Daily Clips for July 27, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Jesse Jackson, in Tampa, urges DOJ to reject new election law
By William March
Tampa Tribune
In a rally in Tampa Tuesday, Jesse Jackson likened the fight over new Florida election laws to the civil rights struggle of the 1960's, but said it's about more than race.

Scott Promotes Controversial Education Reforms
By Lilly Rockwell
News Service of Florida
Controversial changes that have rocked Texas higher education system may be coming to Florida.

Reform underway at juvenile justice agency
By Gov. Rick Scott
Miami Herald
Related editorial: Transparency? Not so much
Like all Floridians, I was deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of a child in the Palm Beach County Juvenile Detention Center.

Florida Looks For The Lowest Bidder As It Privatizes 30 State Prisons
By Marie Diamond
Think Progress
Florida is seeking bids from private companies to take over management of 30 state prisons in an 18-country area in South Florida.

Callers deluge Florida members on debt clash
By William Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Phone lines to Capitol Hill were flooded on Tuesday when thousands of constituents called and e-mailed Florida members of Congress urging a resolution of debt-reduction talks before the nation defaults on its obligations.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Sick of shady politics? It's time to speak up!
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
We start with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who made jaws drop when it was revealed that her office ousted two of its top investigators.

Lawmakers hear from Wesley Chapel voters on redistricting
By Lee Logan
St. Petersburg Times
The Legislature brought its redistricting road show to one of the biggest hotbeds of Florida's growth Tuesday, asking Pasco voters how future political boundaries should look.

Here's a primer on congressional and legislative redistricting
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
The re-mapping of congressional and legislative districts is the hottest fight politicians will wage over the next year, and the process can leave you scratching your head.

Skepticism in order over redistricting
By Julie Delegal
Florida Times-Union
In response to public hearings held here recently, the Times-Union editorialized that Florida's once-a-decade redistricting process is off to a "good start."

Immigration tops Rick Scott’s legislative priority list
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Immigration is at the top of Gov. Rick Scott’s legislative priorities when lawmakers reconvene in January, the first-term governor told Northwest Florida conservative radio talk show host Burnie Thompson today.

Alex Sink: Rick Scott is 'clueless' in debt ceiling debate
By Michael C. Bender
Miami Herald
Alex Sink, the state's former Chief Financial Officer and the 2010 Democratic nominee for governor, took aim at former political opponent Gov. Rick Scott for his comments on Monday that Congress should not raise the federal debt ceiling.

Judge hearing challenge to Florida campaign law
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A federal judge is hearing arguments in a challenge to a Florida campaign law regulating political committees and similar groups.

Florida Senate pays $109K for Siplin's legal bills
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
The Florida Senate has picked up the $109,000 tab for state Sen. Gary Siplin's four-year legal battle over an ethics complaint lodged by a former Orange County sheriff's deputy.

POLITICAL RACES

Rick Perry inches closer to 2012 bid; has an eye on Florida
By Jonathan Martin
Politico
He's hosting a steady stream of Republican supplicants in Austin, his would-be organization is stepping up its outreach, and they're both talking to key early-state operatives and players.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Mississippi plume could threaten life in Gulf
By Kate Spinner
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
More than a trillion gallons of polluted water — a volume equal to Tampa Bay — cascaded from the flood-swollen Mississippi Delta watershed into the Gulf of Mexico daily during May.

Progress Energy, Florida Power & Light no longer required to expand energy conservation programs
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
State regulators set the clock back on energy conservation in Florida on Tuesday by reversing a rule that would have required Progress Energy Florida and Florida Power & Light to encourage customers to use less electricity.

State alters Everglades legal fight, tries to settle two lengthy cleanup suits
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
In the 20 years since the state settled a lawsuit over restoring the Everglades and then violated the settlement, a cottage industry of well-paid lawyers and consultants specializing in the Everglades cleanup has been arguing about who is to blame and how to get the job done.

