FEATURED STORIES
By Beth Reinhard and Scott Hiaasen
U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio charged grocery bills, repairs to the family minivan and purchases from a wine store less than a mile from his West Miami home to the Republican Party of Florida while he was speaker of the Florida House, according to records obtained by the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald.
By Brendan Farrington
Senate candidate and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio released a torrid letter Wednesday accusing Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign of leaking Rubio's state Republican Party American Express statements showing nearly $110,000 in charges over 25 months.
By Steve Bousquet and Alex Leary
Former House Speaker Ray Sansom, whose free fall from power ended with his resignation Sunday, vigorously defended himself in a letter to his former colleagues Wednesday and cast himself a victim of partisan politics.
By Louis Jacobson
The 2010 Florida gubernatorial campaign intensified this week, as allies of Republican Bill McCollum and Democrat Alex Sink exchanged television ads designed to highlight aspects of their rivals' records that voters might not be happy with.
By Amy Keller
Florida lawmakers will face a multitude of challenges when they return to Tallahassee in March.
FLORIDA POLITICS
By Bill Kaczor
The Florida Legislature this year will be rewarming a plate full of leftovers from past sessions.
By Bill Cotterell
When newly elected members held their organizational session in 2008, House Speaker Ray Sansom gave them some advice about keeping in touch with the people who elected them.
By John Frank
Speaker-designate Dean Cannon's transfer of $655,000 from the Republican Party of Florida to his political committee constitutes the acknowledgment of a "leadership fund," according to an elections complaint filed Wednesday.
By Brent Batten
In spite of warnings from an Orlando lawyer who has registered the name "Florida Tea Party" with the state Division of Elections, Naples Tea Party organizers say they will continue to use the name, which they say belongs to history more than politics.
POLITICAL RACES
By Adam C. Smith and Constance Humburg
Charlie Crist leaves no doubt he intends to spend a lot of money telling Florida Republicans that Marco Rubio is not all he says he is.
By Steve Bousquet
Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday responded to remarks by former Gov. Jeb Bush that it was "unforgivable" for Crist to embrace President Obama's economic stimulus package.
By Ron Hurtibise
Crist Leave it to Florida to offer a funhouse-mirror U.S. Senate race.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
By Gary Fineout
A sweeping illegal immigration measure filed by Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, could have the dubious distinction of being the legislation least likely to pass for the 2010 session.
By Juliana A. Torres
Church leaders and parishioners lined the sidewalk in front of Kissimmee City Hall Tuesday night, protesting an impending policy decision for the city that could allow its employees to purchase health insurance for their domestic partners.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
By Tony Plakas
The unctuous Sarah Palin recently surfaced in Florida on a national tour like an unwanted oil spill, spewing her slippery nonsense to thousands of race fans at the Daytona International Speedway.
By Michael C. Bender and Paul Quinlan
Environmentalists who favor Gov. Charlie Crist's monumental Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. saw the odds of success improve Wednesday, when Crist named two allies and re-appointed a third to the board of the South Florida Water Management District, in advance of another crucial vote on the half-billion-dollar purchase.
By Bruce Ritchie
Rep. Dave Murzin on Wednesday told a Florida Chamber of Commerce audience that he still wants Florida Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham to leave state government.
By Ludmilla Lelis
Still reeling from a federal ban on fishing for red snapper, Central Florida captains and fishermen joined more than 2,000 people at the United We Fish rally today in Washington, D.C., protesting afederal law that they say is destroying jobs and the fishing industry along Florida's east coast.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
By Jim Ash
Questioning thousands of unanticipated claims that continue to pour in from the 2005 hurricane season, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet refused Wednesday to authorize a $710 million bond issue that would have forced an across-the-board charge on top of all insurance premiums.
By Mark K. Matthews
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Wednesday that the agency's "ultimate" ambition is to send astronauts to Mars, a statement aimed at quelling congressional criticism that the new White House vision for NASA lacks long-range goals.
By Julie Patel
Edsel Hulse, a veteran who lives in Hollywood, said he's expecting his Citizens Property Insurance Corp. windstorm insurance policy premium to increase this year because state legislators in 2009 approved allowing the insurer to boost premiums by up to 10 percent annually.
EDUCATION
By Christine Armario
Measures to ease class-size amendment requirements, replace the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test with end of course examinations and require teachers in the state's pre-kindergarten program to hold a bachelor's degree are all up for consideration as the Legislature goes into session next week.
By Iricka Berlinger
A handful of school superintendents met Wednesday with local legislators and shared their concerns about their individual school districts.
By Linda Trimble
Ethan Crossland's face lit up with a big grin as soon as he spotted his mom, Kim, after a busy morning of playing and learning in his prekindergarten class at Little Feet Academy in Ormond Beach.
By Denise-Marie Balona
More Floridians need to earn college degrees to help the state recover economically, according to a study released on Wednesday.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
By Bill Thompson
Abortion providers, people who assist them, and operators of clinics where abortions occur could receive long prison sentences under a new bill that mandates a wide-ranging state ban on the procedure.
By News Service of Florida
The U.S. Senate's $15 billion jobs bill passed today without the $1.2 billion Gov. Charlie Crist counted on to patch a hole in state Medicaid spending.
By Michele Sager
Cell phone tower opponents might get some political help in their fight against new structures.
Editorial
Today is a pivotal moment in the debate over health care reform as President Barack Obama hosts a bipartisan, televised summit and finally pushes his own proposal.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
By Bill Cotterell
Florida has about 1,100 criminal gangs with nearly 49,000 members, Attorney General Bill McCollum said Wednesday.
