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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Daily Clips for June 17, 2010

FEATURED STORIES

Sink considers naming running mate early

By William March

Tampa Tribune

Alex Sink may be hoping to boost in her campaign for governor by naming a running mate early, and speculation among her backers is focusing on former state Sen. Rod Smith.


Power of TV driving Florida's elections this year

By Adam C. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

George W. Bush and Karl Rove showed the power of old-fashioned, shoe leather campaigning in 2004 with an army of volunteer door knockers and phone bankers.


BP guarantees $20B for Gulf

By Bart Jansen

Tallahassee Democrat

Related: Escambia Co. continues to bear brunt of spill in Florida

President Barack Obama won a $20-billion commitment from BP executives on Wednesday to reimburse individuals and businesses for economic losses from the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.


Sea creatures flee oil spill, gather near shore

By Jay Reeves, John Flesher and Tamara Lush

The Associated Press

Related: BP CEO telling Congress he's 'devastated' by spill

Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisingly shallow water off Florida beaches, like forest animals fleeing a fire.

FLORIDA POLITICS

State attorney calls Ray Sansom case one of 'theft'

By Steve Bousquet

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Former House Speaker Ray Sansom and two co-defendants returned to state court Wednesday hoping to persuade a judge to drop felony charges of grand theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft, and avoid the spectacle of a trial.


Defense lawyers in Sansom case seek dismissal

By Bill Cotterell

Tallahassee Democrat

An attorney for former House Speaker Ray Sansom told a judge Wednesday the once-powerful lawmaker "has been besmirched and attacked" for trying to protect his coastal constituents from killer hurricanes.


GOP power broker Alan Mendelsohn faces more charges in corruption case

By Scott Hiaasen

Miami Herald

Federal prosecutors have added five criminal tax charges to the indictment of Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, a Broward County eye doctor and political power broker.


Rothstein's political contributions raise eyebrows

By Virginia Chamlee

Florida Independent

Attorney Scott Rothstein's high-profile Ponzi scheme, in which the Fort Lauderdale-based lawyer defrauded investors of nearly $1.2 billion, made national headlines for a number of reasons.


Firing of Hillsborough administrator exposes excessive government severance packages

By Robert Napper

Florida Independent

The firing of the top administrator for Florida's fourth-largest county yesterday brought to the forefront growing concern in the state over huge severance and retirement packages for high-ranking government officials established during stronger economic times -- perks that are now proving to be a drain on cash-strapped budgets.

POLITICAL RACES

2010 campaign may cost taxpayers more

By Gary Fineout

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Millions of dollars have already been spent during Florida's wild election season and tens of millions will likely be spent between now and November.


From hug to embrace, Crist acts like independent

The Associated Press

Tampa Tribune

A Republican no longer, Gov. Charlie Crist just can't seem to get enough of President Barack Obama or Democratic priorities.


Of U.S. Senate Candidates, Only Marco Rubio Still Supports Gulf Drilling

By Jeremy Wallace

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

With globs of oil tarring the beaches of northwest Florida, three of the four major candidates running for the U.S. Senate are calling for a permanent ban on oil drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast.


Rick Scott rides TV ads, '21st century campaign' to GOP lead for Florida governor

By Jonathan Foerster, Ryan Mills, Leslie William Hale

Naples Daily News

Wearing a light blue shirt and red tie, Rick Scott sat comfortably behind the microphone of a conservative-leaning Jacksonville radio station in early June and hashed through the issues in the upcoming race for governor.


McCollum v. Scott on immigration hypocrisy

By Aaron Deslatte

Orlando Sentinel

Immigration has become a singular focus in the media strategies of the two Republican candidates for governor.


Cannon helping finance McCollum's stealth ad buy

By John Kennedy

News Service of Florida

House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon has placed a $150,000 bet on what may be a long shot in the race for governor - fellow Republican Bill McCollum.


Ad attacking Rick Scott as hospital boss stretches truth

By Cristina Silva

St. Petersburg Times

With his multimillions and meteoric rise to front-runner status in the Republican gubernatorial primary, former Columbia/HCA hospital CEO Rick Scott has become a formidable figure in Florida politics.


CFO Sink makes her candidacy for governor official

By Jim Ash

Tallahassee Democrat

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink made it official Wednesday, filing papers with the Secretary of State to become an official Democratic candidate for governor.


Would-be governor Bud Chiles has string of Panhandle law suits and real estate flops

By Lee Logan

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Independent gubernatorial candidate Lawton "Bud" Chiles III is a defendant in seven lawsuits stemming from a construction business currently in bankruptcy and a foreclosed condo development.


Fla. governor candidates talk to newspaper editors

The Associated Press

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Candidates for Florida governor are scheduled to talk to Florida newspaper editors in a town-hall style meeting in Sarasota.


Will Florida Voters Get What They Want Most in Their Leaders?

