Daily Clips for September 30, 2010

FEATURED STORIES Sink fires back at Scott over ads about state's pension fund By Catherine Whittenburg Tampa Tribune Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink responded Tuesday to Republican Rick Scott's accusations that she has poorly managed state investments, calling his recent campaign ads "lies" and blasting him as scaring seniors unduly about the health of their pensions. Florida governor's race may be decided by nonaffiliated voters By Bob Rathgeber Ft. Myers News-Press More than 2.5 million of Florida's 11.1 million registered voters claim no party affiliation or belong to an assortment of parties other than Republican or Democrat. Rove's 'super PAC' helps Rubio in surge By Beth Reinhard Miami Herald A new and powerful "super-PAC" tied to Republican strategist Karl Rove, fueled by out-of-state corporations and billionaires, is swooping into Florida to put its money behind front-runner Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race. No grand jury inquiry of 'Taj Mahal' courthouse, but plenty of political fallout By Lucy Morgan and Marc Caputo St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau A grand jury decided Wednesday not to investigate the so-called Taj Mahal state appellate court house, which has become a symbol of excessive spending in the midst of a budget crisis. EPA delays new Florida water pollution rules after opposition by Nelson, LeMieux By Craig Pittman St. Petersburg Times Florida's two U.S. senators may be in different parties, but they have found something they agree on. FLORIDA POLITICS Judge defends ‘Taj Mahal’ courthouse, scores lowest ever rating in Florida Bar poll By Brett Ader Florida Independent Related: No grand jury probe into ‘Taj Mahal’; Crist approved project multiple times Chief Justice Paul Hawkes of Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals issued a seven-page letter Monday to newspaper editors around the state, responding to the flurry of criticism that has been leveled against the court’s new $48 million home in the state’s capital. Jury: No probe into courthouse By Bill Cotterell Florida Capital News A grand jury decided Wednesday not to investigate the legislative dealings that went into construction of the new First District Court of Appeal. Libertarians challenge campaign finance law The Associated Press Miami Herald A libertarian group challenged Florida's campaign finance law covering political action committees and similar groups Wednesday in federal court as part of a national drive against such state regulations. How they voted, Part 6: the bad CSX deal By Howard Troxler St. Petersburg Times In one of the more bizarre spectacles of the last two years, our Legislature held a special session last December to ram through a bill for…Commuter rail. POLITICAL RACES Three polls give Rubio double-digit lead in Senate race By George Bennett Palm Beach Post A Quinnipiac University poll released this morning shows Republican Marco Rubio riding voter anger and anti-Obama sentiment to a 13-point lead over indie Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida’s Senate race with Democrat Kendrick Meek a distant third. Poll: Rubio pulling away from Crist in Senate race By Bill Cotterell Florida Capital News Another poll shows Republican Marco Rubio pulling away from Gov. Charlie Crist in their race for the U.S. Senate today. Meek or Crist? Democrats must decide soon By Joy-Ann Reid Miami Herald The unvarnished, dispassionate truth about the U.S. Senate race in Florida is that the ambitions of either Gov. Charlie Crist or Rep. Kendrick Meek have to die, so that the other's Senate dream can live. Don't Be Fooled - Florida Senate Race Is Between One Progressive and Two Lifetime Republicans By Andy Stern Huffington Post If you were to read only the national coverage of the three-way race for the U.S. Senate in Florida, you would think it is a solid "red" state and that a true representative of the middle class and progressive values is unelectable. Spanish Rubio ad clashes with Republican English-as-official-language rhetoric By Cooper Levey-Baker Florida Independent Marco Rubio released the first Spanish-language television ad in the race to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate on Sunday. Marco Rubio gets $246,000 boost from Karl Rove's PAC By Dan Christensen South Florida Sun-Sentinel A "super PAC" backed by Republican strategist Karl Rove, and largely financed by a few wealthy out-of-state businessmen, has reported spending nearly a quarter of a million dollars to support Florida Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio. Defending pension blunder, GOP leaders undermine campaign slam of Alex Sink By Lee Logan St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Two of Florida's top Republicans are criticizing claims made in one of their own party's political ads savaging Democrat Alex Sink for her role in problems with the state's pension fund. Candidates for Florida governor grapple with issue of property insurance By Brandon Larrabee Florida Times-Union After crossing the state to win votes in the shadow of a hurricane season, the next Florida governor will almost certainly face an issue that has challenged lawmakers and officials for years: How to fix the property insurance market in one of the riskiest states in the nation. 