FEATURED STORIES
In Florida Panhandle, legislators defend political redistricting time line
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
On the home turf of the state Senate's redistricting chairman, Christian radio portends the Second Coming, politicians refer to the "Yellow River Code" of being true to your word, and the age-old tension between city and countryside dominates talk of redrawing political lines.
A 26-meeting farce
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Our Republican-dominated Legislature wants us to believe that the series of public meetings planned around the state to discuss drawing new legislative and congressional boundaries is for informational purposes only — no politics involved.
Gerard Robinson will be Florida's new education commissioner
By Marlene Sokol
St. Petersburg Times
After a months-long search and a long afternoon of interviews, it took the Florida Board of Education less than ten minutes Tuesday morning to name its next commissioner: Gerard Robinson.
Shake-up of Gov. Rick Scott's top staff continues
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott's chief adviser Mary Anne Carter announced her resignation Tuesday, becoming the second top aide to exit the new administration this week and signaling the beginning of a shake-up of Scott's inner circle.
Scott signs scores of bills into law
Staff Report
Florida Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed 46 bills into law including HB 7215, which includes compromise language prohibiting local governments from adopting new fertilizer ordinances.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Legislators hear residents' redistricting advice at local hearing
By Tom McLaughlin
Northwest Florida Daily News
Related: Legislators' promise to hear redistricing concerns is disingenuous, critics say
The question on most everyone’s tongue was answered quickly Tuesday night at what might have been the largest-ever gathering of Florida legislators in Okaloosa County.
House Democrats ask Justice Dept. to reject new elections law
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
House Democratic leaders Tuesday asked the U.S. Justice Department to deny Secretary of State Kurt Browning’s request for approval of the state’s new elections law, which the Legislature’s ruling Republicans said is aimed at blunting the threat of voter fraud but which Democrats say is intended to discourage poor and minority voters from going to the polls.
Scott site wants you to let newspapers know how good he is
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott says he rarely reads newspapers.
Scott signs new "sexting" law easing punishment for minors
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
'Sexting' law eases penalties for Fla. minors.
Rick Scott's top policy adviser resigns amid shakeup
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The shakeup in Gov. Rick Scott's office continued Tuesday when he accepted the resignation of his top policy adviser.
Former State Senator Nancy Argenziano Warns About A Corporate Oligarchy Controlling Our State (audio interview)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Our guest, Nancy Argenziano spent 16 years in state government as a house member, a state senator and a Public Service Commissioner. Former Senator Argenziano joins us live.
Is Florida too regulated?
By William Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Governor Rick Scott is blaming federal and state regulations for restraining Florida’s attempt to spur business growth and create new jobs.
Florida Lawmaker Faces Ethics Review
By Gary Fields and Brody Mullins
Wall Street Journal
A congressional ethics panel is investigating allegations that Florida Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings sexually harassed a member of his staff, according to people familiar with the matter.
Playing redistricting games
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
Legislative leaders are touting the upcoming redistricting process — including a series of public hearings, with one in Pensacola today — as open and transparent.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
Archbishop of Miami defends ‘Religious Freedom’ amendment
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Set to appear on Florida’s 2012 ballot: an amendment that would repeal language in the state constitution that bans using public money to fund religious organizations.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
DEP says memo to water districts is part of a larger strategy
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says a memo sent last week directing water management districts to cut regulatory staff and to stop buying land is part of a larger strategy involving the department's oversight of the districts.
Official explains rollback of growth rules
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Soon after taking over Florida's growth management agency in January, Department of Community Affairs Secretary Billy Buzzett met here with Bradenton Sen. Mike Bennett about abolishing many of the agency's responsibilities.
Fla. economists look at oil spill revenue losses
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
State economists are trying to determine how much sales tax and other revenue Florida lost as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year.
Emergency funds okayed to save Glades drinking water plant
By Jennifer Sorentrue
Palm Beach Post
County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved an emergency request for $6.9 million to fix a 3-year-old Glades region water plant that is sucking up well water so salty that without immediate action it could become untreatable.
Feds want permanent manatee refuge, more restrictions in Kings Bay
By Barbara Behrendt and Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
All of Kings Bay, famed as the place in Florida where humans can swim with and even touch the manatees, should be permanently designated as a manatee refuge, federal officials announced Tuesday.
LGBT
Mayor Jacobs: Orange may take up dom. partner registry in 2011
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Gay rights activists pressed Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs again Tuesday to partner with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to quickly create a domestic partner registry, but Jacobs maintained she has other priorities and unanswered questions about the proposal.
EDUCATION
Robinson picked as Florida's next education commissioner
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Current
The State Board of Education has chosen its replacement for outgoing Education Commissioner Eric Smith: he’s Gerard Robinson, Virginia’s current secretary of education.
Educators sue Florida because of unconstitutional pension reform
By Andy Ford
Ft. Myers News-Press
This week, the Florida Education Association joined with other groups to file a lawsuit to challenge the actions of the Legislature in mandating a 3 percent pay cut for the 655,000 teachers, law-enforcement officers, firefighters and other workers who serve the citizens of our state.
Dade teachers will get merit pay, state says; Broward up in the air
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
State education officials have given Miami-Dade the OK to launch a performance pay plan for teachers, making Dade the first Florida school system to use federal Race to the Top funds for performance pay.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Unemployment rate in Florida's metro areas among the worst in America
News Service of Florida
Florida Courier
Florida metro areas dot the U.S. Conference of Mayors look at the worst large metro area unemployment rates in the first quarter of the year, with four Florida regions in the top 15.
Mortgage help reaches few Floridians
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
Most of the thousands of struggling Florida homeowners seeking mortgage assistance from the federal government's Hardest Hit Fund have been rejected by the state's version of the program, a new report shows.
Florida legislators on guest worker program: Give locals dibs on hospitality jobs
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Members of Congress serving Palm Beach County on Tuesday pressed employers in the local hospitality and country club industry to import fewer foreign workers and insisted that unemployed Americans can fill those positions.
N.L.R.B. Rules Would Streamline Unionizing
By Steven Greenhouse
New York Times
In a move that will undoubtedly please labor unions, the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday morning proposed new rules to speed up unionization elections, largely by streamlining various procedures.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Legality of family planning opt-out for Florida Medicaid providers still in question
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (aka AHCA) is finishing proposals for the state’s Medicaid overhaul to send to the federal government for approval.
Rubio introduces ‘Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has introduced a bill that would outlaw taking a minor outside of her home state to evade its parental consent or notice for abortion laws.
Why has the number of patients on Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list dropped?
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The number of people living with HIV/AIDS that are on Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list has dropped slightly through the month of June.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Why doesn't state's attorney general put more effort into reviewing possible wrongful convictions?By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Belvin Perry may be best known as the even-keeled jurist presiding over the Casey Anthony case, which epitomizes this country's ability to turn most any tragedy into time-killing entertainment.
Fla. Innocence Commission offers recommendations
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
A panel set up by the Florida Supreme Court to find ways to prevent wrongful convictions recommended new lineup standards for police on Tuesday.
Prosecutors: Arrests of more Rothstein defendants coming
By Peter Franceschina
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Federal prosecutors say multiple new defendants will be swept up in the wide-ranging investigation into Scott Rothstein's Ponzi scheme.
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