Internet Cafes are becoming targets for crime and communities want them shut down.

Last week in Apopka a security guard shot and killed a robber at Allied Veterans Internet Cafe. Law enforcement and community members want these controversial businesses shut down.

 By Lydia Jennings

Apopka, Fla-

Allied Veterans Internet Cafe: Police working after the shootout. Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel.

Allied Veterans Internet Cafe is a 24-hour strip mall casino in Apopka, FL. Last week, two men attempted to rob the center but we’re chased out by the security guard, and one man was shot and later died. The shootout went down at about 1 a.m. while nearly 30 people were inside playing sweepstakes games on the computers. You might wonder why crime would be attracted to an Internet Cafe? Well, these businesses are known to be fronts for gambling houses, and hold thousands of dollars of cash daily. Since the cafes are usually open 24-hours, it’s an easy target for robbers.

However, it’s not only the crime that comes with the cafes, but the clientele as well. Owner of Caffe Positano Pizzeria, Pasquale Barba, says Allied Veterans Internet Cafe has brought nothing good to the plaza.

“It once was a romantic plaza, peaceful with families. Now, all of the parking spaces are always taken up and the people that go to the casino aren’t friendly. Not to mention, we now have people dying.”

Barba feels strongly about these internet cafes and thinks they shouldn’t even be allowed in the county. He says he has loyal customers that come to his restaurant but if the crime continues in the plaza, he “won’t be surprised if they stop coming.”

Seminole County Sheriff James Clark

Seminole County has about a dozen or so Internet Cafes in its county, three of them are Allied Veterans; and all three are in plazas. Seminole Sheriff James Clark says that’s the businesses way of trying to legitimize itself.

“They bring their business to plazas with grocery stores, family gyms, and restaurants, thinking they can legitimize themselves and that crime won’t be attached there, but that’s not what is happening.”

Clark says the county has been trying to shut down these so-called casinos for years. But Allied Veterans has been slowing down the process by filing lawsuits and injunctive relief. However, Clark believes Seminole’s ordinance to outlaw the cafes will be heard in the next few months. What won’t be heard until next year though is Florida’s House Bill 217. This bill was created to prohibit simulated gambling devices in the state; it still has three more House committees to go through before it’s decided on.

The big debate about these cafes is; is it gambling? Allied Veterans claims it’s not gambling, it’s sweepstakes. The customers pay for “internet time,” like paying for a Pepsi, and enter into a pre-determined sweepstake with a chance at winning cash. In most Internet Cafes you’ll see rows of computers with slot machine games being played on them. Maria Rodriguez brings her mother to Allied Veterans in Apopka and says she thinks it’s gambling. Rodriguez says with the recent shootout, she won’t let her mother come at night-time anymore.

“I tell my mom if you want to go, we go early, until 6, no more than that.”

Below is the surveillance footage from the Allied Veterans Internet Cafe shootout, between the robbers and cafe security guard.

The City of Sanford is Offering Cash to Buinesses to Restore Buildings.

Under this new program property owners in downtown Sanford have the opportunity to rehabilitate the historic buildings, and the city will pay for 30 percent of the renovation costs.

By Lydia Jennings

Sanford, Fla. –

The City of Sanford is trying to revamp its historic downtown district, and bring more businesses into the area as well as more visitors. This program was created through Sanford’s Community Redevelopment Agency, to help give business owners an incentive to fix up their buildings, a 30 percent incentive that is. So far, the city has contributed more than $500,000 for renovations, and Mayor Jeff Triplett says there’s still thousands of dollars left for other investors ready to restore their buildings. The money comes from an extra tax paid by downtown property owners.

Triplett says the authenticity of Sanford’s downtown makes the area so special, and preserving it is crucial.

Historic Downtown Sanford, looking onto Magnolia Avenue.

“There are other cities that are trying to recreate what we have; we have the natural asset from the 1800’s and 1900’s of these buildings. On one hand this program rejuvenates and makes sure our buildings are viable for the next 30, 40, 100 years, but it also brings businesses into the downtown corridor.”

