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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Monday, June 14, 2010

Daily Clips for June 14, 2010

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Abortion Veto

By Whitney Ray

Capitol News Service

Excerpt: Progress Florida was one of the groups calling for a veto. Political Director Damien Filer says the bill would have put politics in the doctor's office. "What it would have done is insert politics and politicians into the exam room, in-between women and their doctors, exactly where they don't belong."


Spill Baby Spill, Progress Florida Takes on the BP Oil Spill

By Zanna B.

Associated Content

Spill Baby Spill is a new website created by Progress Florida to help ensure no new oil rigs will be built off the state of Florida.

FEATURED STORIES

Abortion veto puts Crist in the middle

By Lee Logan and John Frank

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau

Gov. Charlie Crist rejected a controversial abortion bill Friday, using his veto pen to repudiate the conservative Republicans who elected him and championed the legislation as "the most significant pro-life measure in Florida's history."


Pressure mounts as Gulf oil spill nears

The Associated Press

Miami Herald

Related: Along Gulf coast highway, anxiety spreads with oil

Related editorial: Protect Florida, hold BP accountable

As the White House pressured oil giant BP to step up its response to the Deepwater Horizon spill, including faster payment of damage claims and more aggressive plans to contain the crude gushing undersea, the federal government's point man on the crisis said he still doesn't know how much oil is spewing from the broken well.


Florida Skips Offshore Oil Binge but Still Pays

By Damien Cave

New York Times

When rigs first started drilling for oil off Louisiana's coast in the 1940s, Floridians scanned their shoreline, with its resorts and talcum-white beaches, and said, No thanks. Go ahead and drill, they told other Gulf Coast states; we'll stick with tourism.


Oil spill gives Florida politicians an election-year platform

By Patricia Mazzei

Miami Herald

Related: What Florida politicians say about offshore oil drilling

The sight of politicians has become as normal as the tourists, the tar balls and the TV crews on Pensacola Beach.


Big money drowns out other voices

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

In California, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman spent more than $70 million of her own money to win last week's Republican primary for governor.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

Editorial cartoon of the week


By Andy Marlette

Pensacola News Journal

FLORIDA POLITICS

Jim Greer to judge: Put my suit against Republican party on hold

By Rene Stutzman

Orlando Sentinel

Former Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer on Friday asked a Sanford judge to put a temporary hold on his lawsuit against the party and its new chairman while he battles criminal charges.


Would California's new election system fly in Florida?

By Howard Troxler

St. Petersburg Times

Last week the voters of California took a radical step and more or less abolished party primary elections.

POLITICAL RACES

Sink says yes class-size tweak, Internet tax

By Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Back in 2002, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride hurt himself by constantly refusing to say how he intended to pay for the class-size reduction mandate being pushed by then-state Sen. Kendrick Meek.


Scott to McCollum: Let's talk

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

Political insurgent Rick Scott may or may not be the new frontrunner in the Republican race for governor, but he's quick to capitalize on the poll-driven perception that he has leapfrogged past Attorney General Bill McCollum.


Still much to learn about Rick Scott

By Steve Bousquet

St. Petersburg Times

Rick Scott has been running for governor only two months, and nearly half of Republicans in a new poll say they'd vote for him.


What is Scott's allure?

By Jim Saunders

Health News Florida

Rick Scott carries baggage from a massive health-fraud case and offers little political experience.


Few questions, fewer answers on gubernatorial candidate's past

By David Hunt

Florida Times-Union

If GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott wasn't responsible for the fraud investigation that netted his former company, Columbia/HCA, a $1.7 billion fine, who was?


Scott takes Fla. governor's campaign to Panhandle

By Brendan Farrington

The Associated Press

Rick Scott was killing time in a general store before a campaign speech Saturday when he introduced himself to the clerk behind the counter.


GOP candidate McCollum visits Daytona

By Derek Catron

Daytona Beach News-Journal

Florida's next governor needs to shore up agriculture and tourism in the state while creating a climate that will attract new business, Bill McCollum said Friday in a pair of local appearances.


