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• Poll: What renewable energy policy do you support?

  Gov. Rick Scott committed Thursday to establishing a "strategic energy policy" for the state.

  What kind of energy policy would you like to see? More or less nuclear power? More solar plants? Take our poll below.

  Scott came out against a renewable energy bill last month because of concerns about higher utility [...]

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• Ask a real estate pro: How to pick the right home

  

  Lawyer and real estate consultant Gary M. Singer answers housing questions in this space each Friday. To ask him a question about short sales, mortgages, refinancing, homeowner's associations or any other residential real estate topic, click here.

  Q: I’m 26 with a solid job and [...]

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• Will tornadoes fuel support for national catastrophe insurance?

  Do the tornado outbreaks this year prove that the Midwest is just as prone to disasters as states like Florida with its hurricanes and California with its earthquakes?

  Will insurers scale back their risk in other parts of the country as they have done in Florida?

  And will more states rally behind [...]

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• PSC: Utility regulators rethink interim leader

  The Public Service Commission retreated Wednesday from a unilateral decision by its chairman to appoint an interim executive director.

  Graham announced Tuesday that he asked Curt Kiser, the PSC's general counsel, to fill the job for six months. He also asked Commissioner Julie Brown to head the search for a permanent [...]

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• Do Realtors' bonus commissions rub home buyers the wrong way?

  

  Real estate agents who sell at The Ritz-Carlton Residences on Singer Island in Riviera Beach stand to receive bonus commissions: either extra cash or a Ritz-inspired vacation.

  Agents who make their first sale in the luxury oceanfront condominium will get a 3 percent commission and $10,000 or a [...]

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• Poll: Floridians want more property insurance regulation, not less

  Most Floridians want more property insurance regulation, not less, and they report it's getting more expensive, according to a poll released today by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

  Gov. Rick Scott signed sweeping property insurance legislation this month that he says will lift "burdensome regulations" to draw new insurers to the state. [...]

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• Insurer: Homeowners buying too much insurance

  Florida homeowners have 20 percent more insurance coverage than required for their personal belongings, according to preliminary research done by Security First Insurance.

  Enservio, which estimates contents coverage, calculated the information using new software that factors in millions of real claims and pricing information and comparing that to coverage purchased by [...]

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• 'Pockets of strength' for S. Fla. home builders

  Enclosure: [download]

  New home sales rose 7.3 percent in April, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, but home-building nationally remains subdued as the housing market searches for a bottom.

  While the South Florida market certainly isn’t blazing hot, it is starting to improve. Broward County had 168 single-family home starts during the first quarter, [...]

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• PSC decisions made behind closed doors

  Public Service Commission Chairman Art Graham, who pushed for the PSC executive director's resignation, announced Tuesday the agency's general counsel, Curt Kiser, will take over the job for six months while a search committee led by Commissioner Julie Brown looks for a permanent replacement.

  Those decisions were made behind closed doors.

  "The" [...]

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• PSC: Utility regulation leader resigns

  Timothy Devlin, the head of the Florida Public Service Commission, resigned after 35 years with the agency.

  He was asked to do so by PSC Chairman Art Graham. Graham, a former Jacksonville city councilman who started at the PSC last year, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

  “As the majority [...]

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