AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS
Awake the State organizer previews major statewide rally in Orlando (audio story)
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Related: Festival For Florida’s Future website
More than 4000 jobs were cut from the state budget that was recently passed by the Florida Legislature.
FEATURED STORIES
The job-killing governor
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott will sign into law today a $69.7 billion state budget for 2011-12 that he boasts is all about creating jobs and reducing Florida's high unemployment.
Poll: Rick Scott one of the nation's least popular governors
By Marc Caputo
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott is one of the least popular governors in the United States, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll that shows 57 percent of Florida voters disapprove of his job performance.
Experts mixed on whether Scott's low ratings will hurt GOP
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott's voter approval rating hit a historically rare low of 29 percent in a new poll released Wednesday, raising questions about whether his unpopularity could affect Republicans in the 2012 elections.
Florida pols wary as Medicare concerns sweep NY Democrat into GOP congressional seat
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
As Democrats crowed that their upset victory in a special New York congressional election signaled a larger repudiation of a GOP Medicare proposal, Republicans blamed messaging rather than the plan itself.
Questionable Voting Practices Seen In State Senate
By George Spencer
WFTV Channel 9 Central Florida
One state representative claimed his vote was stolen. Others say they were just covering for colleagues who were too busy to vote themselves.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Experts: Scott's approval decline a result of poor communication
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
Despite keeping his promises not to raise taxes and to shrink government, Gov. Rick Scott's approval ratings keep plunging.
Response to Scott in rules case: ‘Supreme executive power’ is still ‘subject to Florida law’
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
The legal team that challenged two executive orders issued by Gov. Rick Scott has responded to his filings with the state Supreme Court, arguing the governor’s power is not as broad as he claims.
POLITICAL RACES
Will Scott's poor poll numbers hand the state to Obama in 2012?
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Obama approval ratings jump in FL
That was one of the questions from Sid Rosenberg of WQAM in Miami, who had Gov. Rick Scott on the radio this afternoon.
Hasner embraces Ryan budget plan, LeMieux calls it ‘better than nothing and disaster’
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Some Republicans might be nervous about House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan after a formerly safe GOP congressional seat was captured by a Ryan-bashing Democrat in a Tuesday special election in western New York.
2 Senate hopefuls call for big cuts
By Jennifer Kay
Associated Press
Two Republican Senate hopefuls on Wednesday called for massive federal spending cuts and said they would not support raising the national debt ceiling without them.
In South Florida, Tim Pawlenty praises GOP Medicare plan
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Tim Pawlenty brought his nascent presidential campaign to Coral Gables on Tuesday to introduce himself to coveted Florida voters as the candidate who is not afraid to tackle thorny political questions such as overhauling Social Security and Medicare.
Florida's First Coast shocks the GOP
By John A. Tures
Southern Political Report
As a college senior at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas in 1991, I met and began dating my future wife, a native of Jacksonville, Florida.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
PSC will search for new director with committee of one
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Public Service Commission spent part of its internal affairs meeting Wednesday struggling with how to search for a new executive director while meeting Florida's open-meeting laws.
PSC chairman won't say why he wanted agency head ousted from Public Service Commission
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Tribune
Public Service Commission Chairman Art Graham confirmed Tuesday that he asked Executive Director Timothy J. Devlin to resign after 35 years with the agency but Graham would not say why.
Florida unwisely repeals its growth laws
By Howard Troxler
St. Petersburg Times
I do not think enough Floridians realize what this governor and this Legislature have done — are doing — to our state.
Feds back sick fish study
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Concerned about reports of sick fish turning up in the wake of last year's oil spill, federal officials have agreed to pursue an ambitious survey of the entire Gulf of Mexico using commercial fisherman to determine how many more fish might be affected.
UCF Scientist: Dolphins Impacted by BP Oil Spill
By Z. Kotala
UCF Today
The BP oil spill and the dispersants used to clean it up may be contributing to the unusually high number of dolphins dying in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a University of Central Florida scientist.
EDUCATION
Pinellas School Board to vote on budget cuts with 400 jobs on the line
By Ron Matus
St. Petersburg Times
When the Pinellas County School Board votes tonight on the biggest budget cuts in six straight years of cuts, 400 jobs will be on the line, as well as furloughs for 17,000 employees and, perhaps, a goodbye for Sara Smith.
Miami-Dade teachers won't get pay raises, but will be safe from layoffs
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
The Miami-Dade school district and its teachers' union have reached a tentative agreement on salaries for next year.
Dozens of Orange schools lack art, music teachers
By Lauren Roth
Orlando Sentinel
Students in Frinzetta Boman's kindergarten class gleefully sing the "Good Morning" song, illustrate vocabulary words and dance as they sing their numbers.
State to release third-grade FCAT scores
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
Elementary schools across the Sunshine State will soon learn how their third-graders fared on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Budget Poll, Voters Don’t Like It
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Governor Rick Scott will sign the state budget tomorrow at the Villages. The 70 billion dollar spending plan reduces spending, cuts corporate income taxes, lowers education spending and eliminates 45-hundred state jobs.
New property insurance law predicted to help bottom line for insurers
By Gary Fineout
Florida Tribune
One of the nation’s credit rating agencies said that a newly enacted property insurance measure would help private insurers operating in the state of Florida.
Loophole lets theme parks cut tax bills
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Disney is avoiding some state and local taxes by selling theme-park tickets and other items to itself.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
State mental hospitals start notifying employees of layoffs
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
State mental hospitals have begun notifying about 240 administrative and maintenance employees of impending layoffs, part of nearly 500 job cuts earlier announced by the Department of Children and Families.
Cuts for prison health-care agency under fire
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
An agency at the center of the resolution of a 20-year legal battle between the state and its prisoners is facing the chopping block as Gov. Rick Scott considers a bill that would abolish the Correctional Medical Authority.
Which hospital highest in infections?
By Brittany Davis
Health News Florida
Orlando Regional is disputing the results of a Medicare study that found an exceptionally high rate of life-threatening bloodstream infections -- a hospital-acquired illness that health officials say should never happen.
State's largest medical malpractice carrier reaps big windfall in sale
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Tribune
The state’s largest medical malpractice insurance company announced Tuesday that it has been sold for $362 million, representing a 31 percent increase over the stock price of the company before the sale.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Research and business organizations: Mandatory E-Verify would harm the economyBy Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Participants in a Tuesday conference call hosted by the National Immigration Forum said mandatory E-Verify without immigration reform would harm the U.S. economy.
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