So far, five buildings have been renovated through the program, including a deli/market, a restaurant, and a dance studio. The Community Redevelopment Agency’s (CRA) contributions rage from $60,000 for the least expensive renovation and $115,000 for the most expensive.

Linda Hollerbach next to her renovation check from the city of Sanford; standing in her renovated, yet empty market.

Linda Hollerbach owns a German café downtown and she’s wanted to open a German market nearby for years. She says it wasn’t feasible to open up the market without the help of the city’s renovation program. In one month Magnolia Square Market will open right by her restaurant, Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café. She and her husband’s vision is finally coming into fruition; they’ve spent $380,000 transforming the building into a grocery store, and $115,000 of that is from the CRA. The building was originally a retail store, but it now has a commercial kitchen, pollution controls, grease traps, and much more. To view transformation pictures of the soon-to-be market click here.

However, if the businesses take the money they can’t sell the property for at least ten years. Triplett says this agreement was necessary to ensure that the investors were doing the renovation for the right reasons. He says what the city didn’t want to see happen was, “investors come in, buy a building, use city money, renovate it, and then flip it, and make money and not have anything owed back to the city.”

The CRA will end its term in four years, and one of its biggest contributions to Sanford will be the downtown building renovation program. The program will end when the CRA does. But as of now, Triplett says there are still applications coming in for the renovation money; and of the three buildings that are completed, business is already improving and more investors are starting to notice.

One busy Orlando area is getting a make-over, but it comes with a steep price tag.

Orlando city leaders have approved a revitalization project for Semoran Boulevard. Many call the area the “Gateway to Orlando” from Orlando International Airport. However, this project is coming with a $2 million price tag and one of Central Florida’s ugliest stretches of road.

Many residents and business owners of the Semoran corridor call the area an eyesore. The boulevard doesn’t have much curb appeal and people of the area have stopped maintaining it. City Commissioner Tony Ortiz is a former police officer who worked the streets around Semoran and he’s been working on getting money to revitalize the corridor for three years now. Ortiz says he feels that the corridor isn’t giving the right impression to visitors as they pass through on their way to the theme parks.

City Commissioner Tony Ortiz, pin-pointing the location of Semoran's cement wall.

It’s estimated that about 60-70,000 cars a day drive through Semoran Boulevard, of those cars 60 percent are said to be tourists; and this area is the first thing visitors see after they arrive at Orlando International Airport. Semoran business owners want people to feel welcome as they come into the area, but with the battered corridor, not only is it not attracting new-comers but businesses aren’t drawn to the area either. Many national chains have even shut down including, Winn-Dixie and Wendy’s, and other businesses are simply struggling to remain open.

Juan Triana lives and owns a storage company on Semoran Boulevard. He says the people of this community have become complacent and have stopped paying attention to their image over time. He believes that because the corridor looks uncared for, it is attracting more crime. From vandalism, break-ins, to drug deals, business owners and residents don’t feel safe anymore.

Triana is the president of the Semoran Business Partnership which has partnered with city leaders and law enforcement to improve the conditions along the corridor. Through a crime prevention task force, clean-up days, and educating businesses on curb appeal and ownership responsibility, this community partnership is not giving up on the boulevard.

Owner Juan Triana infront of his storage company.

Triana believes the revitalization is not a handout but a hand up, “an opportunity to help ourselves out of a potentially bleak future, in a slum and blighted neighborhood.”

And that is where the revitalization project comes into hand. The State Department of Transportation has given a $2 million grant to beautify the Semoran area. Construction began this week and the first project and most expensive, coming in at $275,000, is a 1,300 foot long and 8-foot tall cement wall lining the boulevard. The wall will replace the ugly and battered chain-link and wooden fences that separate homes from the road; it will run from Casa Blanca Lane north to the 408 Expressway. The current fences offer barely any protection or privacy for homes; Triana says residents have even had cars crash straight through their back yards. The cement wall will help reduce traffic noise for neighbors and will bring the value of the property up. Other improvements include, expanding the sidewalks, installing street lamps, laying down textured crosswalks, adding street furniture and trees, and more. The improvements are expected to be done by July.

