Business Archive

NEW ORLEANS  — BP PLC is being forced to pay inflated and even “fictitious” claims to businesses because of the way a court-appointed administrator is making payments from a legal settlement following the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an attorney for the oil giant said Monday.

Residents left in the dark by streetlight outages no longer need to pick up a phone to have the faulty light repaired. Gulf Power’s website has an option for residents to report problems with streetlights with the click of a mouse.

Florida’s real estate market is heating up again, and the local market is on trend, according to statistics released by Florida Realtors. In May 2013, year-to-year comparisons showed sales of single family homes statewide jumped 18.7 percent, and townhomes and condos, 11.5 percent.

Longtime Navarre real estate agent Annemarie Kronfuss was the recipient of four top awards from ERA American Realty, based on 2012 sales.

MIAMI — Florida’s largest property insurer, already under fire for everything from recent business deals to how much it pays its executives, is readying another round of rate hikes for homeowners.

The first ever “green” restaurant on Pensacola Beach will be opening this summer, and is ironically named Red Fish Blue Fish. The restaurant is currently under construction near the Soundside Market on Via de Luna Drive. The property management company Innisfree Hotels owns the restaurant. CEO Julian MacQueen also owns and operates the Hilton and Holiday Inn Resort on Pensacola Beach, as well as other properties across the southeast.

Besides wrecking homes and lives, Hurricane Ivan had another effect on the area: eased restrictions immediately following the storm has created some misconceptions about work requiring a permit.

After a soft showing in recent years, new homes are suddenly hot properties in Navarre.

“We’re selling them as fast as we can build them,” said builder Samuel Stevens of Stevens & Associates, of newly built houses in the Navarre area.

PENSACOLA — Three years after the massive Gulf oil spill fouled Florida Panhandle beaches, millions of dollars in restitution are being used to build new piers and boat ramps and restore sand dunes.

TALLAHASSEE — It’s been nearly eight years since Hurricane Wilma raked the southern end of Florida and caused billions in damages, the last of eight hurricanes to hit the state in 2004 and 2005.