FEATURED STORIES
All four candidates for Florida governor address leadership groupBy Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau All four candidates for governor took turns this weekend promoting themselves and fine-tuning themes at a gathering of astute business and civic leaders, with each displaying different strengths and nobody outshining the others.
Bill McCollum grabs matching funds while preaching austerityBy Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg TimesRelated editorial: Secret support mars McCollum campaign
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum says Florida faces such severe budget shortfalls that everybody needs to cut back.
Fla. closes qualifying period
By Bill Cotterell Tallahassee Democrat
Candidates for statewide and legislative offices filled the starting gate Friday, with no last-minute political shockers -- but a surprising number of independent and splinter-party contenders hoping to ride into office on what is perceived as a wave of public displeasure with politicians.
More tar balls, oil discovered
The Associated Press Tallahassee Democrat
Related: Responders follow as oil moves eastRelated: Counties spending millions on oil-related contracts
Related: Response command structure changingRelated: Crist extends oil spill emergency declaration
The Coast Guard vessel came to a halt, and soon there were softball-sized tar balls and an oily substance floating on the surface. Everywhere.
How Florida education reform bill didn't become law: Opponents took fight to Crist
By Brandon Larrabee Florida Times-Union
As the legislative session approached last year, Senate Republicans decided to launch an ambitious education reform effort. EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Andy MarlettePensacola News Journal
POLITICAL RACES
Dems hope Tuesday debate moves their candidates up in name recognition race By Michael C. Bender
Palm Beach Post Can Florida Democrats recapture the U.S. Senate seat once held by Bob Graham?
Sink gaining momentum in focus on Gulf oil spill
By Mary Ellen Klas and John FrankMiami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Never mind the voice coaches who worked to get Alex Sink to soften her Southern twang, or the image-makers who urged her to be more aggressive, or the handlers who lined up free TV time.
Crist's edge over Rubio appears to be growing
By Adam C. Smith St. Petersburg Times
A new Florida Chamber of Commerce poll suggests Charlie Crist may be widening his lead over Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek in the U.S. Senate race.
Marco Rubio in more financial hot water, faces foreclosure
The Associated PressNaples Daily News
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio and another Miami politician are facing foreclosure on a Tallahassee home they co-own for failing to make mortgage payments since January, Leon County court records show.
E-mail links ads to McCollum camp
By William MarchTampa Tribune
More evidence has emerged of connections between the Bill McCollum campaign for governor and a group of secretive political committees running attack ads against his opponent in the GOP primary, Rick Scott.
McCollum comments on his campaign's association with anti-Scott 527
By Cooper Levey-Baker Florida Independent
At a candidate forum held in Sarasota yesterday, Attorney General Bill McCollum responded to questions by The Florida Independent and the St. Petersburg Times about his campaign's associations with Florida First Initiative, a Tallahassee-based 527 running ads critical of the record of McCollum's Republican primary opponent, Rick Scott.
Bill McCollum counting on 'welfare of politicians'
By Aaron Deslatte Orlando Sentinel
Florida Republicans for years have lambasted the state's public campaign-finance system, enacted to level the playing field for state candidates, labeling it "welfare for politicians."
Whistleblowers Say Rick Scott Knew About Medicare Fraud
By John DavisWUSF Public Radio Tampa
Two whistleblowers say the new front-runner in the Republican race for governor is lying when he says he did not know about fraud in his former company, the Columbia/HCA hospital chain.
Scott still a question mark for many Florida devoted Republicans
By Adam C. Smith and Beth ReinhardSt. Petersburg Times
Rick Scott was mingling with Florida's most devoted Republicans when one man volunteered that he was from Manatee County.
Candidates for Governor speak about health reform
By Kate BradshawWMNF Community Radio Tampa
In Sarasota yesterday, three major candidates vying for the governor's mansion made their cases in front of a roomful of journalists and political junkies.
Rick Scott interviews: Governor candidate on HCA, oil spill, illegal immigration
By Jonathan FoersterNaples Daily News
After blanketing the state with ads focused on him as a conservative outsider, Rick Scott has started to open up to questions from the media and voters.
Rick Scott's Official Filing Shows He Is Richest to Ever Run for Fla. Governor
By Lloyd DunkelbergerLakeland Ledger
Rick Scott is the wealthiest candidate ever to run for Florida governor.
The Rich New Guys vs. the Ho-Hum Insiders
By Howard TroxlerSt. Petersburg Times
It takes a certain amount of gall to run a company that systematically ripped off the U.S. government, the taxpayers and the sick and weak -- and then to run for governor of Florida.
Crist's motley allies
By Jeremy WallaceSarasota Herald-Tribune
Gov. Charlie Crist is building some unusual alliances in his quest to become the first candidate with no party affiliation to ever win a statewide office in Florida.
Florida gubernatorial hopeful Bud Chiles a defendant in seven lawsuits
By Lee LoganMiami Herald/St. Petersburg Times 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.
Tea partyers grab attention as 19 file to run for state office in Florida
By Lee Logan and John FrankMiami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
A flurry of candidates qualified for dozens of state races before Friday's noon deadline, creating a few surprises and prompting conspiracy theories among some political observers.
