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Progress Florida -- Progressive Solutions for Florida

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Daily Clips for July 14, 2010

FEATURED STORIES

No deal reached yet on how to handle special session

By Gary Fineout

Florida Tribune

A special session is only a week away but no firm plan has been reached by House and Senate leaders on what should happen.


State Rep. Ambler files immigration bills for special session

By Robert Napper

Florida Independent

A Republican state representative has filed three immigration bills amid Florida's brewing debate about which issues should be heard during next week's special session.


BP won't pay for more Florida beach ads; Crist may call lawyers

By Craig Pittman

St. Petersburg Times

In the first month of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Gov. Charlie Crist asked BP for $25 million to pay for an advertising blitz to promote how clean Florida's beaches are.


Group of current, former lawmakers trying to rekindle minority voting spirit

By Bill Cotterell

Florida Capital News

Two black legislators and a former lawmaker trying for a political comeback started a campaign Tuesday to rekindle the enthusiasm President Obama sparked two years ago.


Voters need to push back against corporate cash

By Daniel A. Smith

St. Petersburg Times

The employees and political action committees of securities and investment firms like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America have given more than $577,000 to Florida members of Congress so far this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Crist has utility-heavy list for PSC choices

By Mary Ellen Klas

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to name his replacements for his two ousted appointees to the state utility-regulation board Wednesday, and will choose from a list of eight applicants that includes many with deep ties to utility companies.

POLITICAL RACES

McCollum defends himself in Fla. governor's race

By Brendan Farrington

The Associated Press

Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum angrily defended himself Tuesday against Rick Scott's attacks in the governor's race, at one point grabbing a Scott campaign mailer and refuting its claims point by point.


Public funding may be Bill McCollum's last hope

By Josh Hafenbrack

Orlando Sentinel

Republican Rick Scott is on an unprecedented spending spree. He's poured more than $21 million -- and counting -- into his race for governor.


The billionaire's business: how U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene made his money

By Adam Smith

St. Petersburg Times

Billionaire Senate candidate Jeff Greene is spending millions on TV and campaign mailers casting himself the "proven job creator," but proving how many jobs he's created isn't so easy.


Rubio comes to Tampa, unveils ideas he wants to take to Washington

By Aaron Sharockman and Janet Zink

St. Petersburg Times

Marco Rubio, who as House speaker published a book of 100 ideas that became a road map for the state Legislature, unveiled a new set of ideas on Tuesday that he said he wants to take to the U.S. Senate.


Rubio Likes Lists, Crist Likes to Listen

By Steve Newborn and Scott Finn

WUSF Public Radio Tampa

The two leading candidates for Florida's U.S. Senate seat held dueling oil spill meetings Tuesday that revealed their very different personalities.


Bill Clinton will campaign with Kendrick Meek in August

By Alex Leary

St. Petersburg Times

The Buzz is Bill Clinton will head to Florida in August to campaign for Kendrick Meek.


GOP attorney general candidate Pam Bondi has Democratic roots

By Steve Bousquet

St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Pam Bondi is running for attorney general as a conservative Republican, but for much of her adult life she was a registered Democrat.


Rep. Ander Crenshaw takes heat for ties to St. Johns-polluting industry

By Virginia Chamlee

Florida Independent

Recent algal blooms and fish kills in the St. Johns River have begun to make their way into the increasingly heated 2010 election cycle.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

State takes fight over Fair Districts to Supremes

By Aaron Deslatte

Orlando Sentinel

Acting Florida Secretary of State Dawn Roberts is asking the state Supreme Court to wade into a political battle over two redistricting amendments on the November ballot.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Gulf oil to keep flowing while cap is analyzed

The Associated Press

Palm Beach Post

The plan to start choking off oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico was suddenly halted as government officials and BP said further analysis must be done Wednesday before critical tests could proceed.


Governor may ask lawmakers for Panhandle relief

By Mary Ellen Klas

Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau

Pressure is mounting for legislators to expand the special session next week to revamp Florida's laws to help ailing Panhandle residents recover from the financial hit of the oil disaster.


