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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Monday, January 25, 2010

Daily Clips for January 25, 2010

FEATURED STORIES

Anti-gerrymandering amendments make the ballot

By Aaron Deslatte

Orlando Sentinel

Two constitutional amendments that could literally re-shape the face of Florida politics by taking away the Legislature's power to gerrymander political districts have crossed the finish line to make the November ballot.


Florida unemployment hits 11.8%; shrinking labor pool masks deeper problem

By Jeff Harrington

St. Petersburg Times

Related AP story: Report: Stimulus saves, creates 87,700 Fla. jobs

Florida's unemployment rate for December hit 11.8 percent, inching closer to breaking the state record of 11.9 percent set nearly 35 years ago.


Will Obama bring billions for Florida trains?

By Zac Anderson

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

One of the largest transportation projects in Florida history could launch next week, with President Obama expected to announce up to $2.6 billion for a high-speed rail system during a visit to the Tampa area.


A Scott Brown replay may not be easy in Florida

Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Republicans throughout the country have lots of reason for optimism after the bombshell upset that made Scott Brown senator-elect in Massachusetts.


In Democratic race for attorney general, candidates offer contrast in style, experience

By Steve Bousquet

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

At first glance, they seem alike: Both men are politically ambitious lawyers and state senators from South Florida.


24 states' laws open to attack after campaign finance ruling

By Ian Urbina

Gainesville Sun via The New York Times

Related editorial: The golden rule

A day after the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government may not ban political spending by corporations or unions in candidate elections, officials across the country were rushing to cope with the fallout, as laws in 24 states were directly or indirectly called into question by the ruling.


FLORIDA POLITICS

Election ruling tracks Fla. law

By William March

Tampa Tribune

Under Florida law, you can contribute a maximum of $500 to your candidate for governor.


Florida legislators face tough choices in a budget-crunching year

By Josh Hafenbrack

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Florida's lawmakers will gather at the budget-battered capital this year to confront a financial mess - but even so, they vow not to raise taxes.


Meandering legislative districts to be redrawn after Census taken

By Jim Turner

TC Palm

Gators and bass can't vote. At least not legally.


Sansom hearing delayed

By Steve Bousquet

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau

Ousted House Speaker Ray Sansom got more time Friday to find a new lawyer as he defends himself against charges he damaged the Legislature's integrity.


GOP has holes to fill after Greer debacle

By Jane Healy

Orlando Sentinel

With the ouster of Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer this month, state Republicans have found themselves with a host of big problems to overcome in this election year. But can they do it?


Legal dispute erupts over Florida `Tea party' name

By Beth Reinhard,

Miami Herald

What's in a name? Only the true identity of a grass roots movement, says a federal lawsuit filed by a handful of tea party activists against the founders of Florida's new political party by the same name.


POLITICAL RACES

Victory by one state senator inspires another

By Lloyd Dunkelberger

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Paula Dockery found more than a little political inspiration in Scott Brown's upset victory in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race this week.


McCollum's Campaign War Chest Dwarfs Dockery's

By Bill Rufty

Lakeland Ledger

State Sen. Paula Dockery has said she doesn't need as much money as her Republican primary opponent for governor, State Attorney General Bill McCollum.


Florida Senate race comes down to independents

By Myriam Marquez

Miami Herald

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio is salivating at Scott Brown's U.S. Senate victory in Massachusetts, as he should.


Rubio may benefit from high court decision

By Jeremy Wallace

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

A U.S. Supreme Court decision is adding more tinder to the hottest political race in Florida.


FSU TV station says Crist can't use Rubio clip on campaign site

By Steve Bousquet

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Gov. Charlie Crist's use of a video of U.S. Senate rival Marco Rubio prompted a state-run TV station to accuse Crist of a copyright law violation, and the video of Rubio has vanished from Crist's campaign Web site.


District 58 primaries uncertain, expensive

By Kathy Steele

Tampa Tribune

There are no obvious frontrunners in special Democratic and Republican primary elections for the state House District 58 seat.


