn't sure a lot of situations involved legitimate agriculture.

"I don't see a zoo on a farm," he said.

The unanimous vote for continuance came following a series of failed motions to recommend approval and then denial. The first motion tied 3-3. The second failed 4-2.

Assistant County Attorney Jan McDonald recommended commissioners consider the issue when they were fresher.

The case didn't come up until after 7 p.m. during a meeting that had begun at 9 a.m.

The case, which planners had been trying to fast track to the commission, had been scheduled for a public hearing before the Polk County Commission next Tuesday.

Wehrmann is co-owner of the licensed exotic game farm off Moore Road that also is the site of the proposed Safari Wild tourist attraction.

Florida Wildlife Ranch is a scaled-back version of Safari Wild that Wehrmann said could attract some tourists -- he's not really sure what the market is -- to provide some income to pay for running the ranch that contains 160 exotic animals ranging from various species of African antelope to Indian rhinoceroses.

The main issue isn't whether farms may be great places to bring tourists, but whether there are adequate controls on issues such as traffic and noise to protect adjacent rural landowners.

A state administrative law judge last year quashed Polk County's approval of Safari Wild, concluding county officials ignored their own growth plan and development regulations.

The ruling came after officials at the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which oversees development permits in the Green Swamp Area of Critical State Concern, challenged the county's decision.

Lois Murphy, a sixth-generation Floridian whose family owns a ranch near Wehrmann's property, was one of the prime critics of Safari Wild and the county's handling of it.

She asked planners to take more time reviewing the proposal.

"I have a fear that this is more about tourism than about agriculture," she said, explaining she's afraid the result could be to weaken agriculture.

"I don't think a (development code change) should be driven by one case; that seems strange to me," she said.

Read More

http://www.newschief.com/article/20110408/NEWS/104085138/1021/news01?Title=Safari-Wild-will-have-to-wait-on-Commission

South Florida Enjoying Record Tourism Numbers

Two of the most well-known holiday destinations in Florida, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, have announced that they experienced strong tourism growth over the winter months with hotel occupancy in Fort Lauderdale alone reaching 75% in January this year. The news, which was revealed by the both Fort Lauderdale and Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, shows that Florida has become a very attractive destination for travellers, say ulookubook.com.

Ian Raine of ulookubook.com, comments: “Florida has always been a popular holiday choice with travellers, and tourism in both Fort Lauderdale and Miami has increased dramatically, compared to the figures from last year. According to the authorities in Fort Lauderdale, the hotel occupancy of 75% in January this year was 27% higher than it was in January 2010, and the total amount of passenger traffic at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport had increased by 5.1% year-on year. The results are simply staggering, as they show that more people are choosing to travel to Florida, specifically South Florida, on holiday.”

In Miami, the GMCVB have revealed that 12.6 million people visited Miami-Dade County last year, and spent $18.8 million, making it a record year for tourism in the area. Similarly, in 2010, 10.84 million people visited Fort Lauderdale, where they spent just over $8 million, which shows that tourist demand for South Florida is growing.

Raine continues: “Last year was truly an exceptional year for tourism in Florida, in fact the figure of 12.6 million tourists is the highest number ever recorded in Miami. These numbers are very impressive, but when it comes to air traffic, international travellers have risen dramatically, with an increase of 16.3% in the number of foreign travellers travelling to and from Fort Lauderdale in January this year alone, which represents the 17th consecutive month of air traffic growth for the airport. These figures show that Florida is still a popular holiday destination, and judging by its growth over the past year, it could very well become more popular in 2011.”

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Charlie Sheen’s tour coming to South Florida

Prepare to win, South Florida. Coming to a theater near you: Charlie Sheen’s My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option Show.

Sheen is scheduled to appear in Sunrise on April 23 at the BankAtlantic Center as part of his 20-city tour. Sheen’s website said tickets are still available — ranging in price from $69 to $89.

On Saturday, the Hollywood actor turned one-man media meltdown, more famous now for his rants that include references to warlocks, tiger blood and goddesses than for his acting, kicked off his tour in Detroit to an applause that quickly turned to boos. Next up was Chicago.

The tour is the latest step in the Sheen saga, which stretches back to last year, when he pleaded guilty in Aspen, Colo., to misdemeanor third-degree assault after a Christmas Day altercation with his then-wife, Brooke Mueller.

Since then, he has talked about being a “rock star from Mars,” having “Adonis DNA” and called himself a warlock, with the women he lives with as goddesses.

Sheen’s behavior, which included lashing out at Two and a Half Men producer Chuck Lorre, finally became too much for Warner Bros. Television, which fired him on March 7.

So he decided to go on tour. In Detroit, Sheen seemed to enjoy himself in the early moments, posting pictures on Twitter of the crowd and himself at a podium. Below a picture of the crowd, he wrote, “The most honest city in the world honors the most honest man in the universe #TruthTorpedo.”

In a second picture, he referred to himself as a “Sheenius.”

But the show didn’t come across as the work of a Sheenius or a genius, according to the reviews. Media covering the event reported a crowd that booed, heckled the actor and questioned if the tour would make a full run or close early.

How did Sheen feel about this? A regular poster to Twitter, with more than 3 million followers on the service, Sheen stayed silent Sunday.

Tickets to Sheen’s South Florida stop are available through Ticketmaster or at his website, www.charliesheen.com.

Read more:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/03/2149275/charlie-sheens-tour-coming-to.html#ixzz1IYYfS59g

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