FEATURED STORIES
GOP infighting shakes party
By William March
Tampa Tribune
An increasingly fractious challenge to the Republican Party from its own conservative base could relegate the party to indefinite minority status, some Republicans fear.
As 2010 race shapes up, it's gender at the fore
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Despite having a higher percentage of women than the nation as a whole, Florida has never elected a female governor.
Haridopolos the 'Energizer bunny of Florida politics'
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
Just what is a Haridopolos? "When I first ran for office back in 2000," said state Sen. Mike Haridopolos, "most people thought it was a sea turtle or a dinosaur."
Wrongful convictions raise concern
By John Frank
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related editorial: We need to know why innocent people are sent to prison
Former Florida State University president Talbot ``Sandy'' D'Alemberte filed a petition with the state Supreme Court on Friday asking for a commission to investigate wrongful convictions.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Jim Greer's job as GOP chairman still at risk
Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Key party leaders and activists are racking up votes to rescind Greer's chairmanship in January in a secret-ballot vote.
Greer's record as GOP leader divides local party officials
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Last week's vote of confidence by Florida GOP higher-ups for state Republican Chairman Jim Greer highlights disagreement among Palm Beach County's top Republican leaders.
Bill may clarify Sunshine Law questions
By Matt Dixon
Panama City News Herald
State Sen. Don Gaetz and Rep. Marti Coley said Friday they plan to file legislation to clarify how the state Sunshine Law applies to economic development groups that accept both public and private financing.
Conservative groups targets GOP rail backers
By Michael Peltier
Naples News
When lawmakers successfully passed legislation last week that could bring more commuter and high speed rail to the state, 80 Republicans climbed aboard.
Rep Alan Grayson on why Fed should be audited (audio story)
By Virginia Hoffman
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
When asked about teaming up with Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve, he said it is the kind of bipartisan solution people are looking for.
2010 RACES
Senate run puts Rubio's ties to FIU under fiscal scrutiny
By Alex Leary and Beth Reinhard
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald
Florida International University leaders were eager for one of their hometown legislators to become speaker of the House, and Marco Rubio delivered.
Crist and Rubio trade flip-flopping barbs
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Charlie Crist -- the fellow who endorsed and campaigned for President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus package before denouncing the spending and denying his stimulus endorsement -- wants to take down U.S. Senate rival Marco Rubio by casting him as a flip-flopper.
Crist tells Republicans he is 'tried and true'
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was out to cement his credentials as a conservative Republican on Sunday night, telling a GOP audience here that he is a budget-cutting conservative who believes deeply in gun owner rights.
Will Rail Legislation Help or Hurt Dockery's Campaign? (audio story)
By Margie Menzel
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
The question of whether the new commuter-rail measure will create jobs is crucial - to the state, certainly, but also to next year's candidates for office.
Women invade white male GOP stronghold
By Beth Reinhard
Miami Herald
Not so long ago, the Republican Party of Florida was fielding an all-white, all-male slate of statewide candidates in 2010.
Is Florida retirement system overrun by politics?
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
The fallout from the 2007 meltdown of Florida's Local Government Investment Pool is leaching into the political campaigns of two of the fund's trustees.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
Race enters debate over redrawing political districts
By Brandon Larrabee
Florida Times-Union
Measures aimed at keeping state lawmakers from crafting politically gerrymandered districts could become enmeshed in racial politics, with legislators questioning whether Florida could comply both with the proposed state constitutional amendments and the federal Voting Rights Act.
Amendment 4 would restore proper balance of power
By Richard T. Walker
Panama City News Herald
I believe that the citizens originally had the power to begin with, but was slowly and shrewdly usurped by our local elected officials and misused for their and the developers' gains.
Don't fall for it
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Entrenched Florida politicians and their special interest allies in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., are getting nervous about a pair of proposals that could weaken their grip on power.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE, AND SOCIAL ISSUES
New group forms to fight for gay rights
By Eileen Zaffiro
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Experts estimate 5-10 percent of the population is gay.
SCLC march calls attention to police shooting in Bradenton
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
A civil rights group marched in downtown Bradenton on Saturday to protest the Taser death of a 38-year-old man and to raise awareness of the Bradenton Police Department's "quality of life" policies.
Civil rights group, BPD chief at odds
By Robert Napper
Bradenton Herald
After a two-hour meeting the day before during which progress was pledged, tensions surfaced Saturday between local members of a national civil rights group and the Bradenton Police Department.
