FEATURED STORIES
On the spill, more questions than answers
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Sick fish suggest oil spill still affecting gulf
Related: After the spill, what we should do better now
Related: A year after Deepwater Horizon disaster, opposition to oil drilling fades
Related editorial: Too soon to rush back to deepwater drilling
Related editorial: Long-haul, costly recovery for ecology
On April 20 last year, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded.
Corporate millions have paid off in 'pro-business' legislative agenda
By Aaron Deslatte and Scott Powers
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
With a former corporate executive in Gov. Rick Scott and growing Republican supermajorities controlling the Legislature, Florida is poised to enact sweeping "pro-business" and deregulatory changes in the next three weeks.
Florida Republicans push to cut early voting to single week
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
With Florida a crucial state in the 2012 presidential election, the state Legislature wants to overhaul election laws in ways critics say would help the Republican Party maintain its dominance.
Florida senator weakens antiunion bill amid broad opposition
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Faced with certain defeat of his antiunion bill, a powerful Senate leader backed off his proposal to ban unions from collecting dues through payroll deduction Friday and offered up an alternative to keep the measure alive.
House GOP passes bill to dramatically alter Supreme Court that GOP says 'has failed us'
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Less than a year after the Florida Supreme Court killed three proposed ballot measures pushed by the Republican-ruled Legislature, the state House took aim Friday at dramatically overhauling the seven-member panel.
EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Jim Morin
Miami Herald
FLORIDA POLITICS
Sen. Mike Haridopolos' rise aided by political partner
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
From 30-year-old community college professor to Florida Senate president, Mike Haridopolos' political rise has been steady and methodical.
Florida sees shift in Hispanic vote
By Molly Ball
Politico
In perennial swing state Florida, Republicans always had one thing they could count on: winning the state’s Hispanic vote, thanks to the enduring loyalty of South Florida voters of Cuban descent.
Florida Republicans’ war on voting continues
By Joy-Ann Reid
The Reid Report
Florida Republicans look to shorten the early voting period, make it harder to change your voting address, and force more people into provisional ballots, which are often not counted.
Jim Crow Tactics Return to Florida
By Deirdre Macnab
Orlando Sentinel
Our election system was working too smoothly. Now legislative leaders are working overtime to gum up the works.
Unions suffer payback in battle over dues
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
There's an old adage that if you shoot an arrow at a monarch, you dare not miss.
Buy one legislator, get one free
By Daniel Ruth
St. Petersburg Times
State Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-I Will Gladly Pay You Tuesday for a Hamburger Today, was beside herself with indignation.
Spending rules the day as Rubio rallies tea party crowd in Tampa
By Robbyn Mitchell
St. Petersburg Times
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio extolled the virtues of America and admonished the recent budget deal passed by Congress in front of thousands of supporters Friday at the Tampa Bay Tax Day Tea Party.
Today in Tallahassee: House, Senate observe Passover holiday
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times
As budget negotiations between the House and Senate appear stalled, and with just three weeks left until the scheduled end of the 60-day annual session, the Legislature shuts down Monday in observance of the Passover holiday.
POLITICAL RACES
Jacksonville mayor's race politically revealing
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Tip O'Neill's view that all politics is local applies particularly well to mayoral contests, where partisanship tends to be trumped by other factors.
Scott endorses Hogan as the Tea Party has a Friday Night Live celebration at the Landing
By Dan Scanlan
Florida Times-Union
Two years ago, the First Coast Tea Party was new and Rick Scott was just a former health care executive speaking out against President Barack Obama's health care program at its April event at The Jacksonville Landing.
2012 presidential candidates 'friend' social media
By Beth Fouhy
Associated Press
Republican Tim Pawlenty disclosed his 2012 presidential aspirations on Facebook.
Trump tells Boca Raton crowd he can oust Obama in 2012
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
Not yet officially a candidate, Donald Trump sounded a lot like a man on the stump at an outdoor gathering of tea party enthusiasts Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Drilling plans strike fear in Florida
By Jim Waymer
Florida Today
While Florida debated offshore drilling, six companies and a partnership of several others -- none American -- contracted to explore 22 deep sea areas off Cuba for oil and gas, 50 miles from Key West and some in deeper water than BP's Deepwater Horizon.
Deadline looming for Fla. to join Transocean lawsuit
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
Wednesday’s anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill finds Gov. Rick Scott, a health-care mogul and one of the most business-friendly chief executives Florida has ever known, at a critical juncture.
Nearly year after BP spill, Florida residents wait for disaster claims
By Rob Shaw
Tampa Tribune
The once-blackened beaches are white again and enticing visitors to dip their toes in the sand.
