• WEAR 3 NEWS TOP STORIES VIDEO

PENSACOLA BEACH, FL - A ruling on whether Pensacola Beach residents will have to pay property taxes is now imminent.

That's according to the Assistant to First Circuit Court Judge Michael Jones, who began working on his ruling this week.

The lawsuit was filed by Pensacola Beach residents in 2004 to challenge Escambia Property Appraiser Chris Jones' decision to put beach properties on the county tax rolls.

Beach residents argued that when they bought property, they were told they would only have to pay lease fees and not taxes.

But Jones argued that guarantee was never in any of type of legal contract.

A similar lawsuit filed by owners at Portofino Condominiums was rejected by the First Circuit Court Of Appeals last August.Pensacola Beach Residents Will Pay Property Tax

• IN FLORIDA NEWS

Freeze damages 4 percent of Fla. oranges
February 09, 2010 09:14 EST

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Florida citrus growers lost more than 4 percent of their orange crop and more than 3 percent of their grapefruit crop during last month's freezing weather.

A citrus forecast report released Tuesday puts Florida's orange crop in February at 129 million boxes, down from the estimate of 135 million boxes in January. Each box weighs about 90 pounds.

The grapefruit crop estimate for February is 18.8 million boxes, down from 19.5 million boxes in January.

If these estimates don't change, Florida's orange crop will be 21 percent smaller than last season's crop and the grapefruit crop will be 13 percent smaller.

Florida is the nation's largest orange producer. The bulk of the state's fruit is used to make orange juice.

Tuesday, November 3 2009, 07:40 PM EST

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• BUSINESS NEWS

Dow below 10,000

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street begins trading today with the Dow Jones industrials below 10,000 for the first time in three months.

• CONSUMER INFO

Toyota checking 2010 Prius brakes; mum on recall
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   TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) -- Toyota USA says it is evaluating brake problems with the 2010 Prius gas-electric hybrid, but no decision has been made about a recall. ...

• SCIENCE/TECH NEWS

IN THE NEWS: COLORADO SEEKS TO COLLECT ONLINE SALES TAXES

DENVER (AP) -- It's the latest in a long line of efforts to get people to pay taxes on online sales -- this time, being tried by lawmakers in Colorado.

• GET THIS

STRIP CLUB RAISES MONEY FOR HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- This is a charity effort that, we presume, raised more than just money for a good cause.

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