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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Daily Clips for June 1, 2010

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Long-shot challenger to Rep. John Mica hopes oil spill will tar Mica's image

By Mark K. Matthews

Orlando Sentinel

Excerpt: "I think the polling is showing a seismic shift among Floridians," said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida and a longtime drilling opponent. "The potential economic disaster we are looking at in Florida is really going to change the politics of the issue."


Gov. candidate's drilling support unwavering

By Jeremy Wallace

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Excerpt: "As this disaster plays out, the polling numbers will continue to shift dramatically," said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida, a nonprofit group opposed to drilling.

FEATURED STORIES

Crist sets up showdown with budget vetoes

By Gary Fineout

Florida Tribune

Gov. Charlie Crist on Friday set up a possible legal showdown with state lawmakers after he freely used his veto pen to cut millions in projects and to eliminate budget mandates contained in the state's new spending plan.


BP Tries Again to Divert Oil Leak With Dome

By Clifford Krauss

New York Times

Related: Louisianan Becomes Face of Anger on Spill

Unable for six weeks to plug the gushing oil well beneath the Gulf of Mexico, BP renewed an effort Monday to use a dome to funnel some of the leaking crude to a tanker on the surface.


'Flotels' await oil spill cleanup workers on Gulf

The Associated Press

Palm Beach Post

Related: Oil, dispersants pose grave danger for deep-Gulf food chain, independent scientists say

The 40-foot-long corrugated steel boxes, resembling oversized white shipping containers, are stacked two high and three wide atop a barge at Port Fourchon, the oil industry's hub on the Gulf of Mexico.


Florida House Spent $200,000 on Rush-Job Oil Drilling Study

By Scott Finn

WUSF Public Radio Tampa

Shortly before the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf, the Florida House spent $200,000 for a study of oil drilling off Florida's coast which said any spills would be rare, small and easily contained.


Politics at heart of criminal investigations swirling across Florida

By Lucy Morgan and Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Gov. Charlie Crist often laments "this culture of corruption in South Florida," but increasingly it's Tallahassee that looks like a central focus of multiple criminal investigations swirling about Florida.


Florida's political system is broken

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

A recent statewide poll has confirmed what many Floridians already knew: The state's Republican-led Legislature is out of synch with voters, including most of those in its own party.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

Editorial cartoon of the week

By Jim Morin

Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

Crist axes $372 million from state budget

By Aaron Deslatte and Josh Hafenbrack

Orlando Sentinel

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist pulled out his line-item-veto pen for the last time Friday to slash $372 million from the state's budget, gutting projects dear to his fiercest critics in the Republican-controlled Legislature.


Crist vs. the Legislature Round 2

By Gary Fineout

Florida Tribune

Gov. Charlie Crist's running battle with the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature appears unlikely to end anytime soon -- although the governor is now backing off plans to call lawmakers back to town in the next month.


New law casts a bit more light into the murky realm of electioneering

By Marc Caputo

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Shadowy groups that attack first and disclose their big-money donors after an election won't be able to be so secretive now that Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a law that broadens state regulation of campaign committees.


Is campaign cash that different from bribery?

By Scott Maxwell

Orlando Sentinel

If Orange County Commissioner Mildred Fernández is guilty of the bribery charges she's facing, she deserves to be punished -- not just for doing wrong, but for being stupid.


Crist signs 3 bills recognizing veterans' service

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

Three bills recognizing service by U.S. military veterans are now law with signatures from Gov. Charlie Crist.


Fla.'s new emergency head hopes to heal rifts

By Brent Kallestad

The Associated Press

The state's Division of Emergency Management, under a second director since Craig Fugate left a year ago to run its federal counterpart, is getting a jump start on the hurricane season.


Panel narrowing field for 2 Fla. PSC appointments

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

A state panel is narrowing a field of 60 applicants for two seats on the Florida Public Service Commission.


Florida lieutenant governor, attorney general support fired Live Oak prosecutor

By Paul Pinkham

Florida Times-Union

Two high-profile statewide officeholders lent their support this weekend to a former Live Oak prosecutor fired for speaking to tea party gatherings.


Florida Republicans tie themselves in knots over Arizona immigration law

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

Florida Republicans are twisting themselves into pretzels over Arizona's extreme effort to crack down on illegal immigrants.

POLITICAL RACES

Rick Scott criticized for heading company that committed fraud

By William March

Tampa Tribune

Related: Ads hint McCollum is worried about rival

Related: Privatizing TGH was part of investigation into Scott's HCA chain

Can the man who ran the company that committed the biggest Medicare fraud in history get elected governor in a state full of retirees?


In six weeks, Rick Scott pours nearly $11 million into Florida governor's race

By Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Related: Thrasher 'neutral' in clash of GOP candidates for Florida governor

Pity Bill McCollum. Only weeks ago, he was skating effortlessly to the Republican gubernatorial nomination and comfortably leading Democrat Alex Sink in the polls.


