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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Daily Clips for May 4, 2010

FEATURED STORIES

No progress made on stopping oil leaks

By Carlton Proctor

Pensacola News Journal

Related: On beach, doom begins to set in as oil spill moves in

Related: Many questions, few answers on oil spill

Hopes were dashed late Monday that BP had managed to reduce the massive flow of oil from its damaged rig in the Gulf of Mexico.


Florida DEP official: 'The magnitude of this spill is daunting'

By Marc Caputo

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Related: Glimmer of progress to stem leaks as oil spill spreads

Related: BP takes its turn as corporate punching bag

With an oil slick and tar balls just 50 miles offshore, Florida's top environmental official and attorney general say the state is bracing for pollution and damage to hit the state's beaches and its oyster, bait and sport fisheries.


Crist undecided on calling Fla. special session

By Bill Kaczor

The Associated Press

Gov. Charlie Crist is disappointed Florida's lawmakers failed to pass anti-corruption measures, which were among his top priorities, but said Monday that he hasn't yet decided whether to call them into special session on that and possibly other issues.


Charlie's Brave New World

By Gary Fineout

Florida Tribune

Gov. Charlie Crist conceded on NBC on Sunday that he has an "uphill battle" to win the U.S. Senate race as an independent.


Crist should veto ultrasound bill

By Jake Fuller

St. Petersburg Times

The timing of Gov. Charlie Crist's declaration of independence could not have been better.

LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Crist ponders veto of property insurance bill for second year in a row

By John Frank

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

The veto watch began Monday for an industry-backed insurance bill that received limited vetting as it won approval in the final moments of the legislative session.


The painful story behind a lawmaker's tearful appeal on the House floor

By Leonora LaPeter Anton

St. Petersburg Times

The night before Orlando Rep. Scott Randolph told his painful story of losing an unborn child, he sat down at his apartment in Tallahassee to figure out what he would say.


What was Sen. Mike Bennett watching on laptop during floor debate?

By Marc Caputo

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

During debate Thursday, a new Capitol Web outfit called the Sunshine State News captured video images of Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, looking at what appeared to be a Girls-Gone-Wild-type of photo on his computer.


The good bills they passed (no, really)

By Howard Troxler

St. Petersburg Times

Let us now praise the Florida Legislature. No, really.


Harassment

Editorial

Gainesville Sun

The ideologues in the Florida Legislature have given Gov. Charlie Crist and his veto pen a target-rich environment.

POLITICAL RACES

Oil slick has candidates sliding away from offshore drilling

By Mary Ellen Klas

St. Petersburg Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

The political rallying cry is no longer drill, baby, drill. It's spill, baby, spill.


Meek presses Crist, Rubio to back drilling bans after oil spill

By Ben Geman

The Hill

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) is pressing his opponents in the Florida Senate race to back a moratorium on new oil-and-gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a gambit that underscores how quickly the worsening Gulf oil spill is becoming a factor in political battles.


Crist moving campaign headquarters to Tampa Bay area

By William March

Tampa Tribune

In moves further declaring his independence from the Republican Party and establishment politics, Gov. Charlie Crist will move his Senate campaign headquarters from Tallahassee to St. Petersburg and change his voter registration from Republican to no-party.


Bill McCollum "always" favored transparency in RPOF credit card mess

By Aaron Sharockman

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Politifact

Republican candidate for governor and Attorney General Bill McCollum says he always favored transparency when it comes to answering questions about the Republican Party of Florida's financial problems.


Head of Young Republicans to challenge Brown

By Matt Dixon

Florida Times-Union

Chris Nwasike, newly qualified Republican candidate for Congress, picked a unique way to introduce himself to his opponent, Corrine Brown.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

GOP Legislators Craft Their Own Redistricting Amendment

By Lisa Marzilli

WMNF Community Radio Tampa

Voters get ready: another state constitutional amendment is headed for the crowded November ballot.


FWF: Amend FL Constitution to Help Protect Coastline

By Gina Presson

Public News Service Florida

As disaster teams prepare for oil to reach the Florida coast from the massive Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf, the Florida Wildlife Federation wants the state to consider a constitutional amendment to ban drilling in all Florida waters.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad?

By John M. Broder and Tom Zeller Jr.

New York Times

Related: Weather Hampers Efforts to Burn Some of Oil Spill

Related: Gulf Oil Spill Threatens to Rearrange Washington's Climate Agenda

Related column: Drilling, Disaster, Denial

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is bad -- no one would dispute it. But just how bad?


