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The Villages

Florida Democratic governor candidates call for 2018 unity

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Florida’s three announced Democratic gubernatorial candidates agreed on most issues at a forum Saturday, from education to the economy to faith, but got their loudest cheers when they called for ending a 20-year string of Republican governors in 2018. Speaking to 300 Democratic faithful at the state party’s annual fundraiser, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham and entrepreneur Chris King all said Florida needs to move away from the policies of Govs. Rick Scott and Jeb Bush…

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Florida cities among the biggest population gainers

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Three metro areas in Florida were among the nation’s 10 biggest gainers in the number of people moving there last year, and another three Florida metro areas were in the top 10 for overall growth rates. The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday said the Tampa area had the nation’s fourth-highest gain from people moving there last year. Some 58,000 new residents moved there. South Florida had the nation’s seventh-highest gain from migration, adding about 48,000 residents who moved there. Orlando…

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Census: Florida growing older, more diverse

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Florida gained more wealthy residents but also more families living below the poverty line between 2010 and 2015 when the Sunshine State participated in an economic recovery from a devastating housing crash and the worst recession in decades. New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau Thursday shows that during the recovery, jobs were lost in construction, real estate, government and manufacturing. But jobs were gained in education, health care, tourism and professional positions. During the same time, Florida residents…

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Florida lost construction, gained health care jobs in recovery

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Florida gained more wealthy residents but also more families living below the poverty line between 2010 and 2015 when the Sunshine State participated in an economic recovery from a devastating housing crash and the worst recession in decades. New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau Thursday shows that during the recovery, jobs were lost in construction, real estate, government and manufacturing. But jobs were gained in education, health care, tourism and professional positions. During the same time, Florida residents…

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Solar choice advocates like Stephen Smith and Debbie Dooley can’t come to grips

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Consumers for Smart Solar got their initiative on the 2016 ballot fair and square, and from the looks of it Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s Stephen Smith and Tea Party poser Debbie Dooley are having trouble coming to grips. The sour grapes were pretty apparent in a recent interview, where Dooley was identified as an orchestrator of the “Green Tea” movement that brought together tea partiers and environmentalists to help fight… what? Regular people who oppose the solar plan put forward by SACE? And…

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Senate candidate Carlos Beruff brags about how he profited during Great Recession

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Many Floridians had it rough during the Great Recession of 2008; either losing jobs, facing cutbacks or otherwise struggling to stay above water financially. Manatee County homebuilder Carlos Beruff was not one of them. Beruff, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, boasted at a recent event that his company “actually profited” from the “huge” recession that devastated Florida’s middle class. Speaking to the Republican Federated Women of The Villages in March, Beruff talked about how he weathered the storm, one…

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The Villages is nation’s fastest growing, again

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Have golf cart, will travel. At least to The Villages. The retirement community in central Florida famous for its souped-up golf carts once again was the nation’s fastest-growing metro area, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the third year in a row that the community of 119,000 residents had gotten the title of “fastest-growing” with a growth rate of 4.3 percent from July 2014 to July 2015. “It’s exciting to hear we are No.…

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