Crist helps McCollum's campaign

By Aaron Deslatte

Orlando Sentinel

Gov. Charlie Crist delivered an election-year crumb to Bill McCollum by signing a broadly written elections bill that reinstates public-disclosure requirements for the secretive, outside political groups that bombard the airwaves with campaign ads.


Crist's centrist strategy working

By Lloyd Dunkelberger

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

It is a good checklist for a Democratic candidate trying to shore up his base as he heads to the fall elections.


Analysis: With Crist aside, Rubio can start moving to the middle

By Jim Stratton

Orlando Sentinel

Marco Rubio became a Republican hero by running as the anti-Crist.


The progress of a 'people' person

By Alex Leary

St. Petersburg Times

The people. At once vague and powerful, it's a sentiment that Gov. Charlie Crist hopes will propel his campaign for U.S. Senate


Florida flip-flops rev up the Flip-O-Meter

By Aaron Sharockman

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Politifact

Related: GOP refund request from Crist had a few holes

Gov. Charlie Crist said he would run for the U.S. Senate only as a Republican.


Senate candidate Meek comes to Brooksville

By Tony Holt

Hernando Today

Local Democrats showed up Saturday afternoon to meet their frontrunner for the U.S. Senate.


Leading the Florida Attorney General's race: 'Undecided'

By William March

Tampa Tribune

With fewer than 100 days before the Florida primary, the race for attorney general, considered the second-most important state office after the governor, is stuck in a stalemate, with competitive primaries on both sides and no candidate able to pull ahead.


Prosecutor Bondi leaves the courthouse and takes a hard right

By Colleen Jenkins

St. Petersburg Times

Pam Bondi stands at a podium, looking and sounding a lot like the prosecutor she was for more than 18 years.


Party-changer takes on Thrasher

By David Hunt

Florida Times-Union

The buzz started several weeks ago as a Beaches dermatologist filed the paperwork to run against state Sen. John Thrasher in the Aug. 24 GOP primary.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Florida Land Use Changes Could Be In Voters' Hands

By Greg Allen

NPR

After a century of near-relentless building by developers, voters in Florida will decide whether they want a direct role in determining who builds and where.


How to protect and honor democracy

By Lesley Blackner

Gainesville Sun

This Memorial Day, we pause to thank our military, who defend our great country.


A look at the nine amendments on Florida's ballot

By Howard Troxler

St. Petersburg Times

There are nine proposed amendments to our state Constitution on this November's ballot.


Florida redistricting attracts amendments, lawsuits

By Catherine Whittenburg

Tampa Tribune

Three ballot questions. Two lawsuits (and counting). One serious headache for voters.


The poison pill

Editorial

Gainesville Sun

It seems the only people in Florida who understand what the proposed Amendment 7 says and means, and are not wholly offended by it, are those who voted to put it on the November ballot: the Republican majority in the Florida Legislature.


Drawing crooked lines

Editorial

Orlando Sentinel

It was bad enough when legislative leaders Dean Cannon and Mike Haridopolos chose to fight two citizen initiatives that could end the miserable practice of gerrymandering.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Gulf Oil Threatens an Underwater 'Rainforest'

By Jeffrey Kluger

Time Magazine

The WeatherBird II is not a pretty ship. A boxy, businesslike, 194-ton vessel, it prowls the waters off St Petersburg, Fla. where it competes for attention with the cruise ships and sport yachts and other glamour boats.


Tar balls could be on beaches for months

By Bruce Ritchie

FloridaEnvironments.com

Researchers are concerned that a sub-surface plume of oil could threaten Florida's coast for months even if BP is successful in capping a gushing oil well.


FL Groups Demand Full EPA Disclosure of Chemicals In Dispersants

By Gina Presson

Public News Service

Conservation groups want to get to the bottom of the chemicals being poured into the Gulf of Mexico in an effort to break up the oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon spill.


Panhandle tourists put aside oil spill for holiday

By Steve Bousquet and Lee Logan

St. Petersburg Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

The shucked oysters and grouper sandwiches were flying out of the kitchen Sunday at Pompano Joe's, an oceanside restaurant popular with Gulf Coast tourists.


Crist doles out millions of BP dollars

By Mona Moore

Northwest Florida Daily News

Tourists covered the beaches Sunday morning as Gov. Charlie Crist made arrangements to keep it that way.


Elite legal team handling Florida's response to oil spill

By Jim Ash

Tallahassee Democrat

With Louisiana's shoreline turning blacker by the day, an elite team of two former attorneys general is cautiously laying the groundwork for Florida's legal response to BP's massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill.


Ecology should trump economic growth

By Eugene Robinson

Washington Post

The spectacle of a river in flames helped galvanize the environmental movement, and the following year, with Richard Nixon as president, the Environmental Protection Agency was established.


