Florida Industry

Illegal drugs have become a mainstay of Florida's economy, pumping more than $6 billion a year into the Sunshine State's financial heart. If the drug problem were to somehow be eliminated overnight, the St. Petersburg Times reported Sunday, Florida's economy likely would go into a dramatic tailspin. "This place would be a wasteland," said Steve Schlessinger, a federal prosecutor with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. "It's the biggest industry in South Florida by far."

An insect known to carry a disease that has been devastating to Florida's citrus industry has been found in a bug trap in a citrus grove in Ventura County. The Asian citrus psyllid, which is the size of a fruit fly, feeds on the leaves of lemon and orange trees. It is also known to carry citrus greening disease, also called Huanglongbing or HLB, that ruins the taste of citrus fruit and juice and then kills the trees. The disease does not affect humans. This is the first time an Asian citrus psyllid has been found in Ventura County, a key producer of California citrus.

From inside the nation's fishbowl, watching all those goldfish, guppies and swordtails isn't always a relaxing pastime. "It's a tricky business," tropical fish farmer Tim Hennessy said as he stood in his pond-dotted pasture. "Anybody who's ever taken care of fish knows that if everything isn't just right, they can die." Vulnerability aside, fish farming has thrived in Florida, which produces about 95% of all tropical fish sold in North America.

For more than 40 years, grapefruit grew juicy and ripe on this 1,200-acre grove inland from the Atlantic. Now there is little left but the jagged branches of torn-up trees, and spicy smoke fills the hot midday air as one by one, they are burned to powdery ash. "This just makes me sick," said John E. Quigley II, an environmental supervisor with the Florida Bureau of Pest Eradication and Control, who looked on as flames at least 15 feet high consumed yet another grapefruit tree.

Philip Morris Cos. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said Monday that they are seeking to bar a state agency from suing the tobacco industry under a law they claim is unconstitutional. The companies said they filed a petition seeking the action with the Supreme Court of Florida. The Medicaid Third-Party Liability Act, passed last April, makes it easier for the state to sue product manufacturers for injuries suffered by Medicaid recipients, a Philip Morris spokesman said.

Florida orange growers and juice makers asked the federal government Monday to impose tariffs on Brazilian processors, accusing them of selling orange juice in the U.S. at unfair prices. The Florida growers and processors also asked the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Commerce Department to conduct an investigation into the pricing practices of four juice producers. The agencies are likely to make a decision in the coming months.

The second record cold snap in two years froze oranges "as hard as baseballs" Monday and may have destroyed thousands of trees in the northern section of Florida's $1-billion citrus belt. "It looks like the damage will be extensive in both citrus and vegetables," said Agriculture Commissioner Doyle Conner. One grower reported a low of 11 degrees in a citrus grove near Mascotte, in Lake County.

With Mexican cruises slumping in popularity, two of the largest ships serving the Port of Los Angeles are pulling up anchor for more lucrative markets elsewhere. Royal Caribbean said its 3,100-passenger Mariner of the Seas, after a Mexican Rivera voyage that begins Sunday, will leave the Port of L.A. for South America and Europe, ending up in Galveston, Texas. Norwegian Cruise Lines will pull its 2,348-passenger Norwegian Star out of the port in May. The ship will eventually settle in Tampa, Fla. Cruise line officials and port officials say the moves stem from the sour economy and continuing drug-related violence in Mexico.

An insect known to carry a disease that has been devastating to Florida's citrus industry has been found in a bug trap in a citrus grove in Ventura County. The Asian citrus psyllid, which is the size of a fruit fly, feeds on the leaves of lemon and orange trees. It is also known to carry citrus greening disease, also called Huanglongbing or HLB, that ruins the taste of citrus fruit and juice and then kills the trees. The disease does not affect humans. This is the first time an Asian citrus psyllid has been found in Ventura County, a key producer of California citrus.

