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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Friday, June 4, 2010

Daily Clips for June 4, 2010

FEATURED STORIES

Oil hovers near shores

By Travis Griggs

Pensacola News Journal

Related AP story: BP exec says cap is collecting some oil in Gulf

Related: A treasure that could be destroyed

As BP struggled to put a lid on the Gulf oil gusher Thursday night, the growing slick of oil hovered just a few miles off Navarre and Pensacola beaches.


Fishermen Qualify For Federal Aid; Crist Asks BP For $50 Million to Fight Oil

By Michael Peltier

News Service of Florida

Florida's commercial fishermen caught a small break Thursday as they were allowed to join their Gulf state counterparts who qualify for federal assistance in the wake of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.


Chiles' Entry Into Race for Governor Stirs Up Fla. Politics

By Jeremy Wallace

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Late entries into the two hottest races in the state are shaking up Florida politics.


How Florida's Forgotten Democrat Could Win the Senate Race

By Michael Grunwald

Time Magazine

It's only June, but Florida's three-way U.S. Senate contest is already shaping up as a race to remember.


Crist distances himself from arrested former Republican party chairman Jim Greer

By John Frank and Marc Caputo

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Gov. Charlie Crist, who placed and protected Jim Greer at the helm of the Florida GOP, on Thursday denied knowing anything about a secret contract at the center of the six-count criminal fraud indictment against the former Republican leader.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

RPOF's Jim Greer Arrested, Indicted Wednesday

By Buck Banks

Pensito Review

It's a tale of greed, hubris, dumb shrewdness and more greed and hubris for good measure.


At The Heart Of The Gulf Disaster: Deregulation

By Ray Seaman

Progress Florida

You can count me as someone who believes BP is first and foremost responsible for the tragedy taking place in the Gulf right now.


Cannon Pushed $200,000 "Rush Job" To Favor Oil Drilling

By Inkberries

Beach Peanuts

When Gov. Charlie Crist recently spoke of having a special session to put an oil drilling ban on the November ballot, one of the legislators who pushed so hard to lift the ban on drilling in the first place, Republican Dean Cannon said he didn't think that was necessary.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Crist veto of money for Shands looks personal, but he denies it

By Marc Caputo and Lee Logan

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Of all the times Gov. Charlie Crist has flip-flopped, few decisions stand out like his budget veto of nearly $10 million for Shands Hospital in Gainesville.


Once politically close, Florida's Crist and LeMieux split sharply on Obama's oil-spill response

By George Bennett

Palm Beach Post

Around the same time his friend and political patron Gov. Charlie Crist appeared on CNN Wednesday and defended President Obama's response to the gulf oil spill, Republican U.S. Sen. George LeMieux sat in a hotel lobby and ripped Obama's performance.


Authorities kept Greer indictment sealed for two weeks

By Rene Stutzman

Orlando Sentinel

Former Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer was arrested Wednesday, but the statewide grand jury that charged him handed up its indictment two weeks earlier, according to court records.


Crist signs Fla. python ban, ephedrine tracking

The Associated Press

Miami Herald

Gov. Charlie Crist has signed bills banning the ownership of Burmese pythons and other reptiles and requiring tracking of over-the-counter ephedrine sales.


911 Operator Training Bill Signed Into Law

By David Royse

News Service of Florida

Dispatchers who answer 911 calls will have to have additional training and pass an exam under legislation signed into law Thursday by Gov. Charlie Crist.


GOP account isn't closed: Credit-card scandal not a Crist-only problem

Editorial

Palm Beach Post

The search warrant that preceded Jim Greer's arrest Wednesday on six theft, fraud and money laundering charges demonstrates - literally - that the road to justice is not always direct.


Lessons for Florida's GOP

Editorial

Miami Herald

Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer's arrest on money laundering and fraud charges should give pause to Gov. Charlie Crist, who defended him for months as GOP contributors demanded answers to find out where their money was being spent.

POLITICAL RACES

Florida's Meek Faces Powerful Rivals For Senate Seat

By Greg Allen

NPR

One of the most closely watched elections this fall will be for the open Senate seat in Florida.


Fla. Senate candidate tests politics, ethnicity

By Christine Armario

The Associated Press

At a boutique hotel in Miami's upscale Coral Gables neighborhood, members of a Republican women's group smile and gush as Senate candidate Marco Rubio enters the room.


