PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
By William Gibson
Excerpt: "As this latest Gulf oil spill tragically illustrates, it's not a matter of if but when such a spill will happen along Florida's coast if Dean Cannon gets his way," said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida and a long-time opponent of offshore drilling.
By Ron Cunningham
Excerpt: "Introducing a bill to allow oil drilling in our near shore waters in the midst of Louisiana's ongoing oil spill clean-up is a twisted bit of irony that should be lost on no one...," says Mark Ferrulo, director of the anti-drilling group Progress Florida.
By Bruce Ritchie
Environmentalists are pointing to an oil spill this week in Louisiana as evidence the state and federal governments should not allow more offshore oil drilling.
FEATURED STORIES
By Steve Bousquet
Related: Teachers and allies keep up the pressure for a veto of education bill
Related editorial: Crist should veto teacher tenure bill
House GOP leaders resurrect challenge to health care
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida House leaders lived big on GOP plastic
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
For Florida House leaders, membership had its privileges: a Republican Party American Express card to charge trips on jets to Manhattan and Disney World, stays at chic hotels and meals at five-star restaurants.
By Beth Reinhard
In a pool hall lit by Budweiser lamps and big-screen TVs, U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek and a few union leaders from the nearby Lockheed Martin plant bonded over Buffalo wings.
By Aaron Deslatte
Gov. Charlie Crist is scrambling to balance his teetering U.S. Senate campaign by striking out against one of the only institutions more unpopular with voters than he appears to be: the Florida Legislature.
By Scott Powers And Luis Zaragoza
Ten years after Florida banned affirmative-action admissions, minority enrollment in the State University System hasn't kept pace with the number of minorities graduating from high school, an Orlando Sentinel analysis has found.
EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK
Orlando Sentinel
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
By Tim Nickens
If Jeb Bush wants to be governor again, the job will be open soon.
By Mary Ellen Klas
The simmering standoff between Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Charlie Crist continued Friday as a House committee gave swift approval to a bill to limit the governor's influence over the Public Service Commission and the Senate stalled confirmation of his appointees to the utility board.
By Cindy Swirko
A sigh of relief could be heard from schools, county buildings, firehouses and sheriff's stations across Florida recently when a proposed bill that would have drastically altered pensions under the Florida Retirement System died in the Legislature.
By Jim Ash
At the urging of a recent Pace High School student-body president, and over the warnings of civil libertarians, a House panel Friday unanimously approved a watered-down school-prayer measure that sponsors hope will protect religious freedom.
By Jay Stapleton
A compromise bill moving through the Florida Legislature would sharpen definitions of where sex offenders can live but also prohibit them from "loitering or prowling" in areas where children are found.
News Service of Florida
The House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved a bill (HB 7205) that would make money available to Florida communities trying to lure baseball teams away from Arizona for spring training.
POLITICAL RACES
Adam C. Smith
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum has had a nice ride recently, as Democrat Alex Sink has struggled to find a coherent message and had a series of campaign staff shakeups.
By Beth Reinhard
The parallels between ex-Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer and national chairman Michael Steele are as creepy as the website for the lesbian bondage club where the GOP dropped $2,000 for a good time.
By Damien Cave
Talk about a tough week.
By James Call
Brace yourself for a wild month of politics.
By Anthony Man
Capitalizing on a rapid shift in the nation's political mood and striking an emotional chord with Florida Republicans, Marco Rubio has catapulted from challenger to frontrunner in the Republican contest for U.S. Senate.
By Adam C. Smith
Charlie Crist, once known as a world champion money-raiser, announced late Friday afternoon that he had raised $1.1 million for his U.S. Senate campaign this year -- less than one third of what Republican frontrunner Marco Rubio raised in that period.
By Christine Show
When Virginia Calhoun noticed a commotion at the town square at megaretirement community's Lake Sumter Landing Friday night, she thought there was a car crash.
By David Hunt
The plan: Tug at blue collars to win over red voters.
By George Bennett
A congressman who left the District 16 seat in a sex scandal has reemerged as a political money-raiser and isn't ruling out another run for office.
