Daily Clips for November 18, 2009

FEATURED STORIES

Crist taking off gloves earlier than expected
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Faced with an onslaught of bad news for his U.S. Senate campaign, Gov. Charlie Crist is starting to fight back.

Lawsuit claims Florida is failing its schools, wants new education plan
By Ron Matus
St. Petersburg Times
Florida is violating the state Constitution by not pouring enough money into schools and relentlessly focusing on high-stakes testing policies that aren't getting good results, says a lawsuit expected to be filed today in Leon County circuit court.

CFO Questions Gay Adoption Ban
By Whitney Ray
Capital News Service
In Florida gay and lesbian couples can be foster parents, but there's a state law keeping them from adopting. That law is being tested in court, and as Whitney Ray tells us, the gay adopting ban is now becoming a hot button issue in the governor's race.

Health-care bill offers peace of mind
By Alan Grayson
Orlando Sentinel
The U.S. House of Representatives has acted to end a national tragedy.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Crist hopeful about special session
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday he is "hopefully optimistic" about having a special legislative session in December or January on high-speed and commuter rail projects.

Florida juvenile justice leader racks up flight expenses
By Steve Bousquet and Lee Logan
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
At a time when state employees face travel restrictions to save money, Florida's top juvenile justice official racked up $44,000 on travel -- much of it for commercial flights between his office in the capital and St. Petersburg, where his family lives.

Politicians Still Cashing in on Free Trips
By Amy Keller
Florida Trend
In 2007, after a scandal involving Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff revealed how lobbyists were using lavish trips to curry favor and buy face time with lawmakers, Congress enacted stricter rules governing privately funded travel.

Crist calls for ban on texting while driving
By Josh Hafenbrack
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday endorsed a statewide ban on texting while driving, joining a growing chorus trying to curb the risky practice popular among generations glued to their BlackBerrys and iPhones.

Under the Gunster
By Art Levy
Florida Trend
When Gov. Charlie Crist tapped his trusted friend George LeMieux to replace U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, he also nudged the Gunster law firm out of its comfort zone.

2010 RACES

Attorney General Candidates: Field of Dreamers
By Amy Keller
Florida Trend
Gov. Charlie Crist set off statewide political jostling that opened up every Cabinet post earlier this year when he announced his decision to run for the U.S. Senate.

Rubio renews calls for debates, Crist camp begins push-back in GOP Senate primary
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, who's getting lots of national conservative love but trailing in money-raising and name-recognition to Gov. Charlie Crist in their GOP Senate primary race, has renewed his call for a series of debates.

Rubio draws cheers and checks at Stuart luncheon
By Jim Turner
TC Palm
Former state House speaker Marco Rubio didn't disappoint enthusiastic supporters here Tuesday when he brought his campaign challenging Gov. Charlie Crist as the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate to a local hotel dining room.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Hometown Democracy: Pols fear power of the people
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
You know who really scares Buddy Dyer and the rest of the folks down at Orlando City Hall?

Full speed backward on growth management
By Robert M. Weintraub
Gainesville Sun
In 1985, Governor Graham's administration placed an important legal framework in place in Florida to control rampant, undisciplined growth that threatened wetlands, induced traffic congestion, and promoted random sprawl.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Transgender vote may draw crowd
By Christian M. Wade
Tampa Tribune
The city council's decision two weeks ago to extend Tampa's anti-discrimination laws to include transgender individuals was a move long overdue, its supporters say.

Broward County swears in first openly gay mayor
By Laura Figueroa
Miami Herald
Ken Keechl, 47, was sworn in Tuesday as Broward County's first openly gay mayor.

Not good enough
Editorial
Florida Today
At last, one of the Sunshine State's elected leaders is standing up against the cruel hypocrisy of Florida's ban on gay adoption.

Protect Tampa's transgendered
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
The days of denying a person a job, housing or even service in a restaurant solely on the basis of bigotry are not entirely gone.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Cabinet approves land-buying bonds, Keys oversight
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet today approved a resolution issuing $250 million in bonds for buying conservation lands, representing the last money approved by the Legislature for the program.

