Daily Clips for July 29, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Suspicion over AG's abrupt investigator firings grows
By Kate Bradshaw
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Excerpt: (Progress Florida’s) Ferrulo said what raises a red flag for him is the fact that one of the companies the two attorneys were investigating, Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services, was backing GOP campaigns.

Fla. lawmaker, nonprofit want investigation into Bondi's firings
By Jessica M. Karmasek
Legal Newsline
Excerpt: "It's bad enough Gov. Rick Scott is hard at work dismantling key consumer protections, but now he has a partner: our own Attorney General Pam Bondi. She seems to think her first duty is to protect some of Gov. Scott's biggest corporate pals -- the banks -- instead of hardworking Floridians," according to a page on the group's website.

FEATURED STORIES

Redistricting hearings engender little trust among the public
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Randolph to Cannon: Show me the legal fees for redistricting
Related: Haridopolos shows for redistricting hearing, urges patience, gets called out
Related column: Residents take to streets; Dorworth took to Facebook
If legislators hoped their hearings on redistricting in Orlando Wednesday would convince Central Floridians that lawmakers intend to honor them by drawing fair districts, those hopes were largely dashed.

State legislators deny voters' will on redistricting
By Jim Flateau
St. Petersburg Times
It's been said that no one should watch the making of sausage or legislation.

Policy research group: Florida made ‘unnecessarily harmful’ budget cuts
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A policy research group has included Florida in a list of states that made unnecessarily austere budget cuts this past year.

DNC Chair: How to Stop Voter-ID Laws
By Cynthia Gordy
The Root
In a speech this week during his organization's annual convention, NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous railed against restrictive state voting laws, likening their rise across the country to the days of Jim Crow.

Controversial veterans Hall of Fame list changed after outrage
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Ocala Star-Banner
Gov. Rick Scott's office sought to distance itself Thursday from the embarrassment of a list of prospective inductees to the new Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame that originally included six former members of the Confederate army, a former governor convicted of intimidating black residents and Scott himself.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

The Limits of Privatization
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is dead set on proving privatization is the answer to taxpayer problems with government.

U.S. Representative Tweets About ‘Islamic Terror’ in Norway
By Trish Ponder
Pensito Review
The world is finding out about the man suspected of the worst terror attacks in Norway’s history, in which first a bomb killed at least 30 in Oslo, and then an additional 67 people were gunned down at a nearby youth camp.

A Lesson In Economics For Gov. Rick Scott
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
Call me crazy, but I think when someone is elected to higher office, there should be a requirement that they know a little something about governing before you put them in charge of running the government.

Florida makes filing for unemployment more difficult
By Laura Clawson
Daily Kos
If you're unemployed in Florida—and with the state's unemployment rate standing at 10.6%, there's a good chance you are—congratulations! Things are getting worse for you.

Where is the status quo any more?
By Sherman Dorn
Sherman Dorn
I'm getting tired of people complaining about a shibboleth they call "the defender of the status quo."

FLORIDA POLITICS

Outsourcing lobbyist registration draws controversy
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Legislature's latest privatization effort is drawing attention from lobbyists and the news media, and for very different reasons.

Crist, Rubio, GOP not part of Tallahassee's 'culture of corruption, but former Black Democratic legislator Mandy Dawson is? Yes, say the feds
Staff Report
Florida Courier
Former state legislator Mandy Dawson, a well-known advocate for children and for the less fortunate, was arrested on federal tax charges last week – including failure to file tax returns, and failure to pay taxes on 2007 income of less than $31,000 and 2008 taxes on less than $46,000.

Lawmaker may push to reinstate two ousted Florida foreclosure investigators
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
An Orlando lawmaker wants two former state foreclosure investigators reinstated if performance evaluations he has requested reflect high rankings for the duo.

At redistricting hearing, residents fear process will favor incumbents
By Jeff Schweers
Florida Today
Nearly 100 Brevardians gave Florida legislative leaders an earful at a three-hour hearing on redistricting Thursday, demanding they follow new constitutional amendments meant to prevent creation of new districts that protect incumbents and the prevailing political party.

Michele Bachmann joins CPAC Florida lineup
By Alexander Burns
Politico
Michele Bachmann has signed on to participate in the regional CPAC gathering in Florida this September, becoming the fifth declared presidential candidate to join an event that looks increasingly like an essential stop in the Sunshine State primary campaign.