Another long-shot Chiles treads the Florida campaign trail

By Lee Logan

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Forty years after his little-known father used a pair of boots to launch himself into political folklore, Lawton "Bud" Chiles III hopes to emulate the strategy during his independent run for governor by walking across Florida and connecting with voters.


Rubio still for more drilling

By Ben Smith

Politico

CNBC's Larry Kudlow pressed Marco Rubio hard and repeatedly today on the question of offshore drilling, prompting the candidate's reluctant confirmation that he opposes a moratorium on offshore drilling, opposes forcing BP to stop paying dividends to shareholders, and supports continued drilling off Florida's coasts in the long run -- an issue that seems to offer Charlie Crist his clearest shot at victory in the Senate race.


Brew-ha-ha? Tea Party could help Grayson win re-election

By Mark Schlueb

Orlando Sentinel

In less than two years, freshman Democrat U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has built a national reputation as a bare-knuckle brawler whom conservatives love to hate, an unapologetic supporter of health-care reform and government regulation.


Rep. Boyd facing anti-incubment sentiment in 2010 campaign

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

In any other year, a bland 14-year congressman with plenty of campaign cash and a winning track record in a politically safe district would not have to work hard for re-election.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

You're being lied to about Fair Districts

By Scott Maxwell

Orlando Sentinel

Politics is full of lies. However, rarely is a lie so provably debunked as the one that opponents of Fair Districts are spreading.


Fight to defeat Amendment 4 picks up high-profile funders

By Marcos Restrepo

Florida Independent

The fight to defeat Amendment 4 -- which would change the Florida Constitution by requiring voter approval of changes to local comprehensive plans -- has picked up more high-profile funders.


Fat cats hate slow-growth amendment

By Fred Grimm

Miami Herald

Power boys do love YOLO, Fort Lauderdale's slickest pickup joint, where they can valet their Italian sports cars, order Cristal and make believe that pretty girls in tiny dresses are oblivious to pot bellies, thinning hair and acute Viagra dependency.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Suddenly, a vulnerable coast fears it is all but defenseless

By Zac Anderson

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Related: Sen. Nelson offers ideas for oil spill

Draped like holiday ribbon across the mouth of every bay, bayou and inlet in the Panhandle, 312,000 feet -- nearly 60 miles -- of floating plastic boom has been deployed by Florida as its primary defense against the oil slick widening in the Gulf of Mexico.


Can any amount of money make oil spill victims whole?

By Cristina Silva

St. Petersburg Times

Lambasted by charges that his response to the gulf oil spill comes across as emotionally flat, President Barack Obama has made repeated vows to stand by the victims "until they are made whole."


Don't go near the water

By Suzanna Mars

Gainesville Sun

I have just returned from four days in the Gulf and I have oil stains on the soles of my feet.


With each look at oil flow, the numbers get worse

By Seth Borenstein

The Associated Press

With each new look by scientists, the oil spill just keeps looking worse.


BP Gives Researchers Only 10 Percent of Funding Request

By Steve Newborn

WUSF Public Radio Tampa

BP has rebuffed a request by Florida scientists for $100 million for oil spill research.


Oil Spill Points to Need for Alternative Energy

By Gina Presson

Public News Service Florida

Mary Wilkerson and her husband run Gulfside Resorts, waterfront rentals at Indian Rocks Beach. Although the beaches are clean there, they say their phones are only ringing with cancellations.


Oil's Toxic Reach

The Progress Report

Think Progress

The politics of oil dominated the halls of Washington yesterday, as oil money-dependent politicians tried to prevent the Obama administration from reining in the fossil fuel's toxic pollution.


Tight pollution limits proposed for canals

By David Fleshler

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The Hillsboro Canal slices through the sugarcane fields south of Lake Okeechobee and heads east through the houses and strip malls of Parkland, Boca Raton and Deerfield Beach.


Debate over Gainesville biomass plant highlights Florida's renewable energy challenges

By Travis Pillow

Florida Independent

Florida's Public Service Commission recently approved plans for a new biomass plant in Gainesville.


The usual suspects for PSC

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

The list of eight candidates for two vacant seats on the Florida Public Service Commission is a roundup of the usual suspects.