Agency says it can't afford to put Florida's gopher tortoises on endangered species list
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Florida's gopher tortoises deserve to be added to the nation's list of endangered and threatened species — but the federal agency in charge said Tuesday that it doesn't have the money to do the job.

Panel reviews cost claims for federal pollution rules in Florida
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
An independent panel of scientists is hearing from an series of business groups Tuesday in the second of a two-day public hearing on the cost of Florida complying with federal water pollution standards.

Florida parks increase visitors after drop in previous year
By Bruce Ritchie
FloridaEnvironments.com
Maybe the slow economy is encouraging people to rediscover nature.

LGBT

Poll: Would you honeymoon in a state where your new marriage is banned by constitutional amendment?
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
On Sunday, New York became the sixth state to allow same-sex couples to marry.

EDUCATION

The governor and his gang have Florida's public schools in their sights
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
If you don't think Gov. Rick Scott and the Republicans in the Legislature are trying to dismantle the state's public school system, then splash this cold water in your face.

Dade schools budget spares teacher jobs
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
In planning for the upcoming school year, Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho managed to do what many of his peers nationally could not: Balance the budget without cutting teacher jobs.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida lawmaker delegation split several ways on debt reduction plans
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Freshman U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, emerged as an important player today as House Republicans struggled to find votes for Speaker John Boehner's revised plan to cut spending and raise the federal debt ceiling before the government's ability to borrow runs out next week.

Washington’s debt crisis: the elephant in the room for South Florida’s economy
By Douglas Hanks
Miami Herald
As Barry Johnson mingled with business leaders before a session on local finances Tuesday, the president of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce kept colliding with what he called “the elephant in the room”: fears that Washington might stop paying its bills.

How The Income Gap Plays Out For Rich And Poor
Talk of the Nation
NPR
The gap between rich and poor has widened.

Proposed sinkhole insurance rates likely will force people to drop coverage
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The state-run property insurer took a step toward imposing massive rate hikes for sinkhole insurance Tuesday, tentatively approving new premiums that would force many policy holders to either pay thousands of dollars more next year or drop coverage altogether.

Researcher: Low-wage job numbers a ’cause for concern’
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
That Florida unemployment remained steady during the month of June and added manufacturing jobs are positive signs, but according to researcher Emily Eisenhauer, jobs have been added in low-wage industries.

USDA Commits $11 Million to Fight Deadly Citrus Malady
By Kevin Bouffard
Lakeland Ledger
The Florida citrus industry has some $20 million in its pocket for the fight against citrus greening, with the promise of up to $9 million in federal money during the next three years.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Scott orders group to improve AHCA's oversight of assisted-living facilities
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
Florida's Agency for Health care Administration has formed a workgroup to come up with improvements to its oversight of assisted-living facilities in the state.

Is group foster care slowly becoming extinct?
By Kate Santich
Orlando Sentinel
During the past five years, the state of Florida has reduced by more than a third the number of kids in its child-welfare system — a drop that has meant nearly 11,000 children were either never removed from their biological families in the first place or were placed in homes with relatives or adoptive parents.

Commission to address unemployment among workers with disabilities
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
Gov. Rick Scott today created a commission to address high unemployment among workers with disabilities.

Is $9M hospital charge a record?
By Brittany Davis and Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Tampa General Hospital has filed a $9.2 million claim against the estate of a woman who died after spending five years in the hospital, according to Hillsborough County court documents.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Bondi asks U.S. Supreme Court to re-order execution
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Attorney General Pam Bondi has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to override the Florida Supreme Court’s stay on the execution of convicted cop killer Manuel Valle.

Guard suspended in teen’s death was fired from last job
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
When Laryell King was forced to leave her job at the Department of Juvenile Justice lockup in Orlando for “negligently” leaving a youth alone in a room, juvenile justice administrators left a clear warning in her personnel file: “NO rehire in any position.”