The wire for 06/11/08

DRS Technologies seeks a five-year tax abatement
Contractor will construct more floor space
BY RICK NEALE • FLORIDA TODAY • June 9, 2008
DRS Technologies seeks a five-year tax abatement to expand its Babcock Street facility to accommodate more than 500 DRS workers now based in Palm Bay. The defense contractor plans to construct almost 200,000 square feet of new floor space adjacent and next door to its current optronics plant. Estimated cost? $29.5 million, city records show. DRS Technologies then would transfer its Palm Bay workforce -- 502 employees -- to the Melbourne site, plus hire 10 more workers Read more http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080609/NEWS01/806090319/1006/news01
NAACP energized by Obama
Central chapter gathers for annual dinner
BY KAUSTUV BASU • FLORIDA TODAY • June 7, 2008
For many of the 400 people who gathered Friday for Central Brevard NAACP's annual Freedom Fund Banquet, this year felt a bit different.Members said this celebration was special because the black community in Brevard, like elsewhere in the country, is in a buoyant mood after Barack Obama became the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party Read more http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080607/NEWS01/806070320/1009/news03
Job Losses and Oil Surge Spread Economic Gloom
By PETER S. GOODMAN Published: June 7, 2008 NY Times
The unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent — the sharpest monthly spike in 22 years — as the economy lost 49,000 jobs, registering a fifth consecutive month of decline, the Labor Department reported Friday Read More http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/business/07econ.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th&adxnnlx=1212884138-7itM0LLKAvwlcGe/ZLJN0g
Democrats -- Like Everglades Mosquitoes -- Buzz McCain
posted by John Kennedy on Jun 6, 2008 1:26:46 PM Orlando Sentinel
Florida Democrats did their best Friday to make sure Republican John McCain didn't have a peaceful airboat ride through the Everglades. While McCain was touring the fabled River of Grass as part of his two-day swing through Florida, former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and state House Minority Leader Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, continued a Democratic assault on the rival presumptive presidential nominee for having voted against a $2 billion Everglades restoration project that was part of a massive water resources bill in 2007. Read more http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/06/democrats----li.html
ACORN Holds Rights Restoration Workshops
Learn about changes to Florida's Clemency Rules. Find out if you are eligible to have your rights restored. In Florida, people with past felony convictions lose their civil rights—including the fundamental right to vote. Read more
http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=7895