Citizens proposes massive insurance increases - Businesses face 600% rises; home policies could double

Coastal South Florida commercial property owners could get hit with massive property insurance price increases up to 603 percent in Broward County and 592 percent in Palm Beach County, while some homeowners along the coast could see their premiums more than double, under rate increases proposed Thursday by state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

The increases are a "stake through the heart" for the state economy and homeowners alike, said House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach.

The startling increases for home and condominium owners would enable Citizens, Florida's largest property insurer, to comply with a new state law forcing the company to set rates high enough to cover losses from a major catastrophic storm without relying on all Floridians to bail out the state insurer.

The increases will be phased in over three years, starting in March, if approved by state insurance regulators. Citizens' board of governors will vote on the proposed price increases at its December 7 meeting in Gainesville. Should the board approve them, the rate adjustment request will be reviewed by the state Office of Insurance Regulation.

Citizens committee gets chance to air concerns in front of Beaumont police

BEAUMONT -- Chief of Police Frank Coffin on Monday responded to concerns from a newly formed police watchdog group, saying the department wants to hear from citizens about the goings-on in their neighborhoods -- even when it means hearing complaints.

"The police department is staffed with a whole bunch of folks who try to do a good job day in and day out," Coffin said. "If we are not doing something right, we need to know about it because it is not OK."

The meeting was the first of the Community Access Committee, which aims to create a dialogue between the community and the Beaumont police.

Allen Lee, a community activist and committee member, said the group wants to work with the police department to improve communication.

"We are not here to tell the chief how to do his job," Lee said. "We are here to inform him of concerns."

One of those concerns came from 55-year-old Gwenalyn Westbrooks, who says the crime in her Charlton-Pollard neighborhood is out of control.

Plans call for dilapidated Pearl Stephens school to be reborn as affordable homes for senior citizens

Pearl Stephens Elementary School stands out like a cold fortress on Napier Avenue in Macon.

A gray mildew stains its stucco, castlelike facade. Inside, ceiling tiles have fallen, insulation and broken glass litter the classrooms, the floor is caving in, and there is a pervasive musty smell.

But where some may see nothing more than an old, decaying schoolhouse, others see potential.

"You can't help but look at it and say, 'Wow. Somebody ought to do something with that building,' " John Hiscox, executive director of the Macon Housing Authority, said this week.

The authority wants to be that somebody. The authority has purchased the property, built in 1929, and plans to develop it into an affordable senior living facility called Pearl Stephens Village.