Identifying Local Opportunities

The local opportunities discussed in this post are from the local Tampa - St. Petersburg area.

Local Opportunity 1

• For middle-income families, Obamacare costs are a Catch-22
• Obamacare has accomplished the goal of providing access to millions of Americans but for many Americans, premium costs place it beyond their reach.
• Premium costs for Obamacare may be low and for low income families, tax credits are available, but for many premium plus out of pocket costs to meet deductible requirements make health insurance still an unattainable dream.
• Middle class families, especially those earning around $48,000 who are just on the wrong side of the tax credit cutoff, are suffering the most.

Local Opportunity 2

• Letters: Fracking bad for water supply, property values
• A letter responding to and arguing against an article advocating pro-fracking bills in Florida.
• Fracking is bad for health due to potential contamination to local water supplies and ultimately reduces property values.
• Anyone living within a mile of a fracking facility is impacted by reduced property values and health concerns.

Local Opportunity 3

• State senators scrutinize violence in Florida's mental hospitals
• A follow up into what has happened since a Tampa Bay Times and Sarasota Herald-Tribune yearlong investigation into state run mental hospitals.
• Mental hospitals are not being funded adequately and this is leading to decrepit conditions, violence, and even death in state run facilities.
• The state of Florida is 49th in the country in mental health spending.

Local Opportunity 4

• Proposed Madeira Beach development draws room full of objections
• A battler over the building height of a proposed luxury hotel complex and the traffic congestion it would cause for local Madeira Beach residents.
• The size of new hotel complex will increase traffic and congestion in the area according to local residents.
• The city of Madeira Beach and local residents living in the immediate vicinity of the newly proposed hotel complex.

Local Opportunity 5

• Thousands rally in Tallahassee urging teachers' union to 'drop the suit'
• Coverage of a rally in support of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program that is being challenged by the Florida Education Association (FEA).
• The FEA is contending that the Florida Tax Credit Program is diverting money away from the public school system so they are challenging its constitutionality.
• The FEA has the problem with the tax credit.