Florida officials say spill response too clumsy

By Dara Kam

Palm Beach Post

Related: Scientists: Oil slick almost certain to ride current to Palm Beach within weeks

BP officials may be hampering Florida's ability to protect fragile coastal ecosystems from the impact of what could be the worst oil spill in the nation's history, state officials said Monday.


Crist, Sink, McCollum to fly over the Gulf oil slick as it edges Florida's coast

By Paul Flemming and Jennifer Portman

Tallahassee Democrat

Gov. Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum Tuesday morning will visit Pensacola, Mobile, Ala., and fly over the Gulf oil slick menacing Florida's shores.


Offshore Oil-Drilling Issue Dead in Florida, for Now

By Kathleen Haughney

News Service of Florida

Gov. Charlie Crist declared the issue of drilling off the Florida coast effectively dead Monday as he monitored the latest news surrounding an oil spill caused by an explosion on a BP rig last month.


Oil spill already hurting Panhandle's tourist-based economy

By Kevin Spear and Sara Clarke

Orlando Sentinel

The huge oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico remained well away from Florida's Panhandle on Monday, but the region's tourism-based economy already is taking a hit that many fear will be worse than Hurricane Ivan in 2004 or the recent global recession.


Florida Gov. Crist says "absolutely" to energy special session

By Bruce Ritchie

FloridaEnvironments.com

Gov. Charlie Crist said the Gulf oil spill provides a clear message about the need for renewable energy and he hinted that the topic could be included in a special session of the Legislature.


Economic Costs Of An Oil Disaster

Progress Report

Think Progress

Twelve days ago, an oil rig owned by energy giant BP exploded, killing eleven workers, and causing an oil leak that has continued ever since, spilling up to one million gallons of oil a day into the waters off the Gulf Coast.


New environmental law targets septic tanks

By Dinah Voyles Pulver

Daytona Beach News-Journal

A bill passed by the Florida Legislature in the waning days of the session that ended Friday could have far-reaching impacts for the state's groundwater supplies and millions of septic tank owners across the state.


Florida Crystals, state agree to alternate location for Glades-based inland port

By Andy Reid

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

State regulators and developers of an "inland port" reached a settlement that would move the proposed industrial distribution center farther away from areas eyed for Everglades restoration.

EDUCATION

Schools funding doesn't add up

Editorial

Miami Herald

The Legislature wrapped up its 60-day session pretending that all is well with public-schools funding.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Gulf Oil Spill Disaster - Economic History in the Making?

By James Hudson

Public News Service Florida

The leaking underwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is pumping out over a million gallons of crude per week.


Nearly 142,000 FLoridians exhaust unemployment benefits

By Marcia Heroux Pounds

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Nearly 142,000 Florida residents have exhausted all their state and federal emergency unemployment benefits, though about 80,000 could qualify for extended benefits recently passed by the Florida Legislature, the state work force agency said Monday.


Feds make it easier to buy Florida condos

By Tom Bayles

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Moves by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ease lending restrictions in the Sunshine State are giving those who want to own and occupy condos an opportunity to buy tens of thousands of units previously off-limits to nearly everyone except cash-rich investors.


Florida's attorney general to hold mortgage fraud forum

By Harriet Johnson Brackey

Orlando Sentinel

South Floridians who want to speak to Florida's attorney general about foreclosure problems or loan modifications or mortgage fraud can do it in person this weekend.


Florida pledges to seek funds for high-speed rail

By Alfonso Chardy

Miami Herald

Several members of the U.S. House of Representatives held a field hearing Monday in Miami to review national high-speed rail plans, including Florida's project to build a high-speed line between Miami and Tampa via Orlando partly funded by Obama administration stimulus money.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Highly paid firm doing same work as Jackson workers

By John Dorschner

Miami Herald

A team of Jackson employees processes crucial Medicaid applications while an outside firm earns millions doing the same work, according to a former group supervisor, whose story is backed up by a Medicaid official.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Federal judge strikes law protecting officers' privacy

By Bill Cotterell and Jennifer Portman

Tallahassee Democrat

The state may not prohibit irate citizens from publishing a police officer's home address, phone number and other personal data on the Internet, a federal judge ruled in a Tallahassee case.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Bill closes child sex crimes loophole

By Pat Gillespie

Ft. Myers News-Press

A bill awaiting Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's signature will give child sex abuse victims younger than 16 no time limits to pursue civil or criminal action.

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