Environmental changes on horizon
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Daytona Beach News-Journal
No matter which side of the fence they're on, most people who track environmental issues in the Florida Legislature say they can't remember a time when so much dramatic change was on the table.
Renewable energy bills on hold in the Florida legislature
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
A renewable energy bill backed by Florida Power & Light has stalled in both houses of the Florida legislature, and is likely to see some changes before it moves ahead.
Environmentalists left in quandary after House votes
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Tribune
The House passage Friday of a bill repealing a statewide septic tank inspection requirement leaves environmentalists in a quandary -- should they support the House bill or a completely different Senate approach to the issue?
EDUCATION
Record shows that state must overcome years lost to FCAT obsession that began under Jeb Bush
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Related: Have Jeb’s reforms improved Florida schools?
In a letter to the editor last Sunday, Sen. Joe Negron, R-Palm City, said The Post Editorial Board "unfairly criticized Jeb Bush and his education policy adviser Patricia Levesque."
Black students struggling in Pinellas schools
By Ron Matus
St. Petersburg Times
Related editorial: Excuses can’t change the facts
As a group, black students in Florida struggle almost everywhere.
Colleges hire politicians to get influence
By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press
Former House Speaker Ray Sansom avoided a corruption conviction, but the short-lived job with a state college that forced him out of the Legislature put a sharper focus on a long history of Florida colleges and universities currying favor with politicians by hiring them.
Hope: Should early education be a right?
By Deirdre Conner
Florida Times-Union
Related: Jacksonville families struggle for access to quality early education
Debate is going on in Jacksonville and around the country about early childhood education, in part because a growing body of research is showing that most of the brain's development takes place in the first years of life.
Rising college costs endanger Florida's low-cost status
By Tom Marshall
St. Petersburg Times
Even in hard times, students view borrowing for education as a down payment on the good life.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Union leaders' complaint: Florida workers 'under assault'
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
When union leaders in Florida talk about the current political season, you might think they were reporting on the fighting in Libya.
Working people critical of Governor and Legislature (audio interview)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Coming up today we'll hear from local labor activists who are concerned about anti-union proposals being pushed by the Governor and being passed by the state legislature.
Florida unemployment drops in March
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Proclaiming "a great day for Florida," Gov. Rick Scott said Friday the state's unemployment rate for March was 11.1 percent — down nearly a full percent since he took office at the start of the year.
Legislature pushing for property tax overhaul
By Gary Fineout
Ocala Star-Banner
A break for first-time homebuyers.
Florida launches billion-dollar mortgage bailout amid concerns
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
The state today launches a billion-dollar mortgage bailout aimed initially at unemployed homeowners and pinned largely on the hope that those who get help will find jobs within six months.
Budget cuts haven't eliminated pork in Senate budget
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
It may be a historically bad budget year for public employees, teachers, environmental programs and Medicaid patients, but lawmakers are nonetheless finding ways to tuck hometown projects in the budget.
Sinkhole claims skyrocketing? Well, so are numbers of sinkholes
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Complaining about fraud, frivolous claims and people who spend insurance payouts on items other than home repairs, insurance companies have persuaded lawmakers to free them from providing comprehensive sinkhole coverage.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Tampa Bay police say dubious pain pill businesses adapt to keep going
By Meg Laughlin and Letitia Stein
St. Petersburg Times
Superior Injury Center was shut down last year as an illegal pain clinic. But police say the many people who flocked there for prescription narcotics soon returned.
Flores votes against amendment providing more protection to pregnant women facing health risk
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Yesterday, Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, voted down an amendment in a Senate budget committee that would have provided more protection for women seeking an abortion whose life is threatened by a pregnancy.
Major Players Fighting Over Fla. Lawsuit Limits
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
Injured Floridians' ability to sue nursing homes, doctors and hospitals for compensation when they are hurt by negligence could be curtailed under legislation pitting some of the capital's most powerful lobbying groups against each other.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Fla. welfare drug testing may get state funding
Associated Press
Northwest Florida Daily News
The Senate Budget Committee's chairman says he'll try to find state dollars to reimburse welfare applicants who pass drug tests that would be required by pending legislation.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Democrats call House overhaul of Florida Supreme Court 'ill-advised and arrogant'By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
After emotional testimony in which Democrats accused Republicans of sinister motives and Republicans said they simply wanted to expedite justice, the House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill that proposes a significant overhaul of the state Supreme Court.
The shoddy history of politicized courts
By Martin Dyckman
St. Petersburg Times
Not so long ago, what Floridians were reading about their Supreme Court could have foretold one of John Grisham's conspiratorial novels.
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