GOP demand for Frankel to return Catalfumo money costs Rooney $4,600
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
The National Republican Congressional Committee’s demand today that Democratic House hopeful Lois Frankel return “tainted dollars” from developer Dan Catalfumo produced some quick results — but not the ones the GOP wanted.

POLITICAL RACES

Haridopolos rips Hasner, hoping for a ‘principled conservative’ to run
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
After a legislative redistricting hearing in his home county, Senate President Mike Haridopolos didn’t mince words Thursday about the U.S. Senate race he quit last week and who he won’t be backing in it.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

No ‘Shared Sacrifice’ for Big Oil
The Progress Report
Think Progress
While the government’s coffers are nearly empty (not unlike the wallets of millions of Americans), Big Oil is still flush with cash — including some of the $4 BILLION in taxpayer-funded handouts they’ll get from Uncle Sam this year.

Water district steps up push to save Orlando-area springs, lakes
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Focusing on the plight of springs that feed the Wekiva River and some of the best-known lakes in the Orlando area, authorities on Thursday renewed a crackdown on excessive pumping from the region's main source of water, the Floridan Aquifer.

Alva residents still upset about algal bloom
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A recent large-scale algal bloom in Southwest Florida had residents concerned about both their financial and physical well-being.

'Wind farm' gets boost Thursday, despite potential threat to birds flying through Everglades
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Plans to build a "wind farm" that risks putting towering wind turbines in the migration paths of birds flying through South Florida moved a step closer to approval on Thursday.

Turtle nesting climbs along area coastline
By Brian Kelly
Pensacola News Journal
Sea turtle nesting season is on a record-breaking pace.

LGBT

Wilton Manors officials: Don't boycott businesses over U.S. Rep. Allen West's speaking engagement
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Concerned about a proposed business boycott over U.S. Rep. Allen West's scheduled appearance Aug. 8 at the Wilton Manors Business Association meeting, the city's elected officials issued the following statement.

EDUCATION

Half of Florida's failing schools are charters
By Jeff Reece
Florida Times-Union
Charter schools have been one of the tent poles for many education reformers over the past 10 years.

Merit pay concerns prep groups
By Lilly Rockwell
News Service of Florida
When lawmakers weighed whether to approve the controversial teacher merit pay bill in March, it wasn't just teachers who had a stake in the outcome.

Powerful senator's idea for new university met with open mind
By Janet Zink and Kim Wilmath
St. Petersburg Times
Related editorial: Arrogant power play on universities
The vision for the University of South Florida Polytechnic to spin off from USF and become an independent university remains a number of steps from reality.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

More lawmakers join the call for closer look at Citizens sinkhole insurance rates
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times
Sen. Charlie Dean and Representatives Will Weatherford and John Legg are joining Sen. Mike Fasano in the call for a closer look at the massive increases to sinkhole insurance rates proposed by Citizens Property Insurance.

Which Citizens are They Working For?
By John Rehill
Bradenton Times
Sinkholes have been an ongoing problem for decades.

Sen. Bill Nelson zigzags on debt ceiling votes
By Marc Caputo and Erika Bolstad
Miami Herald
Bill Nelson was against raising the debt ceiling before he was for it.

Rep. West joins with House speaker to push deficit bill
By William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Sparking a backlash from his friends in the tea party movement, South Florida U.S. Rep. Allen West is helping House Speaker John Boehner try to secure passage of a deficit-reduction plan to avert a government default.

Capitol Hill feud involving Mica has crippled FAA
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
It's known as "the other stalemate" on Capitol Hill: a feud between two congressional lions, Republican U.S. Rep. John Mica and Democratic U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, that has turned surprisingly personal and forced a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration since July 22

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Hospital tried for years to discharge its $9.2-million patient
By Letitia Stein
St. Petersburg Times
Tampa General Hospital tried for years to discharge a young woman who would eventually rack up nearly $9.2 million in charges during a five-year hospital stay.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Officer insulted me, Guatemalan says
By Alfonso Chardy
Miami Herald
Related editorial: Examine the culture
As he tested a car he planned to repair, Homestead mechanic Mateo Gaspar was stopped by a county police officer.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Mom will get video of son’s death in lockup
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
Florida’s top juvenile justice administrator said Thursday that several hours of video depicting a teenager’s death at a South Florida lockup will be released to the teen’s mother.

Lethal injection drug hearing to continue next week
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
A hearing that began Thursday morning on the use of a new anesthetic drug in Florida's lethal injections will continue next week, after a Miami judge said that scientists for both sides should testify in person or via video conference.