Daily Clips for July 26, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Florida This Week: Friday, July 22, 2011 (video story)
By Rob Lorei
WEDU Public Television Tampa Bay
A war of words between two Florida congress members – is it just theatrics or a sign of how low our political discourse has sunk?

FEATURED STORIES

The Rev. Jesse Jackson urges Floridians to fight new voting laws
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Calling Florida "ground zero" in a national war against voters' rights, the Rev. Jesse Jackson urged people rallying in an Orlando church Monday night to fight new voting laws approved by the state Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott last spring.

Private prison plan moves along for South Florida
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The fastest privatization venture ever undertaken by Florida took a big step forward Monday when the state formally sought plans from private firms to operate all prisons in an 18-county region in South Florida.

Critics seek to stop Florida's Medicaid handoff
By Barbara Peters Smith
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
As Florida nears the Aug. 1 deadline to submit to the federal government its blueprint for shifting 3 million Medicaid patients into managed care plans, opponents are busy asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to turn the state down flat.

Conference on economic impact of EPA water rules kicks off in Orlando
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Representatives from major industries (including JEA and Georgia-Pacific) and environmental groups (like the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and Earthjustice) gathered in Orlando early this morning to discuss a much-disputed set of federal water pollution standards and the costs associated with compliance.

Voters are being set up in Fair Districts scheme
By Deirdre Macnab
Orlando Sentinel
The grizzled old man limped up to the platform in Pensacola and said, to the appreciative hoots of the audience, "I don't have anything to say, but I've never seen so many Tallahassee elected officials in one place, so I thought someone [had] better supervise."

Extremists call shots as economy suffers
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Escalating an avoidable economic crisis, House Republicans are intent on driving the nation to the financial brink at the behest of their most extreme members.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Meeting on Legislative Districts Draws Skeptics
By Bill Rufty
Lakeland Ledger
More than 40 speakers, many skeptical of what they claim is a Republican-dominated redistricting effort, spoke to legislators who will help draw the new boundaries during a public meeting at Polk State College in Lakeland on Monday.

Redistricting, Fair Districts – Your turn to speak up, Orlando
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
By now, you probably know that Florida politicians love stacking the deck when it comes to elections.

Fair districts: Will the GOP abide by voters' will?
By Curt Levine
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Correction: In a July 17th op-ed piece published in the Outlook section, Curt Levine was mistaken in saying the House Speaker's office removed the Compactness and Spatial Analysis components from the MyDistrictBuilder software program.

Gov. Scott stresses jobs growth, budget savings on visit
By Carlton Proctor
Pensacola News Journal
Gov. Rick Scott stayed on message Monday during a visit to Pensacola, driving home his self-described aggressive efforts to create jobs and get Florida's economy revved up again.

Scott to Washington: Don't raise the debt ceiling
By Michael C. Bender
Miami Herald
Republican Gov. Rick Scott said today that if Congress fails to raise the federal debt ceiling before Aug. 2, it would have almost no effect on state government or the financial markets.

POLITICAL RACES

Hasner, LeMieux battle over roles in Senate race
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Mike Haridopolos' exit from the Florida Republican U.S. Senate primary is putting the focus on two men who aren't even in the race – Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist.

Why I withdrew from the U.S. Senate race
By Sen. Mike Haridopolos
Gainesville Sun
For sixty days in 2011, the Florida Senate forged a new conservative direction that had never been seen before.

Reform Group Calls on Florida to Join Presidential Popular Vote Initiative
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
The electoral college is constitutionally designated as the system used to elect the President of the United States.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Advocacy group: overfishing cost fishermen
The Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A new study from an advocacy group shows that overfishing two years ago cost millions of dollars for fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic.

Fla. PSC considering power conservation plans
The Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Public Service Commission is considering revised demand-side conservation plans for Florida's two largest electric utilities.

South Florida's lack of water storage leaves billions of gallons draining out to sea during drought
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Dumping billions of gallons of water out to sea in the midst of a lingering drought is South Florida's water-supply irony.

Changes in Lee-Collier rock mining plans sidetrack federal environmental review
By Eric Staats
Naples Daily News
Foes of a cluster of rock mines planned near the Collier-Lee county line took heart last year when federal permitters announced plans for an in-depth environmental review.

Protect Florida's water
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Last year's hysterical reaction from opponents of tougher federal clean-water rules was, unfortunately, only the beginning.

LGBT

The Tipping Point On LGBT Equality?
By Zack Ford
Think Progress
Though the debt ceiling is dominating most political dialogue, the past week has included several important milestones for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

Miami Beach to fire two officers in gay beating at park
By David Smiley, David Ovalle and Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Two Miami Beach police officers accused of yelling anti-gay epithets at a tourist, kicking him and falsely arresting him after he called 911 to report their beating of another gay man in a South Beach park are going to be fired, city officials said.

EDUCATION

FCAT writing test about to get tougher
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
So does grammar, punctuation and the ability to make logical arguments backed up by relevant details.

Schools must follow baggy-pants law
By Erica Rodriguez
Orlando Sentinel
A new law that prohibits students from wearing baggy pants is quickly making its way into school district dress codes.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Unemployment Changes Coming August 1st
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
One week from today more will be required from the 470-thousand Floridians receiving unemployment benefits.

Some Citizens sinkhole rates could rise 2,000 percent
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The state-run property insurer is proposing to increase sinkhole insurance premiums by more than 2,000 percent in some parts of the Tampa Bay area, and an average of more than 400 percent across the state.

A sure-fire state revenue generator? Selling your driving records
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
While sluggish sales tax receipts may have forced the state to slash government spending again this year, one source of revenue continues to pay out: Your name, address and driving history.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

DOH to speed up suspensions
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
The Department of Health is streamlining the process of getting dangerous health professionals out of practice -- and it may already be paying off.

Jury urges better DCF training, investigation
The Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
A Miami-Dade County grand jury is urging that the Department of Children and Families adopt better training and investigative skills for employees in the aftermath of the horrific killing of a 10-year-old girl.

AARP selling name for millions
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
Most people think of AARP, the senior citizen advocacy group, as a way to get discounts on everything from dining and entertainment to insurance.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Rep. Allen West's (Very, Very) Stealth Jihad
By Tim Murphy
Mother Jones
On Monday afternoon, as markets fretted over the possibility of the United States government running out of money to pay its creditors, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) held a briefing on a crisis that could bring the nation to its knees.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida Supreme Court stays execution of Miami cop killer
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday temporarily stayed the execution of Manuel Valle, who shot and killed a South Florida police officer 33 years ago, pending a hearing over the state's new use of a drug in its lethal injections.

Chinese drywall supplier must release more info
The Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
A South Florida judge has ruled that a Miami-based supplier of tainted Chinese drywall must disclose more details about a proposed $55 million class-action settlement.