Another candidate emerges in race for U.S. Rep. Nick Thompson's seat

By Betty Parker

Ft. Myers News-Press

Another candidate for the state House District 73 seat now held by Rep. Nick Thompson, R-Fort Myers -- who's running instead for a circuit judge post -- is in the wings: John Schultz, a Florida Highway Patrol officer who does security for Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp.


When it comes to money, not all politics is local

By Matt Dixon

Panama City News Herald

Each election cycle, as candidates get their political messaging machines revved up, one theme often resonates loudest.


BALLOT INITIATIVES

Brace for an ad blitz over Florida growth amendment

By Aaron Deslatte

Orlando Sentinel

Get ready for a Super Bowl-like showcase of corporate-sponsored political advertising in the fall elections.


2 redistricting amendments go on Fla. ballot

By Bill Kaczor

The Associated Press

Related: 6 amendments will be on Florida's 2010 ballot

Two proposed state constitutional amendments designed to prevent gerrymandering when the Legislature redistricts its seats as well as Florida's congressional seats will be on the November ballot.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE, AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Bill McCollum's gay-rights clock stuck in 1977

By Frank Cerabino

Palm Beach Post

I'm pretty confident that Bill McCollum is for gay adoption. Just not this year. Or anytime soon.


Roe vs. health care reform

By Staci Fox

Tallahassee Democrat

In January 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution protects the right of a woman to choose whether to continue a pregnancy to term or to have an abortion.


ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Crist pushes to restore funding for Florida Forever

By Betty Parker

Tallahassee Democrat

With mangrove-shaded waterways as a backdrop and plenty of bright sun overhead, Gov. Charlie Crist used the opening of new visitor facilities at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Preserve on Friday to announce his push for new environmental funding in next year's state budget.


Crist budget includes land-buying, Everglades restoration

By Bruce Ritchie

FloridaEnvironments.com

Gov. Charlie Crist today included $50 million for the Florida Forever land-buying program and $50 million for Everglades restoration in a $2.1-billion fiscal year 2010-11 environmental budget request.


Will federal pollution rules wash out local water plans?

By Kevin Spear

Orlando Sentinel

The perilous road to the state's water future swerves through Central Florida this week when separate groups look to unify the region to share water, clean up iconic Wekiwa Springs and draft a far-reaching water bill for this year's Legislature.


St. Johns challenge: Fix wetlands but respect graves

By Kevin Spear

Orlando Sentinel

Local tribes began burying their dead along this part of the St. Johns River about 7,000 years ago, and for several millennia left behind animal bones, clam shells, broken pottery, tools and arrowheads.


Private land to be set aside for panthers

The Associated Press

Palm Beach Post

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved the conservation of a 4,000-acre chunk of private land for Florida panther habitat.


Will longleaf pines help economy and environment in warmer future? (audio story)

By Sean Kinane

WMNF Community Radio Tampa

A new report from the National Wildlife Federation finds that a common Florida tree holds ecological and economic promise in a warmer future.


Fat Tires in the Everglades

By Alan Farago

Counterpunch

It was a gamble what time to leave Coral Gables. I would either make the meeting on the other side of the state or waste the day missing it.


JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida's jobless rate creeps toward 12 percent

By Jim Stratton

Orlando Sentinel

Florida's unemployment rate climbed to 11.8 percent in December, the highest level in almost 35 years and up three-tenths of a point from a month earlier.


Obama's visit brings hope for rail money

By Alex Leary

St. Petersburg Times

President Barack Obama will arrive in the Tampa Bay area Thursday with a renewed focus on the struggling economy, and many hope he'll bring news that Florida will get $2.5 billion for a high-speed rail line from Orlando to Tampa.


Amtrak threatens to stop Central Florida service

By John Frank and Marc Caputo

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau

A game of chicken between Amtrak and the state could jeopardize one of Gov. Charlie Crist's legacies: Central Florida commuter rail.


Florida business owners warn about consequences of unemployment compensation tax increase

By Jim Ash

Ft. Myers News-Press

With Florida's unemployment rate inching toward historic highs, and the state fund for laid off workers already broke, businesses are warning that a massive unemployment compensation tax hike in April will only lead to more layoffs.


Credit key to rebound, CFO says

By Don Ruane

Ft. Myers News-Press

Small businesses in Lehigh Acres and around the state need access to credit to jump-start investment and build for the future, Florida's chief financial officer said Saturday.