For more than 40 years, grapefruit grew juicy and ripe on this 1,200-acre grove inland from the Atlantic. Now there is little left but the jagged branches of torn-up trees, and spicy smoke fills the hot midday air as one by one, they are burned to powdery ash. "This just makes me sick," said John E. Quigley II, an environmental supervisor with the Florida Bureau of Pest Eradication and Control, who looked on as flames at least 15 feet high consumed yet another grapefruit tree.

Florida orange growers and juice makers asked the federal government Monday to impose tariffs on Brazilian processors, accusing them of selling orange juice in the U.S. at unfair prices. The Florida growers and processors also asked the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Commerce Department to conduct an investigation into the pricing practices of four juice producers. The agencies are likely to make a decision in the coming months.

At this time of year, Philip C. "Flip" Gates Jr.'s long rows of grapefruit trees should be heavy with ripe fruit, and enshrouded with so many leaves that their canopies are verdantly opaque. But for citrus growers in Florida, this was hardly an ordinary year. Of the four hurricanes to plow into the state in 2004, three tore through areas of major citrus production, lashing trees with high winds and heavy rains, stripping fruit and leaves from boughs, damaging limbs and soaking roots.

The tobacco industry suffered a crushing loss in a landmark class-action case Friday as jurors, who already had found cigarette makers guilty of conspiracy and fraud, ordered them to pay $144.8 billion in punitive damages to Florida smokers who became sick or died as a result of addiction to cigarette smoking. The stunning verdict in Dade County Circuit Court was several times larger than any previous damage award granted by a U.S. jury.

In the beginning, smoking is about image. Three thousand American teens will light up for the first time today and, for most, says 17-year-old Alexandria Drouin, "it's like, 'I want to look cool.' " But what would happen if young smokers saw themselves not as cool, but as targets? As pawns, cynically manipulated in a corporate chess game? What if the brand they chose was not Marlboro or Camel but Truth?

Philip Morris Cos. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said Monday that they are seeking to bar a state agency from suing the tobacco industry under a law they claim is unconstitutional. The companies said they filed a petition seeking the action with the Supreme Court of Florida. The Medicaid Third-Party Liability Act, passed last April, makes it easier for the state to sue product manufacturers for injuries suffered by Medicaid recipients, a Philip Morris spokesman said.

From inside the nation's fishbowl, watching all those goldfish, guppies and swordtails isn't always a relaxing pastime. "It's a tricky business," tropical fish farmer Tim Hennessy said as he stood in his pond-dotted pasture. "Anybody who's ever taken care of fish knows that if everything isn't just right, they can die." Vulnerability aside, fish farming has thrived in Florida, which produces about 95% of all tropical fish sold in North America.

The tobacco industry suffered a crushing loss in a landmark class-action case Friday as jurors, who already had found cigarette makers guilty of conspiracy and fraud, ordered them to pay $144.8 billion in punitive damages to Florida smokers who became sick or died as a result of addiction to cigarette smoking. The stunning verdict in Dade County Circuit Court was several times larger than any previous damage award granted by a U.S. jury.

In the beginning, smoking is about image. Three thousand American teens will light up for the first time today and, for most, says 17-year-old Alexandria Drouin, "it's like, 'I want to look cool.' " But what would happen if young smokers saw themselves not as cool, but as targets? As pawns, cynically manipulated in a corporate chess game? What if the brand they chose was not Marlboro or Camel but Truth?

Illegal drugs have become a mainstay of Florida's economy, pumping more than $6 billion a year into the Sunshine State's financial heart. If the drug problem were to somehow be eliminated overnight, the St. Petersburg Times reported Sunday, Florida's economy likely would go into a dramatic tailspin. "This place would be a wasteland," said Steve Schlessinger, a federal prosecutor with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. "It's the biggest industry in South Florida by far."

The second record cold snap in two years froze oranges "as hard as baseballs" Monday and may have destroyed thousands of trees in the northern section of Florida's $1-billion citrus belt. "It looks like the damage will be extensive in both citrus and vegetables," said Agriculture Commissioner Doyle Conner. One grower reported a low of 11 degrees in a citrus grove near Mascotte, in Lake County.