BP money buys sports towels, Xmas lights and more

Sports towels and fleece blankets. A poker tournament. A $1 million Christmas display. A prom for senior citizens. BP gas card giveaways. A “most deserving mom” contest. And advertising, lots of advertising. Florida Panhandle officials have made a mix of eyebrow-raising purchases with $30 million BP gave them earlier this year to help tourism recover from 2010’s disastrous Gulf oil spill. The money allowed seven area tourism bureaus to try promotions they could never have afforded otherwise, and it has propelled the Panhandle’s visitor counts to record numbers this year following a disastrous season right after the spill. The question now is what happens when the BP money dries up, most likely next April. The grants doubled and tripled the tourism-promotion budgets in these Panhandle counties, and officials worry the boost in visitors may prove fleeting. BP announced the $30 million tourism grants in April. While the agreement for the $30 million doesn’t prevent Florida from pursuing any future claims against BP or others, officials there decided a week later not to join other Gulf states in a lawsuit against Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig at the heart of the April 2010 spill. Florida’s tourism spending spree isn’t the first time that BP money has allowed government officials to snag items from their wish lists. Read the full story here.