Duke Overbilling Charges Were to Reach More than $2.6 Million

Duke Energy Florida customers' overbilling charges were set to reach more than $2.6 million before the utility halted the fees following Tampa Bay Times reports. More than 165,000 customers were bumped into a higher rate tier when Duke Energy Florida added days to their billing cycles while revamping its meter ready rounds, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Florida's Public Service Commission documents obtained by the Tampa Bay Times show that Duke stated that the average customer affected by the overcharges would receive $5.62. While the highest credit totaled $23.62, the lowest credit amount is 2 cents.

Duke charges customers $11.34 for every 100 kilowatt hours up to 1,000 kilowatt hours. Above that, the charges shift to $13.70 per 100 kilowatt hours. The charges are before taxes and other fees. The changes in the billing cycles bumped customers into the higher range.

To read the entire Tampa Bay Times article, click here.

DOD Could Save Pentagon $108 Billion Over Next Decade

A new Congressional Budge Office report has found a way to save $108 billion over the next decade. However, veterans may not be happy with it: the savings targets veterans, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The money would come from cutting retirement pay for veterans already on disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

To read more about it, click here for the South Florida Business Journal article, or read more here. To view the Congressional Budge Office report, click here.

Some Florida Min. Wage Workers to See Raise

While the Florida Legislature did not raise the state-mandated minimum wage during its latest session, some minimum wage workers will soon see an increase in their paychecks. Companies including Gap and Ikea have announced or started voluntary minimum wage increases ahead of proposed legislation, according to the Miami Herald. In April, St. Petersburg-based C1 Bank raised its "living wage" to $14 an hour.

While the current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, Florida's minimum wage is $7.93 an hour. A full-time employee working 40 hours a week in Florida would earn $317.20 a week, or $16,494.40 per year, before taxes. Meanwhile, Florida's poverty line for a family of four is $23,850 a year. According to the Miami Herald, "The [Florida] Legislature adjourned in May without taking up a proposed hike to $10.10 an hour."

To read the entire article, click here.

Warhol Superstar Ultra Violet Dies

Isabelle Collin Dufresne, the actress, artist and author who was better know as Ultra Violet, died Saturday. The 78-year-old, who was best known as one of Andy Warhol's "superstars", died of cancer in a Manhattan hospital, according to The New York Times.

In 1973, she had a near-death experience that she blamed on her excesses of the previous decade. She later became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She lived in both Manhattan and Nice, France, and worked as an artist until her death. A New York exhibition in Chelsea this spring featured a selection of her work, and closed three weeks before she died.

In a 2010-interview with Miami Herald's Steve Rothaus, Ultra Violet said, "Today with the explosion of the media, the Internet, everybody has 15 minutes of fame. I'm trying to get 16 minutes, and it's very hard."

To read Dufresne's obituary in The New York Times', click here. To read Steve Rothaus' interview of Ultra Violet, as well as the mention of her death, click here.

Oil Driller Sanctioned for Fracking In Florida's Everglades

Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection revealed that it had sanctioned a Texas-based company for unauthorized fracking in in an area surrounded by the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Critics of plans to drill in the Everglades were further dismayed that the fracking and sanctions against the Dan A. Hughes Co. dates back to December, but were not disclosed at lat month's hearings about the Hughes Co.'s Florida activity, the Broward/Palm Beach New Times reports.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is considered the gateway to the Western Everglades.

Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") entails blasting water and chemicals into the ground to release oil and natural gas. Its effects on human health and the environment is controversial.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

New Treatment For Dogs?

When Jenny Conley noticed her English gold retriever, Moses, limping, eventually unable to put weight on his leg, she brought him to the vet's. X-rays showed severe osteoarthritis in the 6-year-old dog. While taking medication for the pain for the remainder of Moses's life was an option, Dr. Cara Erwin-Oliver of Belleview Animal Hospital in Belleview, Florida offered up another option: stem cell therapy, according to The Gainesville Sun.

While the pricey surgery ($1,500) holds no guarantee, Moses is now back to walking with Conley after his November surgery. "It's like he never had anything wrong with him," Conley said.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Driving With Killer GPS

Most of us have heard somewhat amusing stories involving drivers taking their GPS's routing too seriously: trying to turn where there is no longer a turn lane, being told by GPS to turn the wrong way down a one-way street. We then might shake our heads and think, Yup, gotta use common sense.

Varoly Olivares might want to consider not using a GPS at all on future trips. Seems that Olivares was driving during the pre-dawn hours on Friday, February 28 when the GPS in his car told him to turn off of 6th Avenue South in Fort Worth - onto railroad tracks. As soon as he realized his mistake and tried backing off the tracks, his truck became stuck, according to The Palm Beach Post.

A southbound Tri-Rail commuter train was heading toward Olivares and his truck. While Olivares escaped, his truck wasn't so lucky. The collision, which wrecked his truck, stopped traffic for more than two hours.

To read the article in its entirety, click here. And to drive a little safer, use common sense if and when using a GPS.