Florida takes giant step with huge solar-power plant

By Kevin Spear

Orlando Sentinel

Florida Power & Light Co.'s newest solar-energy plant will have enough mirrors to cover 80 football fields.


BP crisis exposes chink in government's regulatory armor

Editorial

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

President Obama last week addressed his administration's handling of the BP oil spill, in an attempt to explain the government's ongoing efforts and to dispel a lingering perception that the federal government is a mere "sidekick" to BP.

LGBT

Rivals spar over military gay ban

By Lesley Clark

Miami Herald

Gov. Charlie Crist's U.S. Senate rivals skewered him Friday for saying he'd now support repealing the policy that bars openly gay people from serving in the military -- a reversal from what he told reporters on Monday.


House Passes Bill With 'Don't Tell' Repeal

By David M. Herszenhorn

New York Times

The House on Friday adopted an annual Pentagon policy bill that includes a provision allowing the Defense Department to repeal the ban on gay and bisexual people from serving openly in the military.


South Florida city will define 'family' with gay rights in mind

By Lisa J. Huriash

Palm Beach Post

It is illegal for a gay couple to have two or more foster children living with them in Oakland Park.

EDUCATION

Race to the Top, Part 2: Florida now has strong teacher-union backing

By Leslie Postal

Orlando Sentinel

Florida will try again for a coveted Race to the Top federal education grant Tuesday -- this time with the blessing of its teachers' unions.


Teachers feeling stepped on: Merit pay needs money for the merit

By Jac Wilder Versteeg

Palm Beach Post

Teachers are demanding a raise at the worst possible time.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Slow-motion recovery extends jobless pain for many

The Associated Press

St. Petersburg Times

High unemployment isn't going away.


Legal mess over foreclosures deepening

By Todd Ruger

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

An attempt to fix the sloppy legal work plaguing thousands of foreclosure cases in Florida has been ineffective, and has now caused a legal mess of its own.


Crist signs Fla. economic development law

By Bill Kaczor

The Associated Press

A wide-ranging $175 million "Jobs for Florida" bill that includes grants and tax incentives for businesses as well as spending to boost Florida's sagging space industry became law Friday with Gov. Charlie Crist's signature.


Crist refuses to cut DROP for state workers

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

Gov. Charlie Crist refused Friday to slash interest earnings on government-employee pensions in the Deferred Retirement Option Program, saying lawmakers unfairly popped the change into the budget late in the session.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Medicaid Expansion Will Help Fla.

By Lloyd Dunkelberger

Lakeland Ledger

Florida's uninsured residents may be one of the big beneficiaries of the expansion of Medicaid under the new federal health care law, according to a new report from a national health care organization.


Study: Federal health care reform not too hard on states

By Travis Pillow

Florida Independent

A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that health care reform could be a bargain for states, bringing in billions of dollars in new federal funding to help cover people who cannot afford health insurance.


Free? Sure, free to mooch health care

By Randy Schultz

Palm Beach Post

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, his lawsuit to nullify the federal health care law is about freedom.


Seniors get new options for Medigap coverage

By Bob LaMendola

South Florida Sun-Senetinel

Starting Tuesday, seniors have fresh new options to lower the monthly premiums on Medigap health policies.


New law strengthens background screening for Florida caregivers

By Sally Kestin

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

People who care for children, the elderly and disabled in Florida will undergo stricter background screening requirements under a new law that takes effect Aug. 1.


State AIDS program runs out of money for new patients

Staff Report

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

For only the second time in the nearly 25-year history of the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program, no new people will be eligible for help.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Remember human cost of current wars

By Brian Wilkins

Florida Today

Related editorial: The honored dead

As most of us make plans for Memorial Day, it is important to remember the roots of the day.


Fla. Lawmaker Will Snyder Wants Arizona-Style Law

By Michael Peltier

News Service of Florida

A House Republican committee chairman said Friday he'll likely file legislation to crack down on illegal immigration in Florida similar to a controversial measure passed in Arizona that has sparked a national debate.


Fringe politics in Arizona could pay off for Florida

By Frank Cerabino

Palm Beach Post

Arizona's "show me your papers" immigration law helps Florida in its ongoing interstate battle to lure and keep Major League Baseball spring training sites.


Black organizations choose Broward for big meetings

By Gregory Lewis

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was meeting here this Memorial Day weekend at the Westin Diplomat in a session that could direct the future of the civil rights movement.


More on anti-Muslim tensions in Jacksonville

By Virginia Chamlee

Florida Independent

The investigation into the May 10 pipe-bombing of a Jacksonville mosque has yielded no official suspects, but has brought to light an undercurrent of Muslim hostility in the area.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Judge Sorts Claims in Rothstein Ponzi Scheme

By Curt Anderson

The Associated Press

Former NFL star Warren Sapp, some of America's biggest banks and tax collectors from Florida to Rhode Island are laying claim to a piece of the collapsed empire of disbarred lawyer Scott Rothstein, who is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to operating a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.

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