June 2008

International Speedway Corporation had a groundbreaking for its new headquarters last week. The new 200,000-square-foot building will be a cornerstone for “Daytona Live!”, a 71-acre, mixed-use entertainment destination across from Daytona International Speedway. The project will house more than 1,100 NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation personnel. The remainder of the Daytona Live! complex will feature a hotel, movie theater, retail shops and a selection of housing options.

Noting recent headlines touting the fact that summer jobs were very scarce for teenagers it was tempting to go out and see if anyone had any idea of what the real problem is. The people writing the articles gave no clue. While in Dennys restaurant here in New Smyrna Beach the other day, I asked Catherine O’Brian about the job market for teenagers.
She said it is "tough and business is slow.” When asked about how to fix the problem she responded, “We need to get more money into the economy.

When I look out my living room window over to the Marathon gas station on North Dixie Freeway, my eyes become glued to the gas prices, which for the past week have been stuck at $3.999 a gallon for regular unleaded. I cannot understand why they even bother with that third digit. Just get to four bucks. God knows it is not going to stop there, anyway. I feel sorry for all the hard-working middle class families in our community that bought those huge sport utility vehicles that now cost anywhere from $70 to $100 to gas up. I have a little car. Well, sort of. It's a gas hog.