Daily Clips for December 15, 2009

FEATURED STORIES

Crist defends DOT secretary after CFO Sink calls for resignation over 'pancake' e-mails
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The use of breakfast-related code words by the state's top transportation officials in the subject lines of e-mails dealing with rail legislation has provoked outcry among two candidates for governor, public records advocates and a tax watchdog group.

Taxpayers got taken for a ride on rail bill
By Paula Dockery
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Special interests won the day in Tallahassee last week.

Drilling won't give us what proponents promise
By Scott Maddox
Tallahassee Democrat
There are some very good reasons for Floridians to consider drilling for oil off our coast, but there are probably more reasons to reject such an idea.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Lawmakers promote themselves using taxpayer-funded mailers
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
Few members of Congress are as relentless at self-promotion as U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson.

A rail deal or a 'pancake'? Dockery takes aim over e-mails
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Innocent breakfast-food reference? Or clever trick to hide the truth?

Give more power to the Florida Commission on Ethics
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
Although we have an outfit called the "Florida Commission on Ethics," supposedly our state's public watchdog, it has limitations.

2010 RACES

In Pinellas, Gov. Crist takes aim at Rubio's conservative credentials
By Adam C. Smith and Dominick Tao
St. Petersburg Times
Charlie Crist calls himself a "happier warrior" on the campaign trail.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Alabama, Georgia, Florida governors talk water
The Associated Press
Miami Herald
The governors of Alabama, Georgia and Florida are meeting for the first time in two years to discuss a water sharing dispute that has been going on for two decades.

Kissimmee River making comeback
By Kevin Lollar
Ft. Myers News-Press
An almost day-and-night biological change met passengers last week as the pontoon boat entered the restored section of the Kissimmee River from the C-38 canal.

Navy expresses concern about proposed manatee protections
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Having defeated the Japanese fleet and faced down the Soviets, the U.S. Navy faces a new obstacle, one that hides behind a deceptively gentle, seagrass-munching facade.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Banks Under Pressure To Help Struggling Homeowners (audio story)
By Gina Jordan
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Florida is second only to Nevada in the number of foreclosures.

State jobs shrink as recession continues
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
The recession has hit state government and employees are clinging to their jobs as Florida legislators cut job rolls.

Democrats must push for financial reforms
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
It is hard to imagine the disconnect among some in Washington and on Wall Street.

EDUCATION

Federal grant may give Florida schools up to $700 million
By Patricia Mazzei and Hannah Sampson
Miami Herald
As Florida races to win up to $700 million in federal grant money, teachers unions in the state's two largest school districts are balking.

UF faculty union reaches contract agreement
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
The University of Florida's faculty union has reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, forestalling the need for impasse hearings that were scheduled to start Monday.

AP scores reveal cracks in facade
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
School principals and administrators in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties -- and throughout Florida -- boast about the rising number of high school students enrolled in college-level Advanced Placement classes.

Florida universities must do more to attract minorities
Editorial
Miami Herald
One Florida, which removed race and ethnicity from college admissions' outreach, was a monumental step for Florida a decade ago.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Senate Democrats Likely to Drop Medicare Expansion
By Carl Hulse and Robert Pear
New York Times
Senate Democratic leaders said Monday that they were prepared to drop a proposed expansion of Medicare and scrap a new government-run health insurance plan as they tried to rally their caucus in hopes of passing the bill before Christmas.

Rogue group of pain managers skirt rules
By Michael LaForgia
Palm Beach Post
The pain management business has been good to Dr. Anthony G. Rogers.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Dollars and innocence: State wastes money and lives by wrongful imprisonment
Editorial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
When James Bain entered prison, he was a slight 19-year-old; now his beard and hair are shot with gray.