EXCERPTS:
"Not a drop of oil from the Gulf spill washed ashore at Tradewinds Island Resorts on Florida's St. Pete Beach, yet the company is seeking as much as $1 million in compensation for lost profits from the $20 billion fund set up by BP PLC.
The sprawling resort's proprietors say fear of soiled beaches scared away vacationers.
A fierce debate over the value of bad publicity is now roiling political and legal circles in Florida. Hoteliers and state officials say jitters over the spill have cost them billions of dollars in tourism revenue, even though the bulk of the state's Gulf Coast beaches haven't suffered direct hits from the Gulf oil spill.
