PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Grassroots groups says 21 Dems are champions of middle class
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Three grassroots groups — Progress Florida, Florida Watch Action and America Votes — named 21 Democrats as “Champions of Florida’s Middle Class” Thursday. “In an environment where virtually every issue of importance to middle class families was under attack by Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders carrying the water for corporate lobbyists, the courage of these heroes for the middle class has not gone unnoticed,” said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida, in a press release.
Legislators Recognized for Being Champions of Florida’s Middle Class
Staff Report
WCTV News Tallahassee
Excerpt: “Pink Slip Rick Scott and his puppets in the legislative leadership have declared war on Florida’s middle class,” said Susannah Randolph, executive director of Florida Watch Action, “but 21 legislators stood unwavering in their support of Florida families and communities. They deserve to be recognized.”
FEATURED STORIES
Scott downplays decision to suspend drug testing for most state employees
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott downplayed the impact Thursday of his week-old decision to quietly suspend an order that all state workers undergo drug-testing, saying he remains committed to screening despite an ACLU lawsuit challenging the policy.
Medicaid overhaul meetings tense
By Kelli Kennedy
Associated Press
Broward County Medicaid patients begged state health officials Thursday not expand a privatization program they say failed miserably in their county and prevented them from getting medications and doctor appointments.
Law Student Has Ideas For Florida Districts
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
In the run-up to last year’s vote on the “Fair Districts” amendments -- aimed at limiting gerrymandering in the once-a-decade redistricting process -- and even after the election, lawmakers have complained that the standards will make the process infinitely more complicated and chaotic.
Panel makes no change in Fla. investment policy despite recent reforms
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Despite forecasts of looming trouble in government-employee pensions, and a sluggish national economy, managers of the state's investments got an encouraging report Thursday on the Florida Retirement System's investments.
Mitt Romney leads 2012 field, but many Republicans pine for someone else
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential frontrunner who recently raised $10 million in one day, said Thursday that winning the nomination will be less about money than who connects best with voters.
BEST OF THE BLOGS
Big Sugar tries to play down mercury pollution of the Everglades
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
There is a hint of concern in Big Sugar's impermeable facade, in its attempt to fend off news and facts related to sugar's responsibility for mercury contamination of the Everglades.
Rick Scott Denies Healthcare to Pesticide-Affected Farmworkers
By Gravlax
Daily Kos
I don't have to explain to this community who Rick Scott is. For those of you who missed this rec listed diary, Scott is partial to GWB-style private ceremonies.
Will Rick Scott’s Medicaid Privatization Dump Granny?
By Igor Volsky
Think Progress
Lawmakers in Florida are touring the Sunshine State promoting a new law that, if approved by the federal government, would require “most of the state’s 3 million Medicaid enrollees to join private health plans after July 1, 2012.”
FLORIDA POLITICS
Bondi won’t investigate Scott budget signing
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Attorney General Pam Bondi said her office will not be investigating the controversy surrounding Gov. Rick Scott’s budget signing even in The Villages last month.
Democrats, GOP both happy with new DNC chairwoman
By Henry C. Jackson
Associated Press
It's a rare moment of bipartisanship in Washington: Both parties say they're enjoying the performance of the new Democratic Party chairwoman.
DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz vows to keep up attacks on GOP policies
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Backed by her fellow Democrats, South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz vowed this week to keep up her passionate attacks on Republican policies despite criticism that her sweeping rhetoric sometimes over-reaches or misfires.
Interview with Former Florida Governor and Former US Senator Bob Graham (audio story)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. Coming up an interview with former US Senator Bob Graham.
POLITICAL RACES
Romney wins endorsements from Thrasher, three Fla. congressmen
By Bob Shaw
Orlando Sentinel
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has picked up the endorsements of heavyweight state Sen. John Thrasher, the former Republican Party of Florida chairman from St. Augustine, and three Sunshine State congressman for his presidential campaign.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
State of Emergency for Drought and Wildfires
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Florida is under a wildfire state of emergency.
Water managers trying to avoid taking more Everglades water to ease drought
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Water managers so far don’t plan to dip deeper into the Everglades to help ease South Florida’s water supply woes during the lingering drought.
Environmental politics
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
The Florida Department of Environmental Politics wishes to announce, with regret, that the state can no longer afford to protect Florida's best known and most impressive springs.
Rethinking nuclear power's risks
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Three months after an earthquake and a tsunami in Japan ushered in yet a third disaster — meltdowns of multiple nuclear reactor cores — the global future of commercial atomic energy stands at a crossroads.
LGBT
Across the nation, state Republicans increasingly backing gay rights
By Andy Birkey
Florida Independent
In New York state, the legislature is poised to pass same-sex marriage and would become the third state to do so legislatively, following Vermont and New Hampshire.
EDUCATION
Broward, Miami-Dade school districts to probe FCAT scores
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade and Broward are among 14 Florida school districts that will investigate possible instances of cheating on this year's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests, the state Department of Education said Thursday.
FCAT investigation under way
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Orange and Seminole counties' school districts are among 14 districts statewide flagged for "extremely unusual levels" of erasures on some FCAT exams, the Florida Department of Education said Thursday.
Hernando school district may cut about 110 teachers
By Tony Marrero
St. Petersburg Times
It was one of the first calls Hernando school superintendent Bryan Blavatt made Thursday morning.
All state universities seek tuition hikes
By Lilly Rockwell
News Service Of Florida
All of Florida's universities will seek to raise tuition for undergraduate students, who will see a total increase of 15 percent next year -- the maximum allowed by law.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida officials want clearer hotel tax rules for Expedia, Travelocity, others
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet said Thursday it may be time to update a 62-year-old tax rule to determine if it applies to online travel companies that currently do not pay taxes on the markup they charge customers for hotel rooms.
No bailout if SunRail fails, state transportation chief warns
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
Related: SunRail's supporters need to champion the train at meetings on June 28
Florida's top transportation manager intends to barnstorm the Interstate 4 corridor soon, warning local governments that there will be no state bailout if they run short of money operating the planned SunRail commuter train.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Plans to put Florida's Medicaid recipients into managed care programs get hearing
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Dozens of advocates for the elderly, people with long-term illnesses and small businesses weighed in Thursday on plans to put most of the state's Medicaid recipients into managed-care programs.
Wall Street HMOs different: study
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
A new report on Medicaid managed-care plans finds that those owned by publicly traded corporations spend a larger percentage of the premium dollar on administration than in plans with private ownership.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Scott delays drug testing
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Gov. Rick Scott has told agencies under his control not to start drug testing employees — except those in the prison system — but insisted Thursday that he is not backing down because of a legal challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Food arrests lead to war of words and cyber-threats
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Related: 7 arrested in battle over feeding of homeless in park
The attorney for Food Not Bombs accused Orlando police Thursday of violating a judge's order by arresting members of the group after feeding the homeless at Lake Eola Park.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Fla. justices weaken Miranda warning requirementsBy Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
Police don't need to explicitly tell suspects they can have a lawyer with them during questioning under the Florida as well as U.S. constitutions as long as they get the message across in a reasonably understandable way, a divided state Supreme Court said in a pair of opinions Thursday.
Scott and Cabinet, citing "public safety," refuse to reappoint commissioner
By Kim MacQueen
The Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott and members of the Cabinet voted to retain Parole Commissioner Tena Pate on Thursday, but they declined to act on any of the names forwarded to fill a second open post, opting instead to issue a call for "more qualified applicants."
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