Daily Clips for October 28, 2010

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS Florida, Guess Who's Voting? By Peter Schorsch St. Petersblog 2.0 Progress Florida launches powerful new web video about who is voting and who is hoping you don’t. FEATURED STORIES A Campaign of Few Details, but Questions Keep Coming By Damien Cave New York Times The question for Rick Scott at last week’s debate had been asked countless times: Why was he qualified to be Florida’s governor when his tenure as a chief executive of Columbia/HCA led to $1.7 billion in fines for defrauding the government? Sink points to varied endorsements, touts 'character, integrity to lead' By Betty Parker Ft. Myers News-Press Democratic candidate for governor Alex Sink promised to use her business experience in banking to help restore Florida's economy during her appearance Wednesday morning at Harborside in downtown Fort Myers. Charlie Crist's likely demise leaves an uncertain legacy By Gary Fineout Florida Tribune With polls showing that he continues to lag behind rival Marco Rubio, the hour that Gov. Charlie Crist spent with David Gregory at Tuesday night’s U.S. Senate debate might be his final time in the national spotlight. Former TV anchor challenges GOP chief Thrasher for Florida Senate By Steve Bousquet St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau For two decades, Deborah Gianoulis was a nightly fixture in northeast Florida living rooms as anchor for the region's most popular news station. Haridopolos facing ethics investigation over unreported income and investments By Steve Bousquet St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau State Sen. Mike Haridopolos admitted Wednesday he made mistakes in five years of financial disclosure forms, but that came too late for the Florida Commission on Ethics, which found probable cause that the lawmaker violated the state ethics laws. FLORIDA POLITICS Judge denies conservative activists’ request to block campaign finance law By Brett Ader Florida Independent Four conservative Sarasota activists who sought to sidestep state campaign finance laws in an effort to run radio spots opposing Amendment 4, citing the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case which stripped financial disclosure requirements prior to electioneering, have had their request for a preliminary injunction denied by a federal judge. Citizens have no right to speak at public meetings, according to Florida courts By Bianca Fortis Florida Independent The Florida Supreme Court refused an appeal from a lower court ruling that says citizens have no right to participate at public meetings. Haridopolos focus of state ethics probe By Jeff Schweers Florida Today State Sen. Mike Haridopolos, in line to become president of the Florida Senate, failed to disclose on required state forms that he was paid thousands of dollars by the marketing arm of one of the state's largest appliance retailers for two years. POLITICAL RACES In governor's race, Sink and Scott's inner circles reflect distinctive styles By Mary Ellen Klas St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Related: Candidates for governor light up Florida TVs with a bonfire of money When Democrat Alex Sink fired Miami lobbyist Brian May from her campaign Monday for sending her a message in the midst of her last debate, she lost one of her campaign's top political advisers, and her temper. Great Scott, this man is over the top By Carl Hiaasen Miami Herald Even by Florida's shaky standards, Rick Scott stands out as one of the most outlandish characters ever to pop out of the woodwork. Scott's big bucks, Sink's 'grass roots' show in each campaigns' final travel arrangements By Dara Kam and Jeff Ostrowski Palm Beach Post Less than a week before the election, Republican Rick Scott's campaign for governor has the feel of someone running for president. Scott's mom is his campaign co-star By Bob Rathgeber Ft. Myers News-Press She's a great-grandmother. She gets co-star billing. She signs autographs, shakes hands and tells everyone what a nice boy her son is. Nice guy Charlie Crist playing rough trying to get to Washington By Adam C. Smith St. Petersburg Times People "are tired of the games and the name-calling and the politics of personal destruction," Gov. Charlie Crist declared in April while announcing he would run as a nonpartisan candidate for U.S. Senate. Crist, Meek, Rubio begin final push By Jim Stratton Orlando Sentinel A day after the sixth and final debate in the race for U.S. Senate, Gov. Charlie Crist insisted he can make a move on frontrunner Marco Rubio, pointing to a new Zogby poll that shows him trailing the Miami Republican by about 6 percentage points. Agriculture commissioner candidate Putnam fought to block water quality rules; rival Maddox remains silent By Virginia Chamlee Florida Independent The race to become