FEATURED STORIES
Gov. Charlie Crist closer to calling special session on drilling
By Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Gulf Coast puts up last line of defense against oil spill
Related: Will Gulf oil spill hit South Florida? Odds are murky
Gov. Charlie Crist said Monday he wants a special legislative session soon -- maybe as early as the week of May 24 -- to deal with two timely issues: a proposed constitutional ban on drilling for oil off Florida's coast and tax incentives for utilities to diversify and explore renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
Legal advisory council to help with claims
By Paul Flemming
Tallahassee Democrat
Related: Frustration runs high at Panhandle oil-spill summit
Former state attorneys general Jim Smith and Bob Butterworth will head up an oil-spill legal advisory council, offering advice to individuals making claims against BP, as well as any demands Florida may make.
Florida Suit Poses a Challenge to Health Care Law
By Kevin Sack
New York Times
As they constructed the requirement that Americans have health insurance, Democrats in Congress took pains to make their bill as constitutionally impregnable as possible.
Editorial
Tallahassee Democrat
Gov. Charlie Crist will be criticized either way, but his veto of legislation passed in the last hours of the 2010 session mandating ultrasound tests for pregnant women seeking abortions would be a statement of doing things the right way.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Poll: Fla. voters evenly divided over Obama's job performance
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
Florida voters are almost evenly divided about President Obama's job performance, with support and opposition breaking down along predictable lines.
McCollum says there's no need for special session
The Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Attorney General Bill McCollum says it's not necessary to have a special legislative session to deal with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that could threaten Florida's beaches.
Decision on Tampa's 2012 GOP convention bid due Wednesday
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Shhhhh. Don't say anything to jinx Tampa's bid for the 2012 GOP convention.
AAA seeking veto on red light cameras
By James A. Jones Jr.
Bradenton Herald
The AAA Auto Club South revealed Monday that it has urged Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the red light camera bill.
POLITICAL RACES
Rubio, Meek take turns defining Charlie Crist
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Republican Senate hopeful Marco Rubio's campaign is making much of this Wall Street Journal report that Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid phoned Republican-turned-indie Gov. Charlie Crist last week in a possible "sign of cooperation" between Crist and Dems.
Democratic congressional candidates seek union vote in Port St. Lucie
By Jim Turner
TC Palm
The two Democrats seeking to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, played up their union credentials as they jointly made their first public appearances before the United Auto Workers Retirees association Monday.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
By John M. Dunn
Ocala Star-Banner
The Great Recession isn't bad news for everybody.
Hometown Democracy to give voters a voice
By Bett Willett
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Florida Hometown Democracy, Amendment 4 on the Nov. 2 ballot, gives residents the chance to vote on proposed changes in land-use plans.
In Not Reauthorizing DCA, Legislature Widens Debate on Amendment 4
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
In the final days of its recent legislative session, the Florida House of Representatives declined to hear a routine bill to reauthorize the Department of Community Affairs.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Oil leak is 5 times greater than reported by officials
Staff Report
Pensacola News Journal
The amount of oil gushing from BP's Deepwater Horizon oil disaster is five times more than what the oil company and the U.S. Coast Guard are currently estimating, said a Florida State University oceanography professor on Saturday.
Environmental, financial 'siege' challenges Florida officials facing untamed Gulf oil slick
By Michael C. Bender and Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The surface fight against BP's uncontrolled, undersea gusher was fought on multiple fronts Monday, with state officials preparing legal defenses in Tallahassee, while at this Gulf Coast city the state's environmental chief, Mike Sole, sought to organize disparate responders' strategies against what has become "a siege."
Gov. Crist creates team to offer legal advice on dealing with BP
Staff Report
St. Petersburg Times
Saying he was preparing for the worst while hoping for the best, Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday assembled a small army of generals to provide legal advice to Florida as they brace for a potential legal skirmish with oil giant BP.
Longtime drilling opponent sees Floridians' attitudes changing
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
She tried to warn them. For 17 years, Enid Sisskin has been predicting a disaster from oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
LGBT
No lawsuit is too sleazy for McCollum
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
As a taxpayer, I hate to see the state squander its money on frivolous lawsuits, but I am also keenly aware that as a candidate for governor you need to do some political grandstanding by waging message-oriented legal battles with state money.
Leon County holding public hearing on human-rights ordinance tonight
By TaMaryn Waters
Tallahassee Democrat
The Leon County Commission is having its first and only public hearing today in regards to proposed changes to the county's current human-rights ordinance.
EDUCATION
Desegregation pact draws protest
By Erika Hobbs
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County public school officials today inched closer to ending its four-decade-old desegregation order.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Fla. unemployment sky-high, but helped by stimulus
The Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Florida's unemployment rate is among the country's highest, but the top state official overseeing stimulus funds says it would be even worse without federal help.
Four of 10 South Florida homes are 'under water'
By Hannah Sampson
Miami Herald
More than four of every 10 owners of single-family homes in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area owed more on their mortgages than their homes were worth at the end of March, according to a report released Monday.
Florida ramps up stimulus money spending
By Scott Powers and Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
Florida ramped up spending on federal stimulus money on road projects during the first quarter of 2010, more than doubling roadwork and supporting 2,003 full-time construction jobs, a state report said Monday.
By Dave Berman
Florida Today
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas says she has strong leads, as she works to attract new commercial space and alternative energy companies to the Space Coast.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
'Emergency' action took 4 yrs.
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Four years ago, the Department of Health was warned that psychiatrist Steven L. Kaplan was dangerously overmedicating children, state records show.
Editorial
Miami Herald
Two amendments in HB 1143 are classic examples of how bad legislation gets passed in the Florida Legislature.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Immigrant rights groups to field protest at Marlins games
By Jeff Weinberger
Broward County Social Policy Examiner
A coalition of south Florida interfaith, labor and immigrant rights groups announced to Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria Monday that they will be paying a visit to Sun Life Stadium next week.
Florida poll bad news for immigration reformers
By William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Florida voters are inclined to oppose immigration reform, a bad sign for those pushing to overhaul the current dysfunctional system.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Obama nominates Elena Kagan to Supreme Court
By Steven Thomma and Michael Doyle
Miami Herald
President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who's retiring.
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