Shooting at the Airport in Fort Lauderdale

Sadly, my home town Fort Lauderdale is today in the breaking news because of a shooting at the international airport. I hoped never to read such news but such an event can never be prevented. There are always people that do not have respect for life. They do not care for anyone and even the strictest gun laws will prevent such events.

The tragic event happened in the arrival area where the travelers pick up their checked baggage. The shooter was based on the existing regulations allowed to transport a weapon in his checked baggage and when he arrived, he picked up his bags and loaded his gun in a bathroom. He shot five people dead and wounded several others who were transported to the hospital for treatment.

However, our Sherriff and his officers as well as the first responders did a great job to help the people and they caught the shooter quickly. As we later learnt the shooter is a mentally disturbed veteran from Alaska who lived in South Florida a few years ago.

Because of this incident the airport was shut down and the service is expected to resume on Saturday when all crime scene investigations are finished.

Nevertheless, the airport in my home town Fort Lauderdale is safe and I am not afraid to go everywhere because I know and trust the authorities and the law enforcement. I will make my next trip also from that airport and I invite you to Fort Lauderdale – the Venice of America – to enjoy our life style.

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September 11, 2016 - Fort Lauderdale Run and Walk

 

September 11 – not only an American day of grief. On September 11, 2001 also many foreign business people and employees of the located companies in the Twin Towers died because these two towers were a business center in Manhattan. Many international banks and companies had offices there.

Like every year there was again a memorial event at the ground zero site with all important dignitaries of politics and business. Even when the wounds of that horrible event slowly heal, a scare will stay forever.

These memorial events not only take place in New York but also in Fort Lauderdale. One of these memorial events was the 5 K Walk and Run in the downtown area. Many participants came out early in the morning to see the sun arise and run for a good cause.

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The life begins beyond 50

In the first half of life the focus is often on having a family and providing for spouse and children. Looking for the better job and earning a good income so that everyone in the family is happy. That is the normal life in many countries but as soon as you enter the second half of your life your daily life is different when you live in Germany or in the United States.

In Germany the people start their working life circle when they left school and got their education. They often stick to their profession for decades and they are not very interested to look for different alternatives in life. The life besides the work is mostly based on hobbies, sports, vacation and a little bit community involvement. They work until they can retire with the age of 65+ and they dream from their retirement and what they would do when they get there. When they get there they are often to exhausted to try new things and stick to what they already know. That is the normal German culture of life.

In the United States the people have a different expectancy of life. In their first part of life they are already very active in their jobs and additional education is big part of their life. They are always looking for better opportunities to make a little bit additional money for retirement. Their most important interest besides the work is their home, their neighborhood and their community where they often do volunteer work. But the most important difference in this way of life is that American people are more sliding into their retirement. They have already plans and they often start the realization for their retirement dreams beyond 50 or 55.

Based on a market study the plans of the retirees in the United States include for example to sell their homes but not for downsizing purposes. They often buy a bigger home so that their family – their children and grandchildren – can come for a visit and live with them during the holidays and vacation time. They slowdown in their work life und enjoy more the life balance. Friends and community work takes over the most important interest. They offer their live experience and knowledge often to community work and projects where they meet will many other folks from different ages and different cultures.

In Fort Lauderdale for example many elderly persons are spent their time as tour guides at historical side and explain the history of the city to tourists. Such services are very much appreciated by the municipalities and they add value not only to their lives of the retirees but also to the lives of others.

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The Florida economy is rosy

After a hard time during the recession where many jobs were lost, company went bankrupted and closed and the housing market staggered, are over. As stimulus measure the Sunshine State focused on it primary values – the sunshine, their housing industry and workforce - and started economic actions that are now show great success.

The counties Miami/Dade and Fort Lauderdale started expansion and updated their ports and airports to become the main hub and connection point for the worldwide and South American trade and transportation lines. Fort Lauderdale for example expanded their port capacity not only for freight but also for the cruise industry.

The Fort Lauderdale Airport Management has nearly finished its major renovation project and in fall 2014 the new extended runway was opened for the air traffic. These projects created thousands of jobs and brought the unemployment rate back to a normal level. The hospitality and housing market is back too and offers countless job opportunities to the citizens.

It is expected that this trend will last or even get better because the Panama Canal is also under expansion construction and will give a further boost to the ports and the economy in South Florida.

For further details you can reach us at info@florida-informations.com .  

Fort Lauderdale Airport is getting a big facelift

The international airport in Fort Lauderdale on its way to become a real competition for Miami – the biggest airport in South-Florida.

A few year ago, Broward County started their update and expansion of the Fort Lauderdale airport FLL. The runways on the airport was not long enough for the bigger airlines from overseas and therefore the incoming foreigners often had to make a stop in one of the bigger airports like Atlanta or New York to change to a smaller aircraft.

The airport expansion was very controversial because of the noise level that comes with it. However, the Broward County help the homeowners nearby to get noise protection at their houses.

