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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Daily Clips for February 17, 2010

FEATURED STORIES

Sink wants to thin state's bureaucratic herd

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Tuesday Florida government is top-heavy with boss bureaucrats and proposed a plan for thinning the herd through management attrition.


Sansom loses rulings by chairman in House inquiry

By Alex Leary

St. Petersburg Times

State Rep. Ray Sansom's attempt to have a fellow lawmaker removed from a panel investigating his ties to a state college has failed, and Sansom's defense was handed two other setbacks late Tuesday.


Investigation of Florida GOP finances needed

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

Florida Republican leaders are struggling to contain a brewing scandal within the state party by shifting money and dodging questions.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Bill to reform PSC ethics earns quick endorsement

By Steve Bousquet

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

A bill to raise ethical standards at the Public Service Commission sailed through the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, clearing the way for Senate floor debate as early as the first week of the 2010 session next month.


House panel OKs McCollum bill

Staff Report

Pensacola News Journal

Attorney General Bill McCollum today released the following statement after his top legislative priority, the Transparency in Private Attorney Contracting Act, received a favorable recommendation from the House Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Council, chaired by Rep. Will Snyder.


Bushes in Naples: George W. and Jeb show personal side in appearance

By Laura Layden

Naples News

The Bush brothers packed the house at the Naples Grande Beach Resort.


Tea party to protest Republicans

By Jeremy Wallace

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was still at a summit with tea party activists in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, when people connected to the movement hatched plans to protest his arrival in Charlotte County for meetings with top Republican fundraisers later this week.


Court to decide public's right to speak, be heard

By Jim Ash

Tallahassee Democrat

A Tallahassee appellate court will soon weigh in on whether Florida's Sunshine Law gives citizens the right to be participants, not merely spectators, in government meetings.


GOP scandal

Editorial

Orlando Sentinel

Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer is being forced out amid revelations of luxury spending and a secret contract that led to his executive director making more than $400,000 in 2009.

POLITICAL RACES

Democrats' Chance to Win in Florida in 2010

By Sergio Bendixen

The Huffington Post

Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart's announcement on Thursday that he would not seek re-election this November set off one of the rarest games of musical chairs in American politics.


Sink-McCollum smackdown, Part II

By Dara Kam

Palm Beach Post

The gubernatorial campaign fur continues to fly in the battle between Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum, this time over what is a tax "cut" and whether they're good or bad for businesses.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Florida Senate panel approves class size amendment

By Brandon Larrabee

Florida Times-Union

An effort to overhaul the state's constitutional limit on class sizes passed its first legislative hurdle Tuesday, with a Senate panel approving the measure over the objections of a teachers' union and the committee's lone Democrat.


FEA President Andy Ford: Don't Change Class Size Limits

By Scott Finn

WUSF Public Radio Tampa

Some lawmakers want to take a second look at the constitutional amendment that limits class size in schools.


Drawing District Lines

By James Call

WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee

This November's election will determine who controls redistricting. Usually, the party with a majority of the members in the Legislature has the upper hand in the once-a-decade political chore of designing districts for Legislative and Congressional seats.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Springs rally at Capitol attracts about 400

By Bruce Ritchie

FloridaEnvironments.com

The upcoming legislative session will be crucial to winning passage of springs legislation, speakers on Tuesday told a crowd of more than 400 at a springs rally outside the state Capitol.


Cold is killing manatees in unprecedented numbers

By Craig Pittman and Barbara Behrendt

St. Petersburg Times

So many manatees are turning up stressed from the extreme cold temperatures this winter that it's putting a strain on the statewide system for caring for the injured marine mammals.


Farmers and industry groups blast EPA proposal

By Bruce Ritchie

FloridaEnvironments.com

Farmer Rod Land of Lafayette County on Tuesday told federal officials at a hearing in Tallahassee that he is a fifth generation farmer and may be the last in his family if proposed a proposed federal water rule is adopted.


Plastic or paper or neither? Florida lawmakers may weigh in

By John Frank

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

A much-anticipated report from state environmental regulators may spur Florida lawmakers to consider a ban on plastic retail bags.


JEA plan to tap nuclear power moves forward

By David Hunt

Florida Times-Union

The U.S. Energy Department is backing up to $8.3 billion in loans to expand a Georgia nuclear plant, a project that will eventually provide JEA with 5 percent of its power.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Stimulus money may bring 650 local jobs

By Anthony Clark

Gainesville Sun

As many as 650 jobs from entry level to professional could become available soon for job seekers eligible for federal cash assistance, with 62 local employers receiving preliminary approval for $15 million in stimulus money.


Posey: Almost nobody better off because of stimulus

By Jim Turner

TC Palm

U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, told a group of business people Tuesday that almost nobody in America is better off than they were a year ago when the Democrats approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.


Hispanics hit hard by foreclosure

By Duane Marsteller

Bradenton Herald

Losing their home to foreclosure was only the beginning of the Nogales family's troubles.


Florida growers group changes stance on tomato pickers' pay

By Amy Bennett Williams

Ft. Myers News-Press

In a major reversal, a powerful Florida agricultural group will now let its tomato-grower members distribute to workers extra wages contributed by buyers such as grocers and fast-food companies.


Supermarkets must take stand against slave conditions for tomato pickers

By Raj Patel

St. Petersburg Times

The gavel came down, the auction ended, and the winners carted their new purchases home. The bidders had walked the market, seen the wares, placed their offers and the highest bid won.


Share A Little Sunshine

By Trimmel Gomes

WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee

Florida's tourism officials are asking for your help in boosting Florida's number one industry.

EDUCATION

Seminole schools brace for more cuts

By Dave Weber

Orlando Sentinel

Cash-strapped Seminole County public schools are bracing for more budget cuts over the next two years, and officials say that continuing reductions in spending are pushing the district's highly rated schools to a "tipping point" where they may head downhill.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Health rankings rate Central Florida counties

By Fernando Quintero

Orlando Sentinel

If you want to live longer, Seminole County is the place to be. If you want to avoid bad air quality and unhealthy food, stay away from Orange County.


Over-billing: just FL culture?

By Cynthia Washam

Health News Florida

Brevard County's largest medical group and the U.S. Justice Department are close to settling the investigation of a complaint that the group's cancer center overbilled Medicare by more than $8 million, attorneys for both sides say.


Feds award $8.5 million for South Florida electronic medical records network

By Bob LaMendola

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

A nonprofit group won $8.5 million in federal stimulus money Monday to help South Florida physicians start the complex process of converting paper files to electronic medical records.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Fla. executes 45-year-old inmate for 1984 slaying

By Sarah Larimer

The Associated Press

Florida has executed 45-year-old Martin Edward Grossman, who was convicted of killing a state wildlife officer during the 1980s.


Wrongfully convicted Broward man to be compensated by the state

By Diana Moskovitz

Miami Herald

Convicted of a robbery he didn't commit, Leroy McGee's life consists of two parts: before prison and after prison.

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