Biz Briefs

Oct 19, 07:19 AM

Current Headlines: FORT PIERCE, Fla. | There seem to be more tractors tearing up St. Lucie County's old citrus groves than tending them these days.

This county once had more orange and grapefruit trees than almost any other place in Florida, the nation's largest citrus producer. But across the state 's citrus belt, farmers are replanting fewer trees than any point since the 1970s, and crop land is rapidly disappearing. Previously high land prices, diseases and even the rising cost of trees are hurting farmers and driving orange juice prices to record levels .

Florida lost 127,182 acres, or 17 percent of its total, in the 2006 crop census - the second-worst drop in history behind only a January 1986 freeze. The net loss was higher than the previous eight years combined.

ticket scalping

patriots get list of fans' names

BOSTON | The National Football League's New England Patriots have won a bid to get the names of all the fans who bought or sold - or tried to buy or sell - tickets to home games through online ticket reseller StubHub Inc.

A lawsuit against StubHub, a subsidiary of eBay Inc., claims the Web site encourages fans to break state law and violate team policies. The Patriots said they could seek to revoke season tickets of people who use StubHub.

A lawyer for the Patriots wouldn't say what the team plans to do with the 13,000 names, which StubHub gave it last week after losing its appeal of a Massachusetts state court ruling.

Team rules bar reselling game tickets for a profit. State law, though rarely enforced, restricts ticket markups to $2 above face value plus some service charges.

The Center for Demo-cracy and Technology, a Washington -based advocacy group, said the court order to turn over the names infringes on the privacy rights of Patriots fans.

oil prices

crude futures briefly top $90

NEW YORK | Oil prices surpassed $90 a barrel for the first time Thursday as the falling dollar drew new foreign investors and speculators to dollar-denominated energy futures.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery hit $90.02 in electronic trading Thursday evening before returning to around $89.60. Earlier, prices had risen $2.07 to settle at a record $89.47 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Many analysts feel that the fundamentals of supply and demand do not support oil prices of $90 a barrel. On Wednesday, the Energy Department reported that oil and gasoline supplies rose more than expected last week, countering suggestions that supplies are tight.

- From wire reports

(c) 2007 Virginian - Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.