On September 18, the new runway opened and marked the completion of the major improvement part of the project. With this new runway, many new air carriers can use this airport. The runway that was expended to the east above the Federal Highway (US 1) is capable to handle aircrafts like the 747.

This runway expansion brought already new airlines with direct connections from Europe and there are more to come. The costs for the aircraft service and turn around are much cheaper than in Miami and that is a big benefit for the airlines.

On my event yesterday, I already heard many comments from very satisfied customer. It is not only the service at the airport but also the less jammed roads to and from the airport.

The face-lift is not yet finished. The next portion is the renovation and the remodeling of the existing airport facilities and the construction of a new concourse to handle the growing passenger numbers.

I am very excited to see the finished result. For my trip to Europe, I will certainly use this airport.


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Now Miami has its own Wall of Berlin

You don’t believe it? It is true. Today Miami got its own piece of the Wall of Berlin at their Miami Dade College  Wolfson Campus. Now Miami is one of the many cities that got their own piece of the most dangerous wall in the world. The state of Germany gifted the piece and it was presented in an official act from the Consul General of Germany in Miami.

The death wall that separated the City of Berlin into two parts felt exactly 25 years ago. The wall was built in 1961 to protect the eastern German citizens for the evil of the western world. However, the real reason was to prevent East-Germans from escaping into the western part of Berlin and into West Germany.

The wall went right through the Downtown area of Berlin and enclosed the complete western part of the city. The western part of the City were the areas of the allies United States, British and France and the eastern part of the city was the Soviet part. The Americans were the strongest partners during that hard time. They always protected the city and without their help, the history of Germany would have been a different one.

In 1961, the dividing wall was started as a normal stone brick wall and was reinforced over the years. During the worst times and I know it from my own experience the wall had a several meters wide mine fields. The officers with dogs controlled the border with that death corridor and right on, the other side of the wall was a vital and strong city that never gave up the hope for the reunion.

Then on November 9 1989 it happens – this deadliest wall of all broke down and people from both sides of the wall climbed onto the top of wall and started to demolish it. It was over!

Today you only see some monumental ruins in heart of Berlin and the rest of the wall was exported all over the world as a reminder:

A wall can separate people but when they poke long enough into the wall, it will get weak and break.

Normally I wish sunny greeting from Florida but today it was raining like in Germany in November but it was 20 degrees warmer.

The human German Flag

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Need an affordable place for vacation? Florida is that spot

The summer time with the vacation season is right around the corner and it is time to get the bargains for the holidays. Everything is getting more and more expensive so that everybody loves to save some bucks wherever possible. Here are some ideas in our Sunshine State.

In a price comparison of 25 cities nationwide seven very affordable vacation spots are in Florida. You can reach these spots for a roundtrip price below $300. There are also many accommodation discounts available at these vacation places.

Not only the beaches attract the vacationers but also the special deals in the cities. The visitor centers of the following vacation spots have certainly many savings to offer and special deals and events during the summer. Checking with the visitor centers of the cities or a look on their web sites is highly recommended.

The bargain vacation spots in Florida are:

Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Fort Myers, Sarasota and Miami.

See you soon here in the Sunshine State.

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4 of the best Beaches are in Florida

Here is the 2014 Top-10-Beach List of the United States. Each year Dr. Beach – that is Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman (Professor at The Florida International University) assembles a list with the best beaches of the United States. The beaches are all over the United States and four these beaches are in front of our doorstep:

The Barefoot Beach in Bonita Springs is on number 2 and is followed by St. George Island State Park in the Florida Panhandle.

On number seven is the Cape Florida State Park Key Biscayne und on number 10 is the Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park in Naples.

This is the reason why I prefer to live in Florida and for Florida this is an extremely good result because our beaches attract thousands of visitors each year. The beaches are also one of the reasons for the retirees that come during the winter months and enjoy the nice mild weather.

When will you come and enjoy the beaches? Florida is waiting for you.


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Wind Wheels look like Art Objects

In January 2014, the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) certified the City of Fort Lauderdale as a Florida Green Local Government. That means that the city has demonstrated its leadership in environmental protection and in using sustainable energy resources. One of the City project is the power pumps for electric cars in the Mills Pond Park.
The four wind wheels, which are visible from the I-95 look like art objects. However, they are real wind wheels and produce power for car batteries. The wind wheels and car power pumps are already installed. However, they are not yet operating. As soon as the stations are ready and open to the public these station should power several cars at the same time and the additional power will go into the power grid.


As soon as these pumps are running, you can go and enjoy the recreation areas in the park and at the same time fuel your car batteries. All that without the ugly smell of a gas station and the air pollution afterwards.


The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) is a nonprofit Florida Corporation. It mission is to lead and promote sustainability with environmental, economic and social benefits to communities.

What a great idea and Florida is the perfect place with its sunshine and wind power for this mission.

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