FEATURED STORIES
Protests grow as Scott considers an elections bill
By Kathleen Haughney and Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott has yet to sign a sweeping elections bill that rewrites much of the state's voting laws, but the measure is already having repercussions in a South Florida mayoral race – and drawing challenges from Democrats in Florida and in Washington.
Governor, veto this awful voting bill
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Gov. Rick Scott says he's still reviewing elections bill
I'm not going to sign a bill that I believe discourages people from voting. — Gov. Rick Scott
Florida ethics panel rejects Solantic complaints against Gov. Rick Scott
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
The Florida Ethics Commission has dismissed two conflict-of-interest complaints against Gov. Rick Scott, both stemming from his ownership stake in Solantic, a chain of urgent-care clinics that is being sold.
How social-service budget cuts may affect you
By Kate Santich
Orlando Sentinel
As social-service programs in Florida face steep federal and state budget cuts, the safety net for the poor, vulnerable and elderly is growing increasingly tattered.
In Florida, thousands of teachers could lose jobs
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
It took less than a week for the first effects of the state budget cuts to be felt.
Alvin Brown makes history, becoming city's first African-American mayor
By Timothy J. Gibbons
Florida Times-Union
Almost a full day after the polls closed, after the last 2,000 ballots were counted, it became official: Alvin Brown is Jacksonville’s next mayor.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Controversy over Elections Bill Grows
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Governor Rick Scott is expected to sign a bill that would drastically change Florida’s election laws.
Llorente sues to stop elections rewrite still before Scott
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Marcelo Llorente filed suit Wednesday, seeking to stop the Republican-ruled Florida Legislature’s rewrite of elections law that Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign into law.
Florida lobbyists still spending big to influence Tallahassee
By Kathleen Haughney and Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida utilities, casino operators, local governments and a host of other interests spent more than $55.1 million to lobby Tallahassee lawmakers and the governor during the first three months of the year, according to a Sentinel-Sun Sentinel analysis of lobbyist compensation data released this week.
Bipartisanship on both sides of Florida's redistricting process
By Kate Bradshaw
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Progressives may not be happy with many of the outcomes of the 2010 midterm elections, but many see the two Fair Districts amendments voters adopted as a victory.
Florida Sen. Mike Haridopolos touts session, says he takes on 'tough issues'
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Haridopolos loses a paying gig
Some people talk. Others lead and accomplish.
POLITICAL RACES
Florida Democrats claim victory in closest-ever Jax mayoral race
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Although the results won’t be official until tomorrow, the Florida Democratic Party is claiming victory in what is reportedly the closest-ever Jacksonville mayoral contest and one that apparently will elect the city’s first African-American to the job.
Haridop: GOP should “study,” “investigate” Jax race
By William March
Tampa Tribune
State Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who’s running for U.S. Senate, said Florida Republicans need to “study what happened” in the Jacksonville Mayor’s race, in which a Democrat appears to have pulled a stunning upset over a favored Republican.
Huntsman Chooses Orlando for 2012 Headquarters
By Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
Jon M. Huntsman Jr. is a former governor of Utah. He now lives in Washington.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Big names add their voices against growth bill
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Former Sen. Bob Graham and longtime environmental activist Nathaniel "Nat" Reed, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, joined forces Wednesday to call on Gov. Rick Scott to veto a bill that would reverse more than 30 years of growth management regulation.
Florida gears up to fight new federal rules on water pollution
By Mike Thomas
Orlando Sentinel
Ladies and gentleman, we have clean water in Florida. Don't let any environmentalist tell you otherwise. It is clean; it smells good; it looks good. — Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida
Conservationists ask Scott to veto bill that slashes water-management budgets
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
Conservationists, including crusading former House Speaker Dick Pettigrew and Naples Vice-Mayor John Sorey, called on Gov. Rick Scott today to veto a bill that would slash water management district budgets by $210 million.
Questions persist on future of Florida Forever land-buying program
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Tribune
The governor and Cabinet on Tuesday approved a new conservation land-buying list and the purchase of a 55-acre addition to Natural Bridge Battlefield State Park near Tallahassee.
Senate blocks GOP bid to speed offshore drilling
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A GOP bid to expand and hasten offshore oil drilling in the face of $4-a-gallon gasoline prices suffered an overwhelming defeat in the Senate today, four days after President Barack Obama directed his administration to ramp up U.S. oil production.
Don't let Florida's black bears be unnecessary victims
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
State wildlife officials have concluded there are just too many darned black bears roaming around inhabited Florida.
LGBT
SAVE Dade, Ros-Lehtinen reach out to lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender Republicans
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
SAVE Dade, the county’s largest gay-rights group, struggles with the perception that all its members are liberal Democrats.
