PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Commissioners should opt out of retirement, some say
By Bill Thompson
Ocala Star-Banner
Excerpt: Damien Filer, political director of the liberal advocacy group Progress Florida in Tallahassee, didn’t see a problem with the system as is…“The real insult to injury is that the money was there, but they chose to take it out of pockets of teachers, firefighters and police and give it to big corporations.”
FEATURED STORIES
State budget awaiting Scott’s sig to cause pain before any gain, economists say
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The $69.7 billion state budget now before Gov. Rick Scott will send tremors through Florida’s struggling economy, with school districts, hospitals and other big employers soon cutting jobs and programs because of a sharp drop in taxpayer dollars, economists say.
Rick Scott, CEO, unfazed by criticism of 'employees'
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's CEO governor is getting an earful from the company, but Rick Scott appears unflinching in his vision.
Florida cracks down on democracy
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
At first I thought this crackdown on democracy in Florida, signed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott, was mostly about Republicans sticking it to Democrats.
What grand jury? Florida Legislature fails to pass 'essential' ethics reform
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times
Reform is essential to remedy the perception that those in leadership roles fail to set a noble example of service and are instead assumed to be egotistical and corrupt.
Florida: ground zero for Republican candidates
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Where does one go after announcing a candidacy for president? Florida, of course.
EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Doug MacGregor
Ft. Myers News-Press
FLORIDA POLITICS
Scott meets with secretive religious right group
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott went to Tyson’s Corner in northern Virginia today for a meeting of the Council for National Policy, a secretive and sometimes controversial religious right group.
Browning continues media in support of elections bill
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning took to the airwaves Friday, continuing his defense of a controversial elections bill signed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott.
Tea party leaders celebrate a session with limited victories
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Tea party leaders are cheering one of the most conservative legislative sessions in recent history, even if it was only a fraction of what they wanted.
Vote-killing regulations
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Florida Gov. Rick Scott hates regulations. Indeed, the phrase "job-killing regulations" has become a virtual motto.
POLITICAL RACES
Tensions among Republicans rise over 2012 candidates
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Some leading Republicans are trying to entice a more established candidate to jump into the presidential race, a courtship that's aggravating tensions between tea partyers and the GOP's traditional business wing, a deep-pocketed source of financial support in the campaign.
St. Petersburg Times, POLITICO team up for 2012 coverage
Staff Report
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times and POLITICO have formed a partnership to cover presidential politics in Florida and the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Alvin Brown won it on issues, advisers, ground game
By Timothy J. Gibbons
Florida Times-Union
Tom Bacote remembers the day, about three weeks before the election, when he knew Alvin Brown would win the race to become Jacksonville's next mayor.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
7 constitutional measures reach ballot; critics say some aimed at luring GOP voters to polls
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
As they cast their ballots for president in 2012, Florida voters also will decide on at least seven proposed constitutional amendments.
Scholars: Florida's constitution "easiest" to amend
By Regan McCarthy
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Pick up a copy of the state's constitution and chances are it'll be out-dated.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Powerful interests checkmated Florida's growth management agency
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
In its 35 years, the state Department of Community Affairs has irritated some of Florida's most powerful people, including developers, lawyers, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Farm Bureau and a coalition of the state's biggest landowners.
Florida growth agency "boogeyman" disappearing without debate
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
With some state planners being handed their pink slips this week, the question arises over what really happened to the debate over the fate of Florida's growth management agency -- the Department of Community Affairs?
Haridopolos still favors offshore oil drilling
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Deepwater Horizon accident is doing nothing to stop one of the leading GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate in 2012 from calling for more oil drilling closer to Florida's coastline.
Gulf Coast lawmakers split over BP oil spill money
By Deborah Barfield Berry
Florida Today
Gulf Coast lawmakers agree on this much: Almost all the money BP will pay in fines related to last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill should be spent restoring the environment and local economies in their states.
Lake Okeechobee drops to point where pumping likely needed to keep water flowing
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Water levels in Lake Okeechobee dropped to 10.48 feet on Friday, below the critical 10.5 feet mark that triggers plans to pump water to growers south of the lake.
Endangered species list dotted with Florida entries
By Maia McGuire
Daytona Beach News Journal
The third Friday in May was designated as Endangered Species Day.
LGBT
For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage
By Frank Newport
Gallup
For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.
EDUCATION
Public education hurt by Scott’s broken promise
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
You may recall that when he campaigned, Rick Scott promised that his budget cutting ways wouldn’t affect spending for public schools.
