Workforce Central Florida announces virtual job fair

Workforce Central Florida will host a virtual job fair Monday, Jan. 10, to Friday, Jan. 14 (24 hours a day).

The job fair is an online recruiting event that showcases jobs from entry level to top management. All job seekers are invited to connect with employers who are looking to hire new employees for a wide range of positions.

The virtual job fair is easy to use. From a computer with Internet access, job seekers simply need to log on, review a wide variety of job listings and post their résumés using the résumé format tool on the website. There is no cost to participate. Job seekers will not be able to register until the first day of the fair.

For $300, companies may purchase a featured booth. Featured booths include all of the benefits of the basic booth, plus being one of four featured employers, company logo on the virtual job fair home page and throughout the site and a direct link from the home page to company job postings.

For more information, visit www.WorkforceCentralFlorida.com/jobfair, e-mail job

fair@wcfla.com or call 407-531-1222.

Clerk’s Office to implement electronic document recording

Osceola County Clerk of Courts Malcom Thompson, because of technological advancements, is in the process of implementing electronic recording, or e-recording so the Clerk’s Office can electronically accept documents for recording into public records.

Instead of traditional document delivery methods such as runners, express mail or courier services, by early 2011 patrons will be able to scan original documents – such as deeds, mortgages and liens – in the comfort of their own office and securely transmit them via the Internet to the Osceola County Clerk’s Office for review, approval and expeditious recording.

For title companies and law firms, this will accelerate all aspects of the post-closing and document recording process, Thompson said in a press release.

“E-recording is the future,” Thompson said. “It saves time and money and dramatically improves the clerk’s ability to serve the public.”

In addition, the public will soon be able to file court documents via a statewide electronic filing portal, or e-portal, under the direction of the Florida Supreme Court. When the e-portal is implemented in the beginning of 2011, it will uniformly deliver to the Clerk’s Office statutorily-mandated filing fees and electronic filings in a form that will allow the clerk to immediately receive, review, accept, docket, file and maintain the documents.  The clerk also will continue to accept paper filings.

“It is a privilege to give back to the community in this manner,” Thompson said. “The Osceola County Clerk’s Office will continue to be a forerunner in providing the professional services it is known for and will now be able to do so more efficiently. In addition to saving litigants time and money, e-filing will significantly reduce the costs of paper and storage for clerks’ offices throughout the state.”   

Effective the first week of January, instead of coming directly to the courthouse, the public will be able to pay traffic tickets at any Amscot location, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Clerk’s Office also is finalizing procedures for conducting online mortgage foreclosure sales and tax deed sales.  

For more information about the services provided by the Clerk of Court’s Office, contact the Osceola County Clerk of Court’s Public Information Officer at 407-742-3686 or at aenv@ osceolaclerk.org or visit www.osceolaclerk.com.

Caution advised due to dry conditions

With extremely dry conditions already enveloping a significant portion of Florida, the Florida Division of Forestry and the South Florida Water Management District are asking residents to help prevent fires and conserve water to see the region through the season.

“Below-average rainfall during the wet season, a record-dry start to the dry season and declining water levels present a formidable challenge to both water managers and state firefighters,” Susan Sylvester, water district spokeswoman said. “These conditions mean we all must be conservative with our water use and be aware of the increased potential for wildfires.”

Residents living in or near brush or wooded areas should make their homes as safe as possible from the threat of wildfires. Homes and sheds should be surrounded by a buffer zone extending at least 30 feet. This area should be free of highly flammable vegetation and well maintained. Leaves, pine needles and twigs should be removed from roofs and gutters. Flammable materials such as wood, vehicles and propane tanks should not be stored next to the house.

Residents also are asked to follow year-round landscape irrigation measures now in place. Watering times by location are available at www.savewaterfl.com.

The coming year is predicted to be active for wildfires, and the Division of Forestry is currently listing several counties within the water district as having an extreme or very high fire danger. More than 80 percent of fires from December to spring are caused by humans, with arson and embers from debris burning as the top two causes, according to the division. Children, campfires, equipment, railroads, power lines, fireworks and smoking also can cause fires. Residents are asked to help firefighters have a less active fire year by practicing good fire prevention techniques.

“This year is not the typical wildfire year. This year we did not receive enough tropical moisture in the summer months. In addition, the cold fronts are not bringing in substantial rain,” Melissa Yunas, a division wildfire mitigation specialist, said.  “In most cases, the cold fronts are dry air masses that reduce the moisture in the grasses/fine fuels. Freezing temperatures kill the grasses/fine fuels, thus making the vegetation ripe for wildfires.”

Following the driest October on record since 1932, forecasts call for drier-than-average weather to continue into the dry season with a strong La Niña.