Outdoor World Village is coming to Lake Okeechobee. The Florida Rural Area Construction Cooperative (FRACC), an organization supported in part by the Collins Center’s Lake Okeechobee Regional Initiative (LORI), announced the project will be in Okeechobee County, on the north end of the massive lake. The development will have 625,000 square feet of retail space, lodging and outdoor recreation. Its construction is expected to generate as many as 2,000 jobs. Outdoor World Village is part of LORI’s "Doable Deeds” – positive actions, large and small, to bring economic and social opportunities to the lake’s southern region. Learn more about LORI's role here, and read a news account here.

FLAmendments.org: New look for new amendment proposals 

Thanks to the continued support from the Florida Bar Foundation, the Collins Center launches the new, interactive 2010 Florida Amendments Web site. Learn about the proposed amendments and share your thoughts and opinions. Read our news release or visit the site.

Three amendments removed from ballot in wake of court challenges

On Tuesday (Aug. 31), the Florida Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings against the Legislature-proposed Amendments 3, 7 and 9, removing all three from the Nov. 2 ballot. The high court refused to strike Amendments 5 & 6, which will go before the voters. Amendment 3 would have placed a limit on taxes for non-homestead property and added an exemption for new homestead owners. Amendment 7 was the Legislature’s response to Amendments 5 & 6, which were designed to eliminate gerrymandering of state legislative and federal congressional districts. Amendment 9, which targeted the federal health-care reform law, sought to nullify the requirement that Americans purchase health insurance.

Read full story here.

State's top responders say feds  unprepared for massive oil spill

Confusion marked beginning of response, Century Commission told

The federal government was unprepared to respond to the worst oil spill in the nation’s history, an expert panel told the state’s Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida. "In the beginning, there was somewhat of a panic mode,” said Henry Barnet, director of the law enforcement division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. "The response wasn’t where it needed to be.” Barnet joined Lee Edmiston, director of coastal and aquatic managed areas for the Florida DEP, and Bob Weisberg, distinguished professor of physical oceanography at the University of South Florida, in presenting a review of the disaster. Among the lessons learned, Barnet said:

• Skimmers worked in removing oil from the surface.
• Dispersants significantly reduced the surface oil and were less of a toxic threat than the oil.
• Boom did not solve the problem.
• Federal agencies were not prepared for an incident of this magnitude.

Deepwater Horizon explosion and leakage places magnifying glass on an already intense public debate

Learn more about this explosion's impact on Florida and on the debate for energy alternatives in the Gulf. Read our blog and take our brief survey. The Collins Center is dedicated to building knowledge and driving public discussion on this issue. Share your thoughts.