We want the truth

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

Since the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, experts have warned that the government and BP were dramatically underestimating the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico.

LGBT

McCollum should admit his mistake

Editorial

Ft. Myers News-Press

With the constant specter of the oil spill hovering off our beaches, we need comedic relief.

EDUCATION

Schools preparing suit over class-size legislation

By Iricka Berlinger

Tallahassee Democrat

Florida school boards and superintendents are preparing a lawsuit to block legislation allowing charter schools to be exempt from class-size requirements.


State sends extra help for high schools

By Tiffany Lankes

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Florida has been grading schools and tracking progress on the FCAT for years, but state oversight has taken on a whole new meaning for some low-performing area high schools.


UF offers raises for faculty, staff, graduate assistants

By Nathan Crabbe

Gainesville Sun

The University of Florida will provide raises for faculty, staff and graduate assistants in the coming fiscal year, UF President Bernie Machen announced Friday.


FCAT testing contractor gets an 'F'

Editorial

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

No more teachers. No more books. No more FCAT?

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida's growth rate tapers off further in 2009

The Associated Press

Palm Beach Post

U.S. Census estimates say Florida's population growth rate is continuing to decline.


'Devastating to the fisheries': Limits put on seafood harvesting, fishing

By Mona Moore

Northwest Florida Daily News

At this time last year, Niceville resident Walter Hicks was shrimping somewhere between the mouth of the Mississippi and Mobile Bay.


Florida gives insurance companies some slack

By Paige St. John

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Florida regulators have agreed to allow a once-troubled property insurer to enter hurricane season prepared not for a big hurricane, but multiple smaller ones.


Report: Rail could bring 27,500 jobs, nearly $3B worth of new business to Orlando area

By Dan Tracy

Orlando Sentinel

Orlando's planned high-speed train could create an economic boon worth billions of dollars for the region, according to a study sponsored by an international conglomerate that will bid on building the system.


Wasserman Schultz enters banks-versus-merchants battle over debit card fees

By Anthony Man

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, has jumped into a debate with financial implications for the banking industry.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Gov. Crist vetoes abortion measure

By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat

Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a politically volatile plan Friday that would have made abortion clinics provide ultrasound examinations, saying it "would violate woman's right to privacy."


WellCare won't disclose political $

By Mike Wells

Health News Florida

Last month, a former director of WellCare Health Plans publicly called for the company to be more transparent in disclosing its financial issues. But Regina Herzlinger's request went nowhere.


In Florida, a Lifeline to Patients With TB

By Damien Cave

New York Times

The last of the nation's original tuberculosis sanitariums sits, improbably, just off Interstate 95, near a Dunkin' Donuts and a Motel 6, and just behind fields of children playing soccer.


Satellite Beach cracks down on 'pill mills'

By R. Norman Moody

Florida Today

When suspects in a rash of burglaries in Satellite Beach told police they broke into homes looking for prescription pills or money to buy drugs, officials knew they were on the right track in trying to prevent "pill mills" from opening in the city.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Rep. Mack picks GOP fights on immigration

By Bart Jansen

Tallahassee Democrat

Rep. Connie Mack IV is picking fights with fellow Republicans over immigration policy, stirring a political hornet's nest that observers say might signal an interest in higher office.


Volusia tea-party spinoff, NAACP at odds

By Mark Harper

Daytona Beach News-Journal

Two Florida men are fighting the perception that the tea-party movement is racist by leading an organization whose name is a takeoff on the NAACP.


Interracial couples gaining acceptance but still face struggles

By Lashonda Stinson Curry

Ocala Star-Banner

Kermit and Cindy Clark were newlyweds when they moved into their first home in Denver in 1969.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida Supreme Court looks into wrongful convictions

By Rene Stutzman

Orlando Sentinel

It was 2003, and this is how it started in Florida: Sheila Meehan had dozens of boxes stacked in her Tallahassee garage filled with letters and legal paperwork from hundreds of Florida inmates who claimed they were innocent and that DNA tests would prove it.


Lawmakers must properly fund innocence commission

Editorial

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Sprinkled throughout the U.S. Constitution is the notion that accused criminals are to be treated fairly and justly.

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