'Better for business' is Scott's state mantra By Jeremy Wallace Sarasota Herald-Tribune Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott left no doubt at a fundraiser here Wednesday that he will be a friend to business if he wins on Nov. 2. Local GOP raises $531K for Rick Scott By James A. Jones Jr. Bradenton Herald After a bruising battle for the GOP gubernatorial nomination between Rick Scott and Bill McCollum, local Republicans rallied around Scott at a campaign fundraiser Wednesday. Democrat faces uphill challenge in Republican-dominated area By Scott Travis South Florida Sun-Sentinel Two lawyers, both political newcomers, are running to succeed veteran state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff in Tallahassee. BALLOT INITIATIVES 'Hometown Democracy' supporters, foes face off By Rick Neale Florida Today Sunshine State bureaucrats routinely rubber-stamp too many over-sized, needless housing and commercial projects, Lesley Blackner argues. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Oil spill cleanup on Florida beaches shifting to next stage By Craig Pittman St. Petersburg Times The effort to clean oil from Florida's shoreline is shifting gears, federal and BP officials announced Wednesday. Cleanup of some oiled Florida beaches may cause more harm By Bruce Ritchie FloridaEnvironments.com Federal officials are beginning to leave alone some beaches that still have oil in sand below the surface because further cleanup could cause more environmental harm, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday. Mabus: Reap BP fines for Gulf coast recovery By Jamie Page Pensacola News Journal Navy Secretary Ray Mabus says "a significant amount" of the oil spill fines that BP will pay should be used to help fund the Gulf Coast recovery effort. LGBT Orange Mayor Rich Crotty's gay-rights compromise may pass quickly By David Damron Orlando Sentinel Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty has forged a compromise on a pair of gay-rights issues that appears to enjoy support both from fellow county leaders and gay activists. EDUCATION Broward school district lodges complaint against teachers union By Carli Teproff Miami Herald Complaining that it is “boxed into a corner,” the Broward County school district has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the Broward Teachers Union with the state board over a failure to discuss 2010-11 employee contracts. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY Consumer confidence in Florida back to pre-gulf oil spill levels By Jeff Ostrowski Palm Beach Post Floridians' confidence in the economy improved in September as the gulf oil spill receded, but Americans' view turned grimmer as job worries intensify, according to separate reports released Tuesday. Florida will keep AC rebate money but program frozen By Diane C. Lade South Florida Sun-Sentinel U.S. Department of Energy officials say Florida will not lose federal grant funding for its "cash-for-clunker" air-conditioner rebates if state officials miss the Thursday deadline to authorize spending the cash. New NASA policy: House passes bill to change direction for space agency By Mark K. Matthews and Robert Block Orlando Sentinel Congress and the White House finally agreed on a new space policy Wednesday night when the U.S. House voted 304-118 in favor of a plan that ends NASA's goal of returning to the moon and instead tasks the agency with building a new spacecraft that could land on an asteroid by 2025. Feds approve additional housing aid for Fla. The Associated Press Tampa Tribune Floridians who are struggling to make mortgage payments are getting additional help from the federal government's Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets. HEALTH AND SENIORS Another blow to Crist's Cover Florida health insurance plan By Christine Jordan Sexton Florida Tribune Gov. Charlie Crist’s Cover Florida program was supposed to provide options to uninsured residents seeking health care coverage at an affordable price. Children's Movement's goal: Helping Florida's kids By Carol Marbin Miller and Mar Cabra Miami Herald The founders of The Children's Movement of Florida say they have discovered something that almost all Floridians hold in common: They love their children. Medicaid HMO rates up; Dade hit By Jim Saunders Health News Florida Medicaid HMOs in much of Florida will receive average rate increases of almost 2 percent this week, after a numbers-crunching dispute between the industry and the state Agency for Health Care Administration. Blogger takes on health corp. By John Dorschner Health News Florida Automated HealthCare Solutions, a growing private firm in Miramar, is suing a solo blogger who accused the company of being part of a workers’ compensation system that benefits from “rampant greed.” JUSTICE AND THE COURTS Florida ranks second in illegal guns traced to crimes, study shows By Gary Taylor Orlando Sentinel Guns bought in one state often end up being used in crimes in another state, and a coalition of the nation's mayors thinks tougher laws could reverse that trend.