EDUCATION
Florida university officials fear budget vetoes
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
State university officials Wednesday said they'll shift lobbying efforts from the Legislature to Gov. Rick Scott, who has been eying the schools' construction projects for possible budget vetoes.
Pearson problems nothing new in testing world
By Jeff Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
Server problems that plagued Florida's computerized algebra end-of-course exam on Wednesday did nothing to polish the image of test-maker Pearson, which wrote and oversaw the new system for the state Department of Education.
Ed. commissioner to pick textbooks
By Lilly Rockwell
News Service Of Florida
Fewer people will approve what textbooks Florida students should use under a bill that dramatically changes the state's textbook adoption procedures.
Teachers get saved in Palm Beach County, sacrificed in Broward – why?
By Michael Mayo
South Florida Sun Sentinel
How come there's a teacher massacre in Broward schools, but not in Palm Beach County or Miami-Dade?
Duval school board nears balanced budget, plans to drop some varsity sports
By Topher Sanders
Florida Times-Union
The Duval County School Board made more tentative cuts Wednesday, including 10 high school varsity sports programs, to help make up for a $91 million deficit.
While pushing back critics, FSU gains a couple more GOP insiders
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Even as Florida State University administrators work to stiff-arm critics over the school’s $1.5 million donation from conservative titan Charles Koch, Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday added a couple prominent Republican leaders to its board of trustees.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Governor could be warming up to SunRail
By Aaron Deslatte and Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Scott on SunRail: 'I'll make the best decision I can'
Gov. Rick Scott says he still has not made up his mind about the SunRail commuter train, but supporters of the $1.2 billion project suggest he could be warming up to it.
As insurers win more rights to raise rates, real loser may be Florida's struggling housing market
By Robert Trigaux
St. Petersburg Times
Here's a rite of passage Florida homeowners know well. My insurer is dumping me.
Optimism in housing market ignores one thing: all of the empty houses
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
Is another Florida building boom looming?
Foreclosure Fraud Fallout
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Late last year, several of the nation's largest banks were forced to implement foreclosure moratoriums after it came to light that they were short-circuiting the foreclosure process through, among other abuses, the use of "robo-signers."
Sens. Nelson, Rubio team up on taxes
By Carlton Proctor
Pensacola News Journal
Florida Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio today introduced a bill that would that would simplify the tax code and filing requirements for seniors.
Florida third in the nation when it comes to costs incurred from fatal car crashes
By Sonja Isger
Palm Beach Post
When federal officials announced this month that Florida ranked No. 3 in the nation when it comes to costs incurred from fatal vehicle crashes, traffic safety advocates embraced the public shaming as new ammunition in the effort to tame the state's highways.
Taxpayer bill mounts in legal defense of Florida insurance commissioner
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Legal bills continue to mount for the defense of insurance commissioner Kevin McCarty and the state Office of Insurance Regulation.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Scott not moved by criticism of abortion-rights restricting bills
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
In an exclusive interview with Florida Baptist Witness, Gov. Rick Scott briefly discussed public reaction to the state legislature’s passage of five bills aimed at restricting abortion rights in Florida.
At town hall meetings, critics confront GOP Rep. West over Medicare cuts
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
The shouting began before U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, uttered a word at his town hall meeting here Tuesday afternoon.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
After farm-photo bill dies in Florida, animal advocacy groups wary of Monsanto-backed version in Iowa
By Brett Ader
Florida Independent
While Sen. Jim Norman‘s controversial farm-photo bill may have died in the Florida Legislature, animal rights advocates are cautiously acknowledging the victory is a temporary one whose significance may ultimately be thwarted by laws currently pending in Iowa and Minnesota.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Jeremiah Hawkes defends self, father against JQC chargesBy Molly Moorhead and Erin Sullivan
St. Petersburg Times
Related: 'Taj Mahal' courthouse judge must go
Jeremiah Hawkes became ensnared this week in a scandal swirling through the highest levels of Florida's court system when the body investigating his father, an appellate judge, said the son benefitted from improper help by a state employee.
Private Prisons Found to Offer Little in Savings
By Richard A. Oppel Jr.
New York Times
The conviction that private prisons save money helped drive more than 30 states to turn to them for housing inmates.
Fla. appeal court sends a message to Duval Co.
Associated Press
Gainesville Sun
An appeal court has admonished juvenile officials and judges in Duval County to comply with the state's detention law.
Taj Mahal shenanigans
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
An investigation by the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission recognized what lawmakers should have: The campaign for the opulent $50 million courthouse in Tallahassee was conducted without regard for taxpayers, ethics or common decency.
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