School prayer case: ACLU says it offered to work with Liberty Council
By Matthew Pellegrino
Northwest Forida Daily News
Seeking to avoid additional "protracted litigation" over prayer in Santa Rosa County schools, the American Civil Liberties Union made an offer three months to the pro-school prayer Liberty Counsel.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Senate Climate Roadmap Caters to Nuclear, Offshore Drilling Proponents
By Robin Bravender
New York Times
Architects of Senate energy and climate legislation reiterated their support for nuclear power and offshore drilling yesterday in an effort to garner the support of moderate Democrats and Republicans.
Snakes Alive! Senate Comte. Acts to Stop Spread of Fla. Constrictor Snakes (includes audio)
By Gina Presson
Public News Service Florida
The picture of 400-pound snakes taking over the Everglades may sound like something out of a movie, but a U.S. Senate committee spearheaded by Florida Senator Bill Nelson is taking action to prevent that picture from becoming reality.
Manatees dying at a record pace
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
A record 105 manatees died in Brevard County this year, almost twice as many as the next highest county and a quarter of the manatees to perish statewide.
Die-offs multiply as humans push '6th extinction'
By Jeff Corwin
Daytona Beach News-Journal
There is a holocaust happening. Right now. And it's not confined to one nation or even one region. It is a global crisis.
South Florida water fights resurface with dry weather
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A return to dry weather is reigniting long-smoldering South Florida water fights, worsened by new strains on backup supplies that leave less water to go around.
Area agency wants to take state's control of local growth
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
A Jacksonville-based council of local governments wants to take over the state's job of regulating development in Northeast Florida.
Body of evidence
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
The conference on climate change in Copenhagen has been somewhat tainted by the publication of hacked e-mails from scientists at the Climatic Research Unit of England's University of East Anglia.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida's push for federal rail money no sure thing
By Lesley Clark
St. Petersburg Times via Miami Herald
Related editorial: Rail bill shortsighted
Florida lawmakers invested in commuter rail this week, believing the support would help the state win a slice of federal stimulus money set aside for rail projects. But the competition is stiff.
DOT's Timing of Dockery's Documents Sparks Suspicion
By Bill Rufty
Lakeland Ledger
The leaders at the Florida Department of Transportation continue to run into trouble with the woman who could be their boss in a little more than a year.
FPL plays hardball in campaign for rate hike
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
When Florida Power & Light's chief executive visited newspaper editorial boards across the state this month as part of a public relations campaign to win support for the company's $1.3 billion rate-increase request, he vowed to ``strive for transparency in everything we do.''
Crist Happy With Rise in Home Sales
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
Ever the optimist, Gov. Charlie Crist got some good economic news last week in a roundtable discussion with real estate agents from around the state.
Bill returns that snubs consumers to favor insurers
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Once again, Florida lawmakers are waving the banner of consumer choice while pushing legislation that could jack property-insurance rates sky-high.
EDUCATION
Longer school days gaining favor in Florida
By Hannah Sampson
Miami Herald
As educators seek to turn around the nation's most struggling schools, one option has gained favor: more time in school.
A decade of Gov. Jeb Bush's One Florida has seen minority college enrollment rise
By Shannon Colavecchio
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A decade after Gov. Jeb Bush announced his controversial plan to end race-based university admissions, the number of minority students statewide has risen, according to a Times/Herald review of enrollment figures.
Being 'last in the nation' won't spark innovation
By Paul Cottle
Tallahassee Democrat
That's a shocking statement, and even more so when made by a Florida Department of Education bureau chief.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
'Fiasco' leads to DOH housecleaning
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
The physician-prosecution unit at the Florida Department of Health is undergoing a makeover to get rid of a backlog of complaints following a "fiasco" in October, top lawyers for DOH told the Board of Medicine.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
At some centers, felons watch the preschoolers
By Rebecca Catalanello
St. Petersburg Times
Dorothy Sampson-Monroe, convicted three times of felony cocaine possession, wanted to work in child care.
Law firms jockey for plum State Board of Administration job in Florida
By Sydney P. Freedberg and Connie Humburg
St. Petersburg Times
A veritable pot of gold -- untold millions upon millions of dollars in legal fees -- is up for grabs this week when the state decides which of 12 legal teams will represent Florida in securities lawsuits.
Florida judges facing up to Facebook -- it's complicated
By Mark Lane
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The miracle of Internet social networking offers people something they didn't know they needed -- new ways to mess up socially, ethically and now even legally.
Much of Scott Rothstein's Ponzi funds tied up in collection of businesses
By Jim Wyss
Miami Herald
Jailed lawyer Scott Rothstein collected companies like he collected exotic cars, fancy watches and powerful politicians.
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