Protest held to save teachers' jobs
By Richard Jordan
WSVN News South Florida
Parents, teachers and students came together Friday with a loud lesson to save teachers' jobs.
Educators: Funding cuts will hurt Florida's voluntary pre-K programs
By Mary Kelli Palka
Florida Times-Union
Early learning advocates worry that Florida budget cuts next year will continue to hinder efforts to help better prepare children for school.
How School-Voucher Lobbyist John Kirtley Buys Florida Lawmakers’ Votes
By Lilly Rockwell
News Service of Florida
When Florida voted in 2001 to create a corporate tax credit voucher program for low-income students, only one Democrat supported the idea.
Charter school movement exploding in Florida
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
Mornings at the Charter School of Excellence are an all-out attack on reading.
Students and teachers at Mission High School weigh in on the California STAR Test.
By Kristina Rizga
Mother Jones
"The big bad California STAR Test is in 27 days, everyone!" Mission High School history teacher Robert Roth announces at the beginning of an honors class in March.
Academic freedom at risk
By Waldo Proffitt
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
You don't have to look very hard to find bad news in your daily newspaper.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida's unemployment rate falls to 10.8 percent in April
By Jeff Harrington
St. Petersburg Times
Florida appears headed toward a steady but slow economic recovery, enjoying seven straight months of job growth and falling below the psychological barrier of 1 million jobless statewide for the first time in 18 months.
Plan sends inmates, jobs to low bidder
By Bill Cotterell
Pensacola News Journal
Florida's prison system is poised for a leap of fiscal faith, betting that competition will seriously cut the cost of keeping more than 102,000 criminals locked up, despite well-documented doubts that the private sector does it cheaper.
State workers' outlook: Bad to worse
By Bill Cotterell
Tallahassee Democrat
If you'd like to get some idea of where state employment is headed in the next several years, just look around.
Florida now checking if jobless are looking for work
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
When out-of-work Floridians apply for unemployment, they are required by law to look for a job to maintain their eligibility.
States shorten duration for unemployment benefits
By Kevin Freking
Associated Press
Some of the states that have drained their unemployment insurance funds are cutting the number of weeks that a laid-off worker can count on those benefits.
Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll, a stimulus critic, cut ribbon on Delray apartments built with $7.3 million in stimulus money
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott has repeatedly slammed the $787 billion federal stimulus bill and Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has been a critic as well, telling conservative website NewsMax last fall that the stimulus "has clearly shown that it has not created sustainable jobs. What it has done is grow government even larger."
Rubio's REFUND Act is a superficial political tool
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Don't be fooled by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's latest scheme to reduce the federal deficit.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Fla. nursing home watchdogs see turmoil in agency
By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press
Florida, long one of America's most revered retirement spots, has launched what critics call an unprecedented assault on watchdogs for its oldest and sickest they believe amounts to political kowtowing to the powerful nursing home industry.
Florida Medicaid Privatization Under Fire
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
The state of Florida and federal authorities are on track for a head-on health-care collision when all provisions of the Affordable Healthcare Act go into effect in 2014, observers say.
Huge doses of potent antipsychotics flow into state jails for troubled kids
By Michael LaForgia
Palm Beach Post
Florida has plied children in state juvenile jails with heavy doses of powerful antipsychotic medications.
Judicial bypass legislation has ties to current circuit court judge
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A bill currently awaiting signature from Gov. Rick Scott aims to restrict access for minors seeking a judicial bypass for the state’s mandatory parental notification for abortion law.
Waiting lists still growing for AIDS drug assistance
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Waiting lists have continued to grow for programs that help supply life-saving drugs to HIV/AIDS patients who are uninsured and unable to afford their medications.
Lengthy and expensive, pill mill investigations carry no assurance of conviction
By Emily Nipps and Danny Valentine
St. Petersburg Times
Investigators spent two years building the case against Dr. Jacinta Gillis.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Florida business groups look at guest worker program
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Representatives of Florida's largest business organizations, who helped defeat tough, Arizona-style immigration bills in this year's legislative session, are looking at alternative measures debated in other states that would create state-administered guest worker programs.
States' immigration efforts fizzle
By Laura Wides-Munoz
Associated Press
Nearly every state in the union tried to tackle immigration on its own this year in the absence of any federal movement on the matter, and more than half considered Arizona-style enforcement measures, up from just six in 2010.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Lawyer takes red light cameras to court, again and againBy Stephen Nohlgren
St. Petersburg Times
There's no doubt Cheryl Hill's Ford Focus ran a red light last November.
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