Rubio releases web video on Greer/Crist ties

By Luke Johnson

Florida Independent

Former Florida House Speaker and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Marco Rubio released an ad tying his opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, to former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer, who was arrested yesterday.


Lawton 'Bud' Chiles walks, runs for governor

By John Lantigua

Palm Beach Post

Lawton "Bud" Chiles is slipping on his size 9 1/2 walking shoes and will soon be strolling through Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, on his way -- he hopes -- to the governor's mansion.


GOP governor candidate Rick Scott seeks support in Little Havana

By Carrie Wells

Miami Herald

Gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott stopped in Little Havana Thursday at the popular Versailles restaurant to grab a café cubano and chat up the locals -- in English.


GOP candidates for Florida attorney general disagree on gay adoption ban

By Aaron Sharockman

St. Petersburg Times

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp said Thursday he has been virtually locked out of the governor's office since Charlie Crist announced in April that he was leaving the Republican Party.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Constitutional Amendments 5 and 6 deserve our support

By R. Kenneth Bluh

Miami Community Newspapers

Every 10 years, following the completion of the national census, state legislatures are required to reconfigure the boundaries of voting districts to conform to the increasing or decreasing number of residents in the state.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Groups: BP Cheated on Clean-Up Plan

By Gina Presson

Public News Service Florida

Charging that BP cheated on its safety plans and the U.S. Minerals Management Service let them, Earthjustice has filed suit against the agency for approving those plans.


Oil sheen, tar balls reported in south Florida Keys; officials laying protective booming

By Christine Stapleton

Palm Beach Post

A news release about tar balls, oil and a confirmed sighting of sheen in the lower Florida Keys on Thursday prompted officials at two popular dolphin encounter facilities to lay boom to protect the animals' habitats.


Crist's confusing signals on renewable energy

By Bruce Ritchie

Florida Tribune

Gov. Charlie Crist keeps saying that he wants to take up renewable energy legislation in a possible special session that would also deal with offshore oil drilling.


Oil-Drilling Incompatibility: Keep Florida United

Editorial

Lakeland Ledger

An oil blowout and gusher of horrific proportions in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening Florida's fragile coastal environment and economy, was needed to reunite the state's congressional delegation against oil drilling off the state's coast.

LGBT

McCollum's staff had questions about selection of expert

By Gary Fineout

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The hiring of a now-disgraced psychologist to defend Florida's ban on gay adoption was done over the objections of the main attorney defending the case for the state, according to records made public Thursday.

EDUCATION

Florida considers removing flavored milk from school menus

By Rebecca Catalanello

St. Petersburg Times

A rush of small hands reached into the cafeteria cooler.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Growing Sense of Dread Facing Gulf Hoteliers, Anglers

By Steve Newborn

WUSF Public Radio Tampa

A conference was held Thursday here on the effects of the Gulf oil spill on local businesses.


Appraisers want taxes to show loss from oil spill

By Jamie Page

Pensacola News Journal

Escambia County Property Appraiser Chris Jones and his counterpart in Santa Rosa County, Greg Brown, are seeking lower property taxes this year for coastal residents whose property values fall because of the oil spill.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Officials hopeful on drug database

By Jim Saunders

Health News Florida

As Gov. Charlie Crist gets ready to sign a bill to crack down further on Florida's pill-mill industry, state health officials say they expect to meet a Dec. 1 deadline for creating a database to track prescription drugs.


No conflict on pain panel, doctor says

By Carol Gentry

Health News Florida

Joel Rose, the physician who appointed himself to a state rule-setting panel on pain treatment, says he has no conflict of interest because the clinics he works in aren't really pain clinics.


U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz touts healthcare reform in Hollywood

By Anthony Man

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

With Republicans using the new federal healthcare law as a political weapon against Democrats, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, tried Thursday to reassure senior citizens.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Trio back efforts to curb illegals

By John A. Torres and Jim Waymer

Florida Today

State Sen. Mike Haridopolos confirmed his support of a tough immigration law in Florida, similar to that passed in Arizona.


Inmate's collapse leaves unanswered questions

Editorial

St. Petersburg Times

Serious questions surround the circumstances of Samuel Joel Dread's collapse.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Fla. Ponzi lawyer's ex-cars, boats auctioned

By Curt Anderson

The Associated Press

Some of the flashier spoils of disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein's massive Ponzi scheme were auctioned Thursday for $5.8 million, with the money earmarked by the government to repay investors for some of their losses.

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