Releasing two captive manatees stirs controversy in Homossasa Springs
By Barbara Behrendt
St. Petersburg Times
When Amanda is hungry, she rolls onto her back and makes a coy little flipper gesture toward her mouth.

Half-inch crack found inside containment wall while Crystal River nuclear plant closed for maintenance
By Richard Danielson
St. Petersburg Times
Progress Energy and federal officials continue to investigate the cause of a half-inch-wide crack recently found inside a containment wall at the Crystal River nuclear plant.

Consumer advocate, FPL make last argument in rate-hike battle
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Customers of Florida Power & Light deserve a rate decrease, not an increase, because the company's request for a $1.3 billion annual hike is ``a conglomeration of extreme positions and excessive demands,'' Florida's consumer advocate argued in a final brief filed Monday with state regulators.

Whooping cranes make annual journey to Fla.
The Associated Press
Miami Herald
A group of whooping cranes is making its way from Wisconsin to Florida for the winter.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida lawmakers weigh end of stimulus money
By Brandon Larrabee
Florida Times-Union
As lawmakers grapple with a shortfall for the coming fiscal year that could total as much as $2.7 billion, there's another financial headache looming on the horizon: The pending expiration of the federal stimulus money that the state used to patch holes in its $66.5 billion spending plan for the current spending year.

SunRail hits new snag -- how to pay for TriRail
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida lawmakers' efforts to rush through legislation authorizing the SunRail commuter train in a special lawmaking session next month may have hit a new snag -- convincing federal transportation officials the state can pay for its end of the deal.

Fla. unemployment tax to skyrocket
The Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Unemployment compensation taxes paid by Florida businesses will skyrocket next year due to the state's high jobless rate -- 11 percent in September.

EDUCATION

In new exam, a sign of FCATs on the wane
By Christopher O'Donnell
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Some Florida students will take math tests this year that state officials say will likely replace the math and science FCAT for high school students.

Hundreds protest for Broward teacher raises
By Kathy Bushouse
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Come January, Denise Elbaum will pay another $200 a month for health insurance for her two daughters.

Seminole college president retiring for month to 'double dip' -- will get $390K pension payment
By Luis Zaragoza
Orlando Sentinel
Seminole State College President E. Ann McGee is retiring next month, but hang on to that congratulatory card.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

If conservatives ran healthcare . . .
By Maggie Mahar
Miami Herald
If you're a progressive like me, and you're upset by the Stupak amendment, which bars federally subsidized insurance from covering abortions, consider this: What if we had a single-payer health-care system and someone like Jeb Bush or Sarah Palin were running the country?

Lobbying for prayer insurance
By Ruth Morris
Health News Florida
Little noticed in the noisy healthcare debate, Robert Clark of Belleair has been criss-crossing the state, meeting with lawmakers and other government officials, as part of a growing campaign by the Christian Science Church seeking coverage for prayer treatments.

Experts criticize new advice on mammograms
By Judith Graham
Miami Herald
In a highly controversial move, an influential government-sponsored organization is recommending against routine annual mammograms for healthy women in their 40s.

Nation Gets a "D", Florida Receives "F" on March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card
From the March of Dimes
WCTV CBS News Tallahassee
For the second consecutive year, Florida earned a "F" on the second annual March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Scott Rothstein Ponzi case turns to raids on banks
By Jay Weaver, Scott Hiaasen and Amy Sherman
Miami Herald
Perched in his bunker-like Fort Lauderdale office, attorney Scott Rothstein raided hundreds of millions of dollars from the trust accounts of more than 20 investment groups with a few keystrokes on his computer -- all within the last three months, according to court records and sources familiar with an FBI investigation.

Rothstein asks to voluntarily give up law license
By Sally Kestin, Paula McMahon and Peter Franceschina
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein has asked to voluntarily surrender his license to practice law, the latest fallout of his alleged $1 billion Ponzi scheme.