Freeze that killed crops leading to hiring freeze for farmworkers

By Laura Layden and Tracy X. Miguel

Naples News

Alfredo Ladra Trejo only worked one day last week picking tomatoes in Immokalee.


War on drugs: Time for Florida to legalize and tax marijuana

By Kingsley Guy

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Florida lawmakers face a daunting task in the upcoming legislative session: They must close a budget gap that could reach $2.4 billion.


EDUCATION

State may make graduating harder

By Gary Fineout

Ocala Star-Banner

This year could bring some of the most substantive changes to Florida schools in more than a decade.


Crist to present education budget recommendations

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

Gov. Charlie Crist plans to announce his 2010 education budget recommendations during a visit to a St. Petersburg elementary school.


Why teachers, districts clash over merit pay

By Leslie Postal

Orlando Sentinel

Rebecca Pittard is an accomplished teacher who was honored this month with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.


Young mentors guide at-risk students

By Kathleen McGrory

Miami Herald

When Oriana Manhertz needs help with her homework, or a positive role model to chat with, she looks for somebody in a red jacket.


Florida Prepaid College Plans

By Whitney Ray

Capitol News Service

Time is running out for parents who want to lock in today's college tuition rates.


Study abroad programs never more popular, or harder to finance

By Julia Cardenuto

Miami Herald via South Florida News Service

Paula Garcia, 23, from Kendall, does not know how she will come up with up to $4,000 to study abroad in Italy during the summer.


On school reform, just talk won't do

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

When business groups talk about reforming education, they need to explain how they would pay for it. Otherwise, they're just all talk.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida's home care for elderly jeopardized by budget cuts

By Stephen Nohlgren

St. Petersburg Times

Yellow and savory, the pureed pot roast and veggies that Janet Williams spoons into her husband's mouth is helping save Florida thousands of dollars a month.


Medicaid draining state's wallet

By Jim Saunders

Daytona Beach News-Journal

Put aside the furor about national health care reform. Florida leaders have a more immediate problem.


State could save by axing HMOs

By Christine Jordan Sexton

Health News Florida

Florida could save more than $118 million if it removed HMOs as one of the health care options offered to state employees, according to a consultant's report commissioned by the state agency that oversees health insurance for state workers and their families.


House inks $105k contract to study managed care in Florida

By Christine Jordan Sexton

The Fine Print

A consulting group that lists WellCare Health Plans in Tampa as one of its clients has signed a $105,000 contract with the Florida House to conduct a study on Florida's managed care delivery system including its penetration in the market and whether providers participate in the system.


Counties not exempt in reform bill

By Carole Fader

Florida Times-Union

Did Sen. Bill Nelson surreptitiously put a provision into the health care reform bill that exempts only three counties in Florida from Medicare Advantage cuts?


McCollum misfires on health care mandate

Editorial

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum insists that his threat to file a lawsuit to stop federal health care reform is not about "politics." There is a great way for McCollum to demonstrate that -- by dropping his plans to engage in a politically charged lawsuit.


JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Scott Rothstein leaves a lasting legacy of ruin

By Amy Sherman and Jay Weaver

Miami Herald

Related: In Fort Lauderdale, Scott Rothstein's items go to the highest bidder

Scott Rothstein will have his day of reckoning Wednesday, when he pleads guilty to the biggest investment racket in South Florida history.


Cameras in the courtroom? State by state the debate rages on

By Rich McKay

Orlando Sentinel

Our Americans lives are increasingly captured by a camera, whether on a traffic light camera looking for red-light scofflaws, the one staring back at you at an ATM or bank teller's counter, or a cell phone or iPod camera carried by almost any school kid.


High court overreaches

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

An activist U.S. Supreme Court overreached Thursday with its 5-4 opinion that lifted a decades-old ban on corporations directly spending money to support or oppose federal candidates.


High court's overreach

Editorial

Daytona Beach News-Journal

Ten years ago, the United States Supreme Court cast five votes to decide the 2000 presidential election. On Thursday, the court cast five votes that could decide every election from here on at federal, state and local levels.

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