Through these aesthetic improvements, Triana hopes reputable businesses will come back into the community and crime will leave. He and city leaders, residents, and businesses want to see a rise in property values, business expansions, job creation, and most importantly a safe area to live, work, and welcome visitors.

This is the ultimate future vision plan for Semoran Boulevard, city leaders say more money will need to be appropriated.

To view the complete Semoran Vision Plan, click here.

Volusia County Sheriff’s Office’s new prescription drug program is getting great responses from residents.

By asking residents to bring in their unwanted medications, Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is hoping to get as many prescription drug medications off the streets as possible.

According to the Florida Office of Drug Control, on average, seven people die a day from prescription drug abuse in Florida. Currently, Florida ranks number two in the nation for prescription drug abuse. Many counties in Florida are taking new measures to mitigate this prescription drug abuse problem, and many are doing so by targeting pain clinics. However, Volusia County is asking its residents to pitch in and help Floridians from abusing prescription drugs.

These are some of the medications brought in through the program. Photo courtesy of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office started the prescription drug program about four weeks ago. Deputies say residents have really responded to the program and they’ve had over 100 residents drop off old medications. Volusia County is the only district in Florida to have a permanent prescription drug program in place. The program was started to curb the growing abuse of pharmaceutical drugs. As more and more Floridians become addicted to these drugs, residents are better off disposing their unwanted medications, then becoming the target of a pill addict.

Public Information Officer, Gary Davidson says it’s just not safe to keep old prescription drugs in your medicine cabinet anymore. However, proper disposal is crucial; flushing pills down the toilet can be toxic for our water system and throwing them away isn’t good either. By dropping them off to one of the five Volusia County Sheriff’s Offices, residents can feel at ease knowing their medications will be properly disposed of.

Gary Davidson, Public Information Officer. Photo courtesy of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

The program isn’t costing the county any additional money. Davidson says since other pieces of evidence and drugs need to be sent out for destruction, resident’s old medications will be shipped off right along with them.

These are the five sheriff’s district offices, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday:

• 1706 S. Woodland Blvd., DeLand
• 1200 Deltona Blvd., Suite 44, Deltona
• 94 S. U.S. 17-92, DeBary
• 999 Third St., Holly Hill
• 101 E. Canal St., New Smyrna Beach

Residents that prefer the officer pickup service should call one of the following numbers:

• 386-822-5070 in West Volusia
• 386-248-1770 in the Daytona Beach area
• 386-423-3870 in the New Smyrna Beach area

Two organizations are teaming up to build the only home in Orlando for foster kids who have “aged out” of the system.

The Children’s Home Society of Florida and The Faine House are teaming up to build an Orlando home for kids who turn 18 but were never adopted in Central Florida. Most have been in the state supported system for years and now have to grow up and get out on their 18th birthday.

By Lydia Jennings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers' center, Jeff Faine, is the driving force for Orlando's home for "aged out" foster care youth to live.

Exactly 209 teenagers will have to leave the Central Florida foster care system this year on their 18th birthday. By the time they turn 21, one-third of these kids will have experienced homelessness at some point. Realizing the need for a home for 18-year-old young adults who have nowhere to go after foster care, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ center, Jeff Faine decided to help this group of kids. He has partnered with Children’s Home Society of Florida to build the only home for teenagers who have “aged out” of the foster care system in Orlando. These children are one of the fastest growing segments of Florida’s homeless population.

When foster kids turn 18, the State of Florida will recognize them as independent, self-sufficient adults, responsible for every aspect of their well-being. Imagine turning 18 while still in high school (most do their senior year) and having to find a place to live, start college, find a job to pay rent, cook dinners, balance a budget, and so on. This seems almost impossible; now imagine having to do all that without any family members to guide, mentor, support, or look out for you.