Florida’s agriculture commissioner has received little media notice, but the winner of the campaign will play an important role in the debate over efforts to protect Florida’s water quality. Last District 8 debate features Grayson but no Webster By Mark Schlueb Orlando Sentinel In the final debate before the election, one of U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson's opponents branded him "Ayatollah Alan," another promised she's not in cahoots with him to spoil the election, and two of the three slammed Republican Dan Webster for not showing up. Gianoulis-Thrasher Senate race takes a negative, combative turn By Tia Mitchell Florida Times-Union Related: Duval school board member forms organization to oppose Thrasher's re-election As the state Senate District 8 race has become increasingly negative, it is candidate Deborah Gianoulis, the well-liked TV anchor who has never run for office before, who has become more likely to lead the attack. Outside groups spend big to oust Democrats By Scott Powers and Mark K. Matthews Orlando Sentinel In the last two weeks, a trio of outside groups have come to the defense of U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson -- spending about $110,000 on canvassing and web ads to help the Orlando Democrat against his Republican challenger, Dan Webster, according to federal records. Big Texas Green Flowing into Sunshine State Campaign By Gina Presson Public News Service Florida Big Texas green is flowing into Florida, in the form of campaign dollars. BALLOT INITIATIVES Amendment 1 Would be a Big Step Backward in Campaign Finance Reform By Dennis Maley Bradenton Times I think I begin every column on ballot amendments with the same statement – that this is an imperfect solution to a problem that needs to be addressed, but has not. Nos. 5 and 6 are about fairness Editorial Northwest Florida Daily News In a guest column today, state Rep. Matt Gaetz makes an excellent case for approving Amendments 5 and 6 on Florida’s November ballot. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Global extinction crisis looms, new study says By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post A growing number of creatures could disappear from the earth, with one-fifth of all vertebrates and as many as a third of all sharks and rays now facing the threat of extinction, according to a new survey assessing nearly 26,000 species across the globe. Deadline nears to file oil spill claims By Sara Kennedy Bradenton Herald Attorneys are alerting those adversely affected by the Gulf oil spill to file claims before the Nov. 23 deadline. LGBT Appeals court upholds adoption by lesbian By Diana Moskovitz Miami Herald upheld Wednesday the adoption of a toddler by a lesbian in Hollywood, one month after the court tossed the state's controversial gay-adoption law. Ban on gay adoptions finally removed Editorial St. Petersburg Times Finally, one of the worst vestiges of orange juice pitchwoman Anita Bryant's 1977 campaign against gays and lesbians has been dispatched — although not quite permanently. EDUCATION Elections complaint filed against superintendent By Marc Freeman South Florida Sun-Sentinel The Palm Beach County Republican Party on Tuesday night announced the filing of Florida Elections Commission Complaint against schools Superintendent Art Johnson. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY South Florida has nation's highest total foreclosure filings for 3Q of 2010 By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post South Florida households accumulated the highest number of total foreclosure filings of any metropolitan area in the nation during the third quarter of this year, with one in every 41 homes affected. Foreclosure filings rise outside the housing bust areas By Jeff Harrington St. Petersburg Times Memo to Tampa Bay homeowners facing foreclosure: Seattle feels some of your pain. HEALTH AND SENIORS Misinformation, ill-conceived legal challenge cloud benefits of new health law By Laura Goodhue Gainesville Sun Before the ink was dry on the new health law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), opponents had already launched a politically motivated campaign to undermine it. Lawmakers take aim at Shands veto By Jim Saunders Health News Florida Gov. Charlie Crist baffled and angered state lawmakers in May when he vetoed $9.7 million for the Shands teaching hospital at the University of Florida. JUSTICE AND THE COURTS David Rivera stays on the ballot By Lesley Clark Miami Herald A Miami-Dade judge has thrown out a case trying to disqualify Republican congressional candidate David Rivera from Tuesday's ballot. Norman back on ballot after appeals court decision By Mike Salinero and William March Tampa Tribune Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman is once again the Republican candidate for state Senate District 12.