FEATURED STORIES
Scott touts property tax cut bill at South Florida water district where public job cuts anticipated
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott was harshly criticized for being insensitive Wednesday after he traveled to the South Florida Water Management District to sign a bill that will cut $128 million from the district budget and cost many of its workers their jobs.
Man behind Gov. Rick Scott's message doesn't always play nice with press
By Steve Bousquet and Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Brian Burgess, the man charged with shaping Gov. Rick Scott's image and message, got his start working with reporters on behalf of a Kansas district attorney best known for prosecuting an abortion provider.
Gov. Scott shakes up his inner circle
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
With rock-bottom poll numbers only six months into his term, Gov. Rick Scott is shaking up his staff, giving up his Capitol-outsider focus in a bid to implement his conservative agenda more effectively.
GOP presidential hopefuls gearing up in Florida for grueling race
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman isn't a household name, but in the slow-to-develop race for the 2012 GOP nomination, he's making the biggest campaign personnel investment in Florida so far.
Federal judge strikes down Florida's death penalty
By Daphne Duret and Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
In a decision hailed by defense attorneys and civil libertarians, a federal judge in Miami has struck down Florida's death penalty saying the way it is applied flies in the face of the U.S. Constitution.
FLORIDA POLITICS
The Agony of Crist
By Ben Wallace-Wells
The Atlantic
As recently as 2008, it seemed better to be Charlie Crist than to be just about any other politician in the country.
Prendergast's new job part of shake-up in Scott administration
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Tampa native and Ret. U.S. Army Col. Mike Prendergast became the new head of the state Department of Veteran Affairs on Wednesday.
Residents speak out at redistricting hearing
By Ali Helgoth
Panama City News Herald
Panhandle residents said they want fair representation in state and federal government, but there was some disagreement Wednesday on the best way to ensure it.
From the redistricting hearings: How to carve up the panhandle?
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Lawmakers have completed a swing through the panhandle for public redistricting meetings. One issue that’s come up a lot in the area is whether the region is divided properly, particularly when it comes to its Senate seats.
Despite promise of ‘transparent, open' redistricting process, public has reasons for skepticism
Editorial
TC Palm
Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, is chair of the Senate Committee on Reapportionment.
Ethics Commission: Adam Hasner failed to disclose his finances
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Republican Senate candidate and former state House Republican leader Adam Hasner failed to properly fill out his constitutionally mandated financial disclosure forms, the Florida Commission on Ethics reported found.
Florida lawmakers react to President Obama's speech on Afghanistan
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Obama's Afghanistan plan criticized by Dems, GOP
Reaction to President Obama's speech.
POLITICAL RACES
GOP poll: Tea party movement could cost Republicans in 2012
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Beware, Florida Republicans: The tea party movement that swept you into office in 2010 could cost you the next election.
Huntsman to open presidential campaign headquarters in Orlando
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
His roots, family and career have been mostly in Utah, and his biggest fan base outside the Beehive State is probably in Washington D.C. But as former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman begins his run for president this week, his campaign base will be in Orlando.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
Committee formed to fight anti-ObamaCare amendment
By Janet Zink
Miami Herald
A pair of South Florida political consultants have created a political action committee called "Pay Your Own Fair Share" to fight a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that takes aim at the individual mandate in the federal health care legislation.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Hundreds to join hands in drilling protest
By Kimberly Blair
Pensacola News Journal
Hundreds of people are expected to hold hands and form a human line in the sand along Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach on Saturday to peacefully protest offshore drilling.
Bob Graham says lack of leadership on climate change should trouble all Floridians
By Mitch Perry
Creative Loafing Tampa
Former Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham came by CL's offices yesterday to engage in a discussion about public policy issues, all part of his whirlwind day in Tampa promoting his just published novel, Keys to the Kingdom.
Wildfire Dangers Still a Concern
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Triple digit temperatures and little rain fall, especially in the Panhandle, is turning Florida into a tinder box. Much of the state remains in a drought, as Mike Vasilinda tells us.
As fresh water supply drops, officials worry seeping salt water will ruin wells
By Jennifer Sorentrue
Palm Beach Post
Wetlands that supply water for all of southeastern Florida have run virtually dry and can no longer replenish drought-parched wells used by public utilities, water managers are warning.
LGBT
UN resolution supporting gay rights sends welcome message
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
At a time when the gay community is having a difficult enough time winning equal rights battles on multiple fronts in America, the "land of the free," the significance of the United Nations Human Rights Council's resolution supporting gay rights around the globe cannot be understated.
EDUCATION
New state education commissioner an advocate for vouchers, school choice
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
The state Board of Education took little time during a meeting today to name Gerard Robinson, secretary of education in Virginia, to be Florida's next education commissioner.
McKay scholarship program sparks a cottage industry of fraud and chaos
By Gus Garcia-Roberts
Miami New Times
From June 2006 through November 2010, the woefully cash-strapped Florida Department of Education (DOE) forked over $2.057 million to Julius Brown, former middle school basketball coach and cofounder of a string of obscure sports apparel businesses.
Universities want new dental education programs, but a lack of dentists is not the problem
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Current
Efforts now underway at four Florida public universities are aimed at vastly expanding education options for new Florida dentists.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
SEIU Challenges New Florida Law Reducing State Employee Pay (audio interview)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Coming up we'll talk with a union president who is challenging the new law reducing state worker pay by 3%.
Florida personal income is growing — slowly
By Jeff Harrington
St. Petersburg Times
Florida incomes are growing again, but still lag behind most of the country.
Palm Beach County to governor: spare Glades prison and its jobs
By Jennifer Sorentrue
Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach County commissioners on Tuesday urged Gov. Rick Scott and other state leaders not to close the Glades Correctional Institution in Belle Glade.
Government job cuts hurt cities
By Tami Luhby
CNN
Metro economies struggling the most to recover from the Great Recession typically lost government jobs, a new Brookings Institution report found.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Keep Medicare public
By Patricia Wilson
Orlando Sentinel
Adam Hasner in his guest column Friday about Medicare and his support of the Ryan plan spins how Medicare is funded.
State may begin self-insuring workers in HMOs
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
Looking at potentially tens of millions of dollars in savings, Florida lawmakers this week could move toward restructuring part of the health insurance program for state employees.
Abortion foes bring national spotlight to Jacksonville as movement grows statewide
By Matt Dixon
Florida times-Union
This week, freshman U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio took his first foray into the choppy waters of Washington abortion politics.
Florida Pushes Rule Allowing Medicaid Providers To Opt-Out Of Family Planning Services On Moral Or Religious Grounds
By Tanya Somanader
Think Progress
The 2010 Republican wave is bearing a multi-pronged attack on women’s reproductive rights.
Scott signs ‘Choose Life’ bill into law
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Among the bills Gov. Rick Scott signed into law yesterday was House Bill 501, a measure that redefines how money made from sales of Florida’s bright yellow “Choose Life” license plates is spent.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
The Clarence Thomas ScandalBy Ian Millhiser
The Progress Report
In 1969, Justice Abe Fortas resigned in disgrace after the nation learned that he had accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from corporate executives and other wealthy benefactors.
No comments:
Post a Comment