Lawson confronts Boyd staffer who 'crossed the line'
By Bill Cotterell Tallahassee Democrat
State Sen. Al Lawson angrily snatched a video camera from a young campaign worker for U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd on Saturday, complaining that the congressman "crossed the line" in their Big Bend congressional campaign by invading his private political space. BALLOT INITIATIVES
A reluctant vote for Amendment 4, an emphatic vote against corruptionBy Michael Mayo
South Florida Sun-SentinelIf I asked 100 people what a comprehensive land-use plan is and if they'd want the chance to vote on it every time their local government changes it, I'm pretty sure the response would be, "Com-pre-what?"
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
More tarballs wash ashore in Fla. PanhandleThe Associated Press
Miami HeraldGov. Charlie Crist is touring a boom staging area and take a boat tour to monitor efforts to prevent more oil from washing ashore in Florida's Panhandle.
Oil spill: Just who is getting BP cash?By Paul Flemming
Pensacola News Journal Related: BP CEO's yacht outing riles Gulf residents
Flounder, both baked and fried, was on the lunchtime menu Friday. Cheese grits, peas and potatoes au gratin were the sides.
BP Gulf spill costs hit $2 billion, no end yet
By Ray Henry and Robert BarrThe Associated Press
BP has spent $2 billion in two months of fighting its Gulf of Mexico oil spill and compensating victims, with no end in sight to the disaster or the price tag.
Oil spill shows need for coastal and oceans planning, experts say
By Bruce RitchieFloridaEnvironments.com
Coordinated federal coastal and ocean planning would have allowed Florida to play a greater role in decisions that may have averted the oil spill disaster in the Gulf, ocean experts said Friday.
The Panhandle's juggling act: Attracting tourists, watching spills
By Dara Kam Palm Beach Post
Danger lurks in the waves, but town officials won't close the beaches.
Oil spill can trigger green progress
EditorialFt. Myers News-Press
Like other major oil spills, the Deepwater Horizon spill has forced some new thinking on energy. LGBT
Florida's gay adoption ban: Who fought for it, who's fighting against it, and the chances for repealBy Mitch Perry
Creative LoafingThe Sunshine State ranks in the bottom half of the country on various critical indexes, such as education spending (36th nationally), uninsured children (49th as of a year ago) and juvenile incarceration rates (48th, meaning we jail more juveniles than 47 other states).
Openly gay candidates finding success in South Florida
By Anthony ManSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel
As a young woman, Betty James never imagined gays and lesbians exercising political clout. EDUCATION
FCAT score delay upsets goal settingBy Iricka Berlinger
Tallahassee DemocratSchools, students and parents have been anxiously awaiting FCAT scores for weeks now.
Failing our kids and the taxpayers with FCATBy Loranne Ausley
Ocala Star-BannerOur state has failed our kids. During the past couple of weeks, I personally watched the struggle of a family whose honor-roll student did not graduate from high school, and they are not sure why.
Tuition going up 15 percentBy Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville SunTuition will be rising 15 percent at all of Florida's state universities for the second straight year, increasing to a level that is still below the national average but starting to raise concerns among some members of the state governing board for universities.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida jobless rate drops to 11.7 percentBy Jim Stratton
Orlando SentinelFlorida's unemployment rate dipped to 11.7 percent in May, down three-tenths of a point from April, but the improving numbers don't necessarily suggest that the state's economic engine is humming again.
New report highlights fragile Florida economyBy Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent"Two-and-one-half years after the beginning of the Great Recession, the nation's economic recovery remains jobless and seems more fragile than ever," says the Brookings Institute June Metro Monitor report.
Florida remains no. 1 state for mortgage fraudBy Travis Pillow
Florida IndependentThe FBI released its yearly mortgage fraud report Thursday, along with the results of a federal sweep that saw nearly 500 arrests and some 1,215 people charged in cases involving costs of an estimated $2.3 billion.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
New coverage coming for pre-existing conditionsBy Bob LaMendola
South Florida Sun-SentinelMultiple sclerosis patient Marc Fladell and millions like him hope they will benefit when the first major piece of national health reform begins this month.
High-risk insurance pools to cover chronically ill starting July 1By Jeremy Cox
Florida Times-UnionIf the federal government's plan to offer moderately priced, last-resort health insurance to Americans with chronic illnesses sounds familiar to Floridians, it is.
Industry rewards Meek for billBy Jim Saunders
Health News FloridaU.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who has led the effort to kill competitive bidding for home medical-equipment suppliers in Medicare, has not gone unrewarded.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Noncriminal, undocumented aliens aren't being left alone, activists complainBy Alfonso Chardy
Miami HeraldFor Leslie Cocche, the morning of March 12 began like any other school day.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Jury awards $2.4M in first Chinese drywall trial By Curt Anderson
The Associated PressA Florida couple who fled their dream home because of foul-smelling, ruinous Chinese drywall was awarded $2.4 million in damages Friday in the nation's first jury trial over the defective wallboard that could have legal ramifications for thousands of similar cases.
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