By George Bennett
America's first congressional race of 2010 heads into its final days with a flurry of mailings, TV ads and phone calls from the three candidates vying to replace Robert Wexler.
By Brian Skoloff
The GOP challenger in Tuesday's special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler says he's banking on the public's disdain for President Barack Obama's health care bill and low congressional approval ratings to deliver an upset to his Democratic opponent, widely seen as the front-runner.
By Anthony Man
The special election is Tuesday, and Democratic congressional candidate Ted Deutch holds a commanding advantage in contributions, taking in more than $1.5 million since launching his campaign last fall.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
By Bruce Ritchie
Related: Follow the Sun? House wants to encourage use of renewable energy
Weird winter weather creates struggle for some Everglades wildlife, other species thrive
Naples News
Water crunch could come early to parts of First Coast
Florida Times-Union
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
LGBT
By Keith Morelli
A half dozen picketers from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., will visit Tampa soon, warning anyone who will listen that the end, brought on by the godlessness of the nation, is near.
EDUCATION
By Josh Hafenbrack
Related: For teachers, they're in black
Schools brace for teacher 'sickout'
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade schools officials are preparing for widespread teacher absences on Monday, a district spokesman said.
By Cara Fitzpatrick
Many teachers watched with horror last week as Florida lawmakers passed what may be the most controversial and sweeping education overhaul in the history of the state, with changes that will tie their pay to student performance and eliminate long-term contracts.
By Robyn E. Blumner
Related: PolitiFact: Will SB 6 education changes cut Florida teachers' pay?
Parents like more teacher accountability, but many question bill before Crist
Florida Times-Union
Politicians have debated it. Teachers have protested it.
By Paul Flemming
Related editorial: Teacher merit pay; try again
Bush plan may've hurt Fla. minority enrollment
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
For-profit colleges teach lesson in cost vs. value
St. Petersburg Times
Editorial
Panama City News-Herald
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando's single-family home prices are unlikely to return to their 2006 peak for the next three decades, according to a newly released survey of more than 370 U.S. cities.
Staff Report
Speaker after speaker proclaimed U.S. dominance in space and reiterated the importance of making sure it continues.
By Mike Thomas
The water is warm, the upper atmosphere is calming, and so the hurricanes are predicted to howl this season.
By Rob Farley
In addition to worrying about traditionally undercounted groups such as immigrants, minorities and those living in urban areas, the U.S. Census Bureau has a new concern -- a potential boycott by some conservatives.
By Dan Tracy
Florida has come up with a new plan to cover possible cost overruns from operating the $1.2 billion SunRail commuter train that is supposed to run through Central Florida by 2013: Take the money out of the local roads budget.
By Kimberly Miller
Deb Jacobs left home nearly four decades ago, saying goodbye to her mom and dad to start her adult life.
By Valerie Whitney
The Center for Business Excellence has spent about $200,000 in federal stimulus funds for job training, so far, this fiscal year.
By Scott Maxwell
Here are some of the highlights from the survey conducted by the Nielsen Co. for Leadership Florida.
By Christian M. Wade
Organizers trying to lure the Republican National Convention to Tampa in 2012 boast of the potential financial impact to the city from the four-day political event.
Editorial
Even as they struggle to balance Florida's budget, state lawmakers seem poised to expand a property-tax break that'll make it harder for local governments to pay for basic services such as schools, roads and police.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
By Jim Saunders
As time dwindles in the annual legislative session, Senate leaders said Thursday they will look closely at a House proposal to overhaul Florida's Medicaid system.
The Associated Press
A House committee is expected to act on a bill that would expand Medicaid privatization to all 67 Florida counties.
By Leon Fooksman and Tim Collie
The passage of a new federal health law expected to cover most of the uninsured raises an intriguing question: What will happen to the $850 million raised every year by local taxing districts around Florida to support care of the uninsured?
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
The Associated Press
The preservation of abortion rights, protection of consumer rights and limits on the death penalty are due in no small measure to John Paul Stevens' actions on the Supreme Court.
No comments:
Post a Comment