Life by the slick: Pensacola locals forced to adapt to the oil leak

By Joe Harless

Creative Loafing

A water tower on Interstate 10 proclaims that Pensacola is home to "Florida's Most Beautiful Beaches."


BP nixes Crist request for additional $50 million for ads

By Bruce Ritchie

FloridaEnvironments.com

BP appears to be rejecting Gov. Charlie Crist's request for an additional $50 million for Florida tourism advertising in response to the ongoing oil spill.


Oil spill: Escambia OKs $700K from BP for ads

By Kris Wernowsky

Pensacola News Journal

The Escambia County Commission on Tuesday approved the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce spending another $700,000 of BP's money on a nationwide advertising blitz.


Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web

By Matthew Brown and Ramit Plushnick-Masti

The Associated Press

Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment.


Put Oil Drilling Ban in Florida Constitution

By Manley Fuller

Florida Thinks!

The Florida Wildlife Federation and a number of allies are advocating the placement of a constitutional amendment before Florida voters this fall that would prohibit oil drilling in Florida's coastal waters.


Clean energy advocates declare America's Independence from oil

By Joshua Lee Holton

WMNF Community Radio Tampa

With spreading oil polluting the Gulf of Mexico, some groups say this July the US should declare its independence from dirty fossil fuels by using policy to develop clean and renewable energy.


Big Giveaways To Big Oil

The Progress Report

Think Progress

Last month, a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that would have cut $35 billion in taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil companies was soundly defeated in the Senate by a 35-61 vote, with every Republican and 21 Democrats voting against it.


As Reid prepares energy bill, emissions cap appears unlikely

By Andrew Restuccia

Florida Independent

Environmental groups are working feverishly behind the scenes to ensure that the climate and energy bill being cobbled together by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) includes a carbon cap on the power sector, but sources closely following the debate on and off Capitol Hill say there is simply not enough support for such a proposal to pass the Senate this year.

LGBT

If a constitutional ban on oil drilling is redundant, what about gay marriage?

By Alex Leary

St. Petersburg Times

From Marco Rubio to Bill McCollum to Larry Cretul, top Florida Republicans say Gov. Charlie Crist's special session to consider a constitutional ban on oil drilling is a costly redundancy.

EDUCATION

School districts see conflict of interest in FCAT audit plans

By Tom Marshal

St. Petersburg Times

Related editorial: School grades too important to be based on questionable FCAT scores

The company charged with auditing the results of this spring's troubled FCAT is no stranger to NCS Pearson, the testing giant in charge of scoring the test.


Online testing of students: Will Florida be ready?

By Leslie Postal

Orlando Sentinel

Central Florida school administrators are fearing technology snarls and scheduling nightmares when thousands of high-school students start taking standardized math exams on computers next school year.


Miami-Dade School Board might join class-size lawsuit

By Kathleen McGrory

Miami Herald

The Miami-Dade School Board on Wednesday will consider joining a lawsuit against the state for not fully funding the Florida constitutional amendment that limits class size.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Congress can find cuts to fund unemployment benefits

Editorial

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

With the nation's jobless rate still pushing double digits, there is a good case for prolonging the period that unemployed workers can get checks from Uncle Sam.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Hospitals spared rate reduction

By Christine Jordan Sexton

Florida Tribune

Florida hospitals won't see a 7 percent reduction in their Medicaid rates before the end of the year.


State Medicaid reforms lead to fewer doctor visits

By Jeremy Cox

Florida Times-Union

Northeast Florida's Medicaid recipients are making fewer trips to the doctor for chronic illnesses since state officials outsourced the government-subsidized health insurance program to private managed care companies.


Shands eyes special session

By Jim Saunders

Health News Florida

Warning that it will otherwise have to cut services, Shands HealthCare wants to use a special legislative session next week to reverse Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of $9.7 million for the University of Florida teaching hospital.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Democrats question importing Ariz. immigration law to Fla., point out difference between two

By Robert Napper

Florida Independent

As Florida Republicans gear up for an effort to write and pass an immigration law in Florida based on Arizona's controversial S.B. 1070, Democrats here are questioning whether the two states' concerns over illegal immigration are even comparable.

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