Click here to subscribe for free to the best daily news roundup in Florida.

Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Monday, February 22, 2010

Daily Clips for February 19, 2010

FEATURED STORIES

Conservative crowd cheers Marco Rubio like a rock star

By Lesley Clark

Miami Herald

Marco Rubio wowed a crowd of influential conservative activists here Thursday with a call for smaller government and a stinging critique of President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.


Sansom tribunal slated to begin Monday

By Alex Leary

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau

Unable to reach a deal to avert a spectacle that could embarrass some of the state's top politicians, the Florida House plans to begin its trial of Rep. Ray Sansom next week.


Lawsuit accuses Obama administration of failing to protect Florida panther

By Craig Pittman

St. Petersburg Times

A coalition of environmental and civic groups sued the Obama administration Thursday over its refusal to declare 1.3 million acres as critical habitat for the endangered Florida panther.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

The Redistricting Blues

By Tally

Florida Politics

Watching legislative committee hearings, especially contentious ones, is sort of like going to the theater, except there's no plot and the acting's not very good.


Note to Florida Voters: throw out the vultures and speculators

By Gimleteye

Eye on Miami

It was twenty years ago in the Keys and I was a novice activist when I first heard the oldest lie in Florida to justify another development, "expanding our tax base is necessary to provide services for residents."


No Child Left Behind, FCAT, and Children from Haiti

By R.S. Pienta

Florida Progressive Coalition

Leave a Comment A teacher I met via Facebook recently vented her frustration about the No Child Left Behind policy and how it is implemented via rules about FCAT in the state of Florida.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Fla. lawmakers dining on warmed over issues

By Bill Kaczor

The Associated Press

The Florida Legislature this year will be rewarming a plate full of leftovers from past sessions.


House Panel Debates Limits to Anti-texting and Distracted Driving Laws

By Keith Laing

News Service of Florida via Lakeland Ledger

A House panel took on cell phones this week, sifting through a half-dozen bills aimed at cracking down on distracted driving.


Tighten rules to protect votes

Editorial

Daytona Beach News-Journal

Florida's elections system was crafted around local control.

POLITICAL RACES

Crist, McCain challengers woo conservatives

By Brendan Farrington

The Associated Press

Marco Rubio and J.D. Hayworth have different styles and different backgrounds and they're from opposite sides of the country.


Republican Marco Rubio is anti-Crist challenging Florida governor in Senate primary

By Dana Milbank

Washington Post

The anti-Crist came to Washington on Thursday. In the ballroom of the Marriott Wardman Park, they acted as if he were the Messiah.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Sweeping anti-abortion bill filed in House

By Gary Fineout

The Fine Print

Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights, filed a sweeping anti-abortion bill on Wednesday that bans all abortion in the state of Florida unless two doctors determine that the life of the mother is in jeopardy.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida lawmakers hear good, bad of Gulf oil drilling

By Brandon Larrabee

Florida Times-Union

Those involved in responding to offshore drilling incidents in the Gulf of Mexico told lawmakers Thursday about the steps that had been taken to minimize the impact of oil spills, as others warned that the consequences of exploring for oil in state waters might not be clear.


League of Women Voters opposes offshore, near-shore drilling

By Clara Anne Graham and Laura Miller

Ft. Myers News-Press

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.


South Florida officials, farmers lash out at EPA's tough new water pollution rules

By Andy Reid

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

South Florida farmers and local governments alike on Thursday called for federal regulators to back off tough new water pollution rules they argue would cost too much to follow.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Bill delays unemployment tax increase

By Bill Kaczor

The Associated Press

Legislation that would delay an unemployment compensation tax increase for two years is on a fast track to early passage in the Florida Legislature.


At Charlie Crist's space summit, Florida space backers told to get with Obama's program, let go of the past

By Robert Block

Orlando Sentinel

A statewide space symposium convened by Gov. Charlie Crist in Orlando on Thursday heard repeatedly from industry executives, academics and experts that Florida had to adapt to a new U.S. national space policy that favored commercial rocket companies or give up its ambitions to be a world-class launch center.


'Bribes' often needed to prevent mortgage defaults or destruction of homes

By James Thorner

St. Petersburg Times

They're resorting to bribery. Lenders and politicians won't call it that, but that's what it is.


State cracks down on five South Florida home loan rescue companies

By Diane C. Lade

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

State regulators took the first step Thursday in what they said will be an ongoing effort against unlawful mortgage modifiers, ordering several South Florida operations to immediately stop doing business.


Florida Highway Patrol hiring while others slash budgets

By C. Ron Allen and Angel Streeter

Orlando Sentinel

The Great Recession hit law enforcement hard. Police budgets were slashed; hiring of officers curtailed.

EDUCATION

FSU layoffs of tenured faculty cause a stir

By Doug Blackburn

Tallahassee Democrat

Florida State University lured Mike Wetz away from the University of North Carolina with the offer of an assistant professor position in FSU's highly regarded Department of Oceanography.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Costs up 11%; Cover FL gets rate hike

By Carol Gentry

Health News Florida

After verifying that medical costs in Florida are now 11 percent higher than last year, the state Office of Insurance Regulation has granted that level of rate increase to Blue Cross and Blue Shield's Cover Florida program.


State could add 19 'reform' counties

By Jim Saunders

Health News Florida

As health groups grow increasingly alarmed about potential budget cuts, the Agency for Health Care Administration has come up with a plan to expand Florida's controversial Medicaid-reform pilot program by up to 19 counties.


Nelson: Acreage cancer cluster deserves feds' 'full research capability'

By Paul Quinlan

Palm Beach Post

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson called on mustering the "full research capability of the federal government" to find the cause of the cancer cluster in the Acreage.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida justices explain voter petition ruling

The Associated Press

Ft. Myers News-Press

A law that let voters revoke their petition signatures would have gutted Florida's citizen initiative procedure, the state Supreme Court said Thursday in an opinion finally explaining the justices' decision to strike down the statute eight months ago.

No comments:

Post a Comment