And that’s where more statistics come into play; according CHS of Florida:

• Within four years of “aging out,” 60% of former foster youth become parents
• Up to 63% don’t finish high school
• Up to 55% are unemployed

And according to Florida Child Abuse Death Review, Annual Report 2009:

• Every day 2,160 children are abused or neglected in the U.S.
• Four children are killed each day by abuse or neglect in the U.S.
• In 2009, there were more than 220,000 reported cases of child abuse in the State of Florida

Saturday February 12th, CHS and The Faine house came together to raise money to build a safe place for youth who

Hundreds of people came of to the gala Saturday night to help raise funds for The Faine House.

have “aged out” of foster care. The home will be available for up to two years for each child. Throughout their stay they will finish school or earn a GED, plan for continued education or career training, learn life skills to live independently, and will work with mentors to create a “life plan.” The Faine House will also connect youth with local businesses and mentors committed to teaching the teens skills necessary to be productive, contributing members of society.

Saturday night, Jeff Faine said it easy for most people to only think about the cute, innocent young children who need help when their families fall apart. Most people don’t think about the kids who are too old to stay in foster care, where will they go? Faine is determined to build a home of love, hope and opportunity for youth who need a second chance.

The more popular the Orange County school, the more advertisers want to get noticed.

Now that Orange County school leaders are using their schools and athletic events to generate advertising revenue, businesses are flocking to the most popular schools in the district. Athletics in Orange County Public Schools get great exposure. According to OCPS, last year over 78,000 fans attended boys varsity games alone. The county has nationally-ranked players and televised games, and advertisers are taking advantage of the spotlight.

To advertise a floor decal on a high school basketball court, it will run you $1,200 for the season. But to place that same decal on all 19 of the high school gym floors, it’ll be a little under $23,000 for 4 months. However, there’s not only floor decal advertising available, but also signage around the walls of the gym, and signage on the scorer’s table. One school that’s filling up with ads is Winter Park High School, and for good reason. According to ESPN.com, Winter Park High’s point-guard Austin Rivers, is the nation’s top high school prospect for the class of 2011. It’s safe to say that this school draws in a lot of attention.

Inside the Winter Park gymnasium, you will see advertisements from Outback Steakhouse to Rotary Club of Orange County East. However, the main sponsor is Panera Bakery, with many ads inside the gym and on the campus; and the company is paying nearly $3,500 a year to advertise there.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Orange County Public Schools is taking an unconventional step to generate revenue: advertising.

With tight budgets and a down economy, Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) began to weight its options. Orange officials decided to open its doors and let advertisers come in and reach hundreds of thousands of students, parents, and community members, while the district profits. The advertising program was started in July 2009 and it’s brought in nearly $300,000.

Marketing Director, Brian Siatkowski, holds a Brighthouse Networks sponsored vest that referees wear at OCPS games.

Orange County Public Schools has incorporated advertising for businesses in 4 main forms: through online advertising on the districts website and school websites, through licensing of apparel, athletic sponsorships, and media-right negotiations with cable companies to broadcast games.

Brian Siatkowski is Orange’s Marketing and Sales Director. He says Orange is the only district that has a dedicated person in this role. He was brought on solely to head-start the advertising program and he’s been reaching out to businesses with creative advertising ideas ever since.

Not only are other Central Florida school districts asking for guidance with Orange’s advertising program, but so are other schools all over the country. Siatkowski says Los Angeles Unified School District, Houston, San Diego, and Las Vegas have all called asking if they can see how Orange wrote up the school board policy, if they can see the agreements used, and what kind of unique inventory the district is selling.  Also, two weeks ago OCPS was asked to make a presentation at the Central Florida Public School Boards Coalition meeting. The Coalition is hoping to bring all 10 of the school districts together so they can team up and advertise on a larger scale with larger corporations.

Although, Siatkowski says this new platform for advertising has its pros and cons. Some companies are excited to reach out to the school’s audiences and others don’t even want to come near the idea. However, OCPS is being extremely resourceful in this economy, and when others are cancelling school programs, Orange is deciding how to distribute incoming advertising money.

Bringing in business to shops in Knights Plaza isn’t up to the UCF Arena.

Whether or not business is staggering in Knights Plaza, it is not up to the UCF Arena to take responsibility. A lot of business owners in the plaza aren’t happy with the way things have ironed out and they’ve put forth a lot of complaints towards the arena. However, it’s up to the businesses to fend for themselves and to get the word out to the community about their existence in Knights Plaza.

Light Up UCF ticket office is busy on a Saturday night.

