FEATURED STORIES

After 'rough patch,' Crist vows to turn up heat on Rubio
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
"Man, it's been a rough patch,'' Gov. Charlie Crist said as he sat down with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board Monday.

Drilling bill would likely pass House but not Senate
By Bill Cotterell
Gannett Florida Capital Bureau
Related: Lawmakers are wary of oily beaches
Related: Real prize could lie in waters controlled by US government
Related: Oil drilling: the players
The push for the Florida Legislature to approve near-shore Gulf Coast drilling in its 2010 session is like oil exploration itself -- surveys and projections, expert opinions, test wells to take the political pulse and throwing around plenty of money in search of a gusher that ends in a positive vote.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Plan to tap transit fund helps push Florida legislators toward special session on rail
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A special lawmaking session on high-speed and commuter rail inched closer Monday as legislative leaders and the governor said they were ready to tap surplus money in the transportation budget rather than raise taxes on rental cars to help pay for the transit projects.

Crist appoints replacement for Eggelletion
By Amy Sherman
Miami Herald
Al Jones, who was born in a black-only hospital and grew up at a time when the idea of a powerful black politician was a dream, was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist Monday to fill the spot of suspended Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion.

2010 RACES

In Broward, Crist hits back at Rubio
By Adam Smith and Beth Reinhard
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times
In a widely anticipated speech to the Broward Republican Party, Gov. Charlie Crist sought to regain momentum in the U.S. Senate race Monday by portraying his surging Republican competitor as all talk and no action.

Democrat wants ag commissioner race to address oil drilling
By Catherine Dolinski
Tampa Tribune
Related: Ag commissioner candidate wants conservatism to be issue in race
Democrat Scott Maddox said today that he wants to make the debate over offshore oil drilling a major issue in his 2010 race for the office of state agriculture commissioner.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Anti-Islam shirts draw suit
By Harriet Daniels
Gainesville Sun
The American Civil Liberties Union has sued a central Florida school district. The lawsuit claims the Alachua County School District violated students' rights by not allowing them to wear T-shirts with an anti-Islamic message.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Southwest Florida's tourism industry OK with rigs, just not close to beach
By Laura Ruane
Ft. Myers News-Press
Southwest Florida's lifeblood tourism industry, which promotes itself as the "Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel," has mixed views about offshore drilling.

Manatee Deaths on Pace to Break Record
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
2009 is on track to be the deadliest year for Florida manatees, with an estimated 4-hundred deaths so far.

Florida CFO Sink announces "paperless" initiative
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Florida CFO Alex Sink says her department's efforts to reduce the use of paper and printing have saved state taxpayers $1 million since 2007

Toward clean water
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
A federal judge was right to step in last week and clear the way for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to establish limits on pollution in Florida's lakes, rivers and bays.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Insurers reducing, eliminating discounts for storm fortifications
By Beatrice Garcia
Miami Herald
If you got a discount from your windstorm insurance company for installing shutters and other hurricane protections on your home, you might soon have to give some or all of it back.

October home sales booming in Southwest Florida, state, U.S.
By Laura Layden
Naples News
Home sales surged for the second month in a row in October, climbing to the highest level in 2½ years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of what they thought was an expiring tax credit.

Florida's jobless tax system broke and broken
Editorial
Bradenton Herald
The Florida Legislature's short-sighted and tax-reluctant ways continue to undermine progress in the state, this time because of a historically underfunded and now bankrupt Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund.

EDUCATION

Senate looking at class-size change
By John Kennedy
News Service of Florida via Northwest Florida Daily News
The Florida Senate, which steadily has resisted any attempt to overturn or soften state class-size restrictions, is looking more ready to deal.

Culture of failure
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
There are plenty of reasons to question hinging the success of public education on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

GOP Sen. LeMieux says Democratic health care legislation will probably pass
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
barely clearing its first procedural hurdle in the Senate on Saturday night, Democratic health care overhaul legislation probably will pass and leave a system that's "bad for America," Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux told a business group this morning.

Crist: Democratic health care plans must be stopped
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday sharply criticized efforts by President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Feds find association between drywall, corrosion
By Brian Skoloff
The Associated Press
The federal government said Monday that it has found a "strong association" between problematic imported Chinese drywall and corrosion of pipes and wires, a conclusion that supports complaints by thousands of homeowners over the last year.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Feds: Scott Rothstein Ponzi scheme paid salaries at law firm
By Jay Weaver and Scott Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Attorney Scott Rothstein tapped into millions of dollars from his massive investment scam to cover payroll costs at his expanding Fort Lauderdale law firm, federal authorities said in court records released Monday.

Feds seizing even more Rothstein assets
By Paula McMahon, Sally Kestin and Peter Franceschina
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Attorney Scott Rothstein had his fingers - and maybe his toes too - in a lot more business pies than was evident when the $1 billion Ponzi scandal surrounding him first broke three weeks ago, according to new documents filed in federal court Monday.