Device

Voice recognition technology is helping with bookings and releases at the Lee County Sheriff’s Department detention facility.

Right now about 17-hundred inmates are being held in Lee County – about ten percent speak little or no English. Since human translators aren’t always available the agency has purchased three portable translation devices. Deputy Angelo Vaughn says they’ve been very helpful.

“what it does is phonetically analyze spoken phrases and match those with phrases that are prerecorded foreign languages such as Spanish german and creole. If the inmate is speaking in Spanish it will translate what the inmate is saying to us in English.”

And the device will also translate English into Spanish – or creole. The translators cost about 25 hundred dollars. Vaughn says they can’t replace humans – but are a good substitute in a pinch.

Holiday shopping #1
Lewis
For: 11-24-05 PM / 11-25-05 AM


Tomorrow (Friday) marks the kick-off of the holiday shopping season. For many businesses the next four weeks are a make-or-break time for the entire yearShoppers will be out en-masse the Friday after Thanksgiving. Many stores will open early…some as soon as 5 a-m. Business owners hope those customers will be carrying lots of cash or credit cards and leave with bags stuffed with merchandise. Economists say it’s been a sluggish year for retailers but it is expected to pick up. Florida Gulf Coast University Marketing Professor Stuart Van Auken says the impact of the Internet is becoming a bigger force. He says while shoppers brave the stores this weekend...online buying kicks off next week.

“And one of the theories is, that consumers will shop at bricks and mortars stores Friday through Sunday and also talk with their friends and relatives about gifts and then they go online on Monday. The idea is to maybe find some of things they have discovered at bricks and mortar stores for cheaper prices.”

Van Auken says the online shopping season wraps up around mid-December because after that, internet retailers often have a difficult time making deliveries. Russell Lewis, WGCU News.

Holiday shopping #2
Lewis
For: 11-24-05 PM / 11-25-05 AM


Shoppers will brave the malls and stores tomorrow (Friday) to cash in on the first major holiday sales. This time of year is an important one for retailers as they try to make up for a sluggish beginning of the season. W-G-C-U’s Russell Lewis has more.

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Economists are expecting this year’s holiday buying period to be marginally better than last year. They predict a sales increase of five or ten percent. Online sales are projected to be as much as 20-percent higher. That’s due in part to more bricks and mortar stores offering free shipping and discounts on their websites. Florida Gulf Coast University Marketing Professor Stuart Van Auken says toy sales have dropped the last couple of years...but what is UP are sales of electronics to children.

“So what we’re seeing is a movement away from so-called traditional toys into like consumer electronics geared for kids. And the trend for this Christmas is smaller, but higher-priced. And so it’s sort of like small items are in including consumer electronics at maybe a higher price.”

Van Auken says that’s good for retailers because smaller items take up less space so they can stock more and make a bigger profit. Russell Lewis, WGCU News.

Holiday shopping #1
Lewis
For: 11-24-05 PM / 11-25-05 AM


Tomorrow (Friday) marks the kick-off of the holiday shopping season. For many businesses the next four weeks are a make-or-break time for the entire yearShoppers will be out en-masse the Friday after Thanksgiving. Many stores will open early…some as soon as 5 a-m. Business owners hope those customers will be carrying lots of cash or credit cards and leave with bags stuffed with merchandise. Economists say it’s been a sluggish year for retailers but it is expected to pick up. Florida Gulf Coast University Marketing Professor Stuart Van Auken says the impact of the Internet is becoming a bigger force. He says while shoppers brave the stores this weekend...online buying kicks off next week.

“And one of the theories is, that consumers will shop at bricks and mortars stores Friday through Sunday and also talk with their friends and relatives about gifts and then they go online on Monday. The idea is to maybe find some of things they have discovered at bricks and mortar stores for cheaper prices.”

Van Auken says the online shopping season wraps up around mid-December because after that, internet retailers often have a difficult time making deliveries. Russell Lewis, WGCU News.

Holiday shopping #2
Lewis
For: 11-24-05 PM / 11-25-05 AM


Shoppers will brave the malls and stores tomorrow (Friday) to cash in on the first major holiday sales. This time of year is an important one for retailers as they try to make up for a sluggish beginning of the season. W-G-C-U’s Russell Lewis has more.

Runs:
Track:
Local Cuts Disc

Economists are expecting this year’s holiday buying period to be marginally better than last year. They predict a sales increase of five or ten percent. Online sales are projected to be as much as 20-percent higher. That’s due in part to more bricks and mortar stores offering free shipping and discounts on their websites. Florida Gulf Coast University Marketing Professor Stuart Van Auken says toy sales have dropped the last couple of years...but what is UP are sales of electronics to children.

“So what we’re seeing is a movement away from so-called traditional toys into like consumer electronics geared for kids. And the trend for this Christmas is smaller, but higher-priced. And so it’s sort of like small items are in including consumer electronics at maybe a higher price.”

Van Auken says that’s good for retailers because smaller items take up less space so they can stock more and make a bigger profit. Russell Lewis, WGCU News.

Heritage

The Military Heritage and Aviation Museum in Punta Gorda is relocating. A legion of volunteers is carefully packing up the exhibits – shrink wrapping the display cases and transporting their contents about five miles across town. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.

A high-ranking official from the U-S Department of Agriculture says he’ll do everything he can to help Florida growers recover from this year’s hurricane season. U-S-D-A Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner and two Congressmen took a tour of agriculture damage in South Florida Monday. Later they met with growers in LaBelle. W-G-C-U’s Valerie Alker reports.

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A survey of Florida consumers shows holiday spending will be up five percent over last year. The Florida Retail Federation conducted the survey. Vice President Bill Herrle announced the results Monday at the Edison Mall in Ft. Myers. He says gift cards are the latest hot trend in holiday gift giving.

“They are proving popular with all shoppers and with all gift recipients. It’s the number one requested gift item with women and strong with men and kids as well. They’re great for retailers too because what we have found is that when someone comes in to shop with a gift card is that they often leave with a little bit more than the face value of the gift card they received.”.

Herlle says the average Floridian will spend 738 dollars on holiday gifts this year. And he says a decline in gasoline prices since the survey was taken in October could mean they buy even more.
Ft. Myers was selected as site for the retail federation to announce its holiday shopping preview because it’s one of the fastest growing markets in the state.

The future of the Scripps Research Center will be on the agenda for Palm Beach County commissioners today. As Stacey Singer reports, a clarification issued U-S District Judge Donald Middlebrooks allows a bit more infrastructure on the former Mecca Farms orange grove, but not what the county and Scripps wanted…

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