UCF Arena puts on events all year long, such as Light Up UCF. The Area brings in thousands of people to Knight’s Plaza. Amy Hoskin with the arena says they hope more guests will visit the shops in Knights Plaza, and one way the arena has tried to help is by offering all businesses in the plaza an opportunity to set up a concession stand or booth out at Light Up UCF. The concessions will help the businesses make an extra profit and get the word out to the public about their company.

Hoskin says the only shop in the plaza to take up the offer is Knight Aide Pharmacy. Manager of the pharmacy, Emily Witcher says the concession stand has really been great for business. They’ve made great sales on the weekends by going around the outdoor movie theater and festival selling popcorn, hot chocolate, and snacks. Hoskin says that the area doesn’t allow any outside vendors to sell food at Light Up UCF, it’s only offered to the surrounding businesses.

Vickie Faull, owner of Tailgaters says she didn’t know the area was allowing the businesses to sell at the festival, because last year it was sponsored only by Cocoa-Cola. She says she “didn’t get the memo,” but when Christmas draws closer, she’ll have her waitresses go out to the festival crowds to sell drinks and appetizers.

Shops in Knights Plaza say business is slow… all the time.

In the past two years, six businesses in Knights Plaza have closed down because of slow business, and two shops pulled out before they even opened. There are many reasons why businesses say the plaza isn’t doing well, mainly: parking, approval of advertising, and no signage on Alafaya Trail.

To park directly on Knights Plaza you have to have change for the regulated parking meters.

According to business owner, Vickie Faull, Knights Plaza was given an event garage for all plaza customers to park in. But once school started, students have been taking up all the spots in the garage; because of the packed garage, Faull says many off-campus customers are turned away, since they don’t want to have to deal with petty parking. Advertising on UCF’s campus is also a long, extensive process. Many business owners in Knights Plaza don’t bother advertising on UCF because the approval process is too tedious. Faull says that she had World Cup signs specially made to advertise Tailgaters’ promotion of the game, and when UCF finally approved the signs and gave them the approval stickers, the World Cup was over.

Also, since 2007 when the plaza opened, surrounding businesses were told there would be a sign on Alafaya Trail advertising the shops in the plaza. Three years later, business owners still haven’t seen a sign. UCF officials originally planned to have the current pricey electronic sign on Alafaya, advertise the businesses in Knights Plaza; but now UCF only plans to use it to highlight events on campus.

Faull says she would have never opened her restaurant in Knights Plaza if she would’ve known business would be so bad.

Light Up UCF hosts 50 nights of holiday festivities: is the event helping or hurting surrounding businesses?

This year marks the 3^rd annual Light Up UCF holiday event. Created by UCF, this 50 day festivity is meant to provide students and families in the community an affordable way to celebrate the holidays. The event is located outside the UCF Arena, near Knights Plaza and boasts an array of reasonably priced attractions; including, Orlando’s largest outdoor skating rink, a Ferris wheel, carousel, outdoor movie theater, evening light show, meet-and-greet with Santa, Santa’s sleigh train ride, and much more.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

From November 12^th to January 2^nd, this year’s festival has drawn in the most crowds, say officials with Light Up U-C-F. However, the event hasn’t really helped out surrounding businesses.

On a Saturday night Tailgaters Smokehouse is dead, minus a few regulars at the bar and some straggling UCF football goers, still drinking from the afternoon’s game. Owner Vickie Faull says the only time her restaurant has gotten any business from the festival is from to-go orders from families on the lawn watching movies at the outdoor theatre, and those orders aren’t consistent.

Friendly's restaurant off of University Boulevard.

Also, Subway restaurant manager, Stephanie, agrees that Light Up UCF patrons haven’t increased business, and on the weekends the restaurant has only had to keep 1-2 employees on staff.

Although, less than a mile away from Light Up UCF, Friendly’s restaurant says its been getting great business from families coming in after the festival. Manager, Damon Ramirez says since the festival started, Friendly’s on University Boulevard, has been packed on the weekends. Ramirez mentioned that families might not be interested in eateries such as Tailgaters because it’s not “a family restaurant” and it serves alcohol.