By Dr. Susan A. MacManus, USF

Sayfie Review

The 2010 election season is in full swing. For months now, political coverage nationally and in Florida has virtually been at a presidential-election-year level.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Amendment 4: Floridians Deserve a Vote on Land-Use Changes

By Rebecca Eagan

Florida Thinks!

In 1792, Thomas Paine wrote in Rights of Man: "There is ... no power but the voluntary will of the people that has the right to act in any matter respecting general reform."


Amendment has benefits

By Edward Flanagan

Daytona Beach News-Journal

Derek Catron's balanced and well-written article, "Debate intensifies over Amendment 4," appeared on the front page of the June 9 News-Journal, just hours following the forum at Stetson University.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Will the gulf oil spill be Obama's Katrina?

By Alex Leary

St. Petersburg Times

Sen. Mary Landrieu felt an ugly sense of deja vu. Her home state, Louisiana, was experiencing a catastrophe and the president was slowly and clumsily responding.


Doubting spill rate put him in spotlight

By Cristina Silva

St. Petersburg Times

In the early weeks of the oil spill disaster, Ian MacDonald watched in horror as the slick spread across the Gulf of Mexico.


For small Florida towns, oil spill stress edges out serenity

By Laura Figueroa

Miami Herald

In Okaloosa County, where the biggest threat used to be the occasional hurricane warning, county commissioners declared themselves ready to go to jail to ensure their pristine beaches and bays are protected.


The Battle Plan Against The Oil Spill

The Progress Report

Think Progress

Last night was President Obama's first Oval Office address, and he used the weighty occasion to address the nation's concerns about what is happening on the Gulf Coast, 57 days after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico.


Gubernatorial candidate Bud Chiles calls for "bounty" on oil spill

By Brett Ader

Florida Independent

Lawton "Bud" Chiles III issued a press release Monday calling on President Obama to consider urging BP to offer paying citizens for the oil they recover from the Gulf Coast, essentially creating what he calls a "bounty" that would spur thousands to join the cleanup effort.


Panel: End Our Addiction to Fossil Fuels

By Gina Presson

Public News Service Florida

Calling it the high price of cheap oil, a panel of experts at the recent "Gulf Oil Spill: From Crisis to Solutions" public forum talked about the damages from the Deepwater Horizon Spill and the need to find new alternatives to fossil fuel.


Unspoiled: Writer's Speak for Florida's Coast

By Robert Lorei

WMNF Community Radio Tampa

Now we'll hear from Susan Cerulean who is the editor of a collection of essays written by prominent Florida journalists, novelists and poets.


Many familiar names applying for Fla. PSC

The Associated Press

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Many familiars names are applying for two more Public Service Commission openings.

LGBT

Activists to hold events on Florida's Gay adoption ban

By Mitch Perry

Creative Loafing

Last August, the Third District Court of Appeals heard arguments from the state of Florida and attorneys for Martin Gill last fall on the state's ban on gay adoption, which a Miami-Dade County Judge ruled in November of 2008 was unconstitutional. The state appealed that decision and the appeal was heard last August.

EDUCATION

State makes new bid for $700M in federal education funds

By Brandon Larrabee

Florida Times-Union

State officials hope increased support from the teachers unions will boost the chance for $700 million over four years in federal funding for education reform efforts.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Oil spill: BP pushed to fill tourism revenue gap

By Carlton Proctor

Pensacola News Journal

To make up for droves of tourists canceling beach reservations, Pensacola area politicians and tourism officials are leaning on BP to send its workers and subcontractors to the hotels and condominiums most impacted by the spill


South Florida among areas hardest hit by recession, but not as bad as Detroit

By Douglas Hanks

Miami Herald

South Florida has suffered more during the recession than almost any other place in the country, according to a new study.


Crowd protests Miami evictions it claims are illegal

By Tristram Korten

Florida Independent

Police waded through a crowd chanting "Shame! Shame!" and "The banks got a bailout! The people got sold out!" to evict three families from a low-income apartment complex in Miami's Liberty City yesterday.


Trade surges 18% through South Florida ports

By Mimi Whitefield

Miami Herald

After a dismal 2009 -- a year those in international business say they'd prefer to forget -- trade through South Florida ports is showing double-digit growth in 2010 as the economies of Latin American trading partners revive.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

IG wants authority to boot corporate execs from Medicare for fraud

By Mike Lillis

Health News Florida

Independent federal investigators hoping to rein in Medicare fraud are asking Congress for broad new authority to boot offending corporate executives from the insurance program.


Flexcin claims draw FDA warning

By Carol Gentry

Health News Florida

A Florida company that claims its joint-pain remedy "helps relieve bursitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, fibromyalgia, and any other other form of arthritis" is violating the law, the Food and Drug Administration warns.


Care for our elders

Editorial

Tallahassee Democrat

The phrase "protecting our most vulnerable citizens" often evokes images of children who need protection from neglectful parents or predators outside the home.

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