PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Progressives protest Rick Scott in St. Pete
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida Watch Action, Progress Florida and Awake the State organized the protest to coincide with Scott’s speech and more than a hundred new laws went into effect today.
Thumb down: Textbook by Sen. Mike Haridopolos hardly jumping off the shelves
Editorial
TC Palm
Initially, the book written for Brevard Community College by state This week, the liberal advocacy group, Progress Florida, in a story picked up by The Associated Press, reported that the book, "Florida Legislative History and Processes," had sold only 70 copies…If the state senator isn't embarrassed by this episode, he should be.
AWAKE THE STATE IN THE NEWS
Protestors voice disapproval of Scott in St. Pete
By Keeley Sheehan
Crative Loafing Tampa
Excerpt: “We want to show [the legislature] that people don’t agree with the policies put in place,” said Kofi Hunt, organizing member of Awake Pinellas, a branch of grassroots Florida organization, Awake the State. They want the legislature to rethink its policies, and “represent the people, not personal agendas.”
Chamber's ‘Six Pillars' not what you think
By Bruce Seaman
Ocala Star-Banner
Much of the damaging legislation approved by the Florida Legislature is due to lobbying by the Florida Chamber of Commerce. The local "Awake the State" effort joins statewide partners in exposing the Florida Chamber as nothing more than the lobbying arm for Big Business interests with scant interest in local communities or businesses.
FEATURED STORIES
In affront to his tea party base, Florida Gov. Rick Scott approves SunRail
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In an affront to his tea party base and to backers of a Florida bullet train he killed earlier this year, Gov. Rick Scott on Friday gave the green light to SunRail, a controversial Orlando-area commuter rail project on hold since he took office.
State layoffs of 1,300 employees hitting home
By Steve Bousquet, Stephanie Wang, Jamal Thalji and Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Millions of Floridians head back to work today after a three-day Fourth of July weekend.
Scott cuts money for vets, kids — but not lobbyist
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
Call it the allocation of the immaculate conception — an unrequested $1.5 million surreptitiously folded into legislation even while $3.8 billion was being ripped from the state budget with brutal cuts in education and infrastructure and state worker pensions and programs for the poor, elderly and disabled.
Gov. Rick Scott goes 'into lion's den' to address newspaper editors
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related editorial: Scott shows contempt for open government
Standing in front of many of Florida's newspaper editors for the first time Friday, Gov. Rick Scott said charging for public records was more important than the chilling effect the policy could have on scrutiny of state government.
Robocalls, canned email may be a sign of GOP concern for 2012
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Michael Joyce is tired of receiving phone calls from Gov. Rick Scott.
Florida hopes to expand camping at state parks
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
Florida wants to expand camping at its state parks and officials propose to do so with private development of campsites at up to 56 of them.
EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Chan Lowe
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Artist's commentary: Fair Districts and fact
FLORIDA POLITICS
Malarkey Meter: Fair districts fiasco (video story)
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Summary Closed Captioning Scott Maxwell puts the fair districts fiasco to the test in this week's Malarkey Meter.
Charging maximum for public records ‘right thing to do,’ Gov. Scott says
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott defended his administration’s public records policy to a roomful of media executives Friday at the annual meeting of the Florida Press Association and Florida Society of Newspaper Editors.
Scott's attempts to raise rating may hurt
By Bill Rufty
Winter Haven News Chief
Gov. Rick Scott has become embroiled in controversy over an attempt to raise his 29 percent approval rating that was reported in the latest Quinnipiac Poll.
PR gimmicks can't obscure Rick Scott's poor start
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
Gov. Rick Scott is doing one heck of a job.
Can Florida Gov. Rick Scott become more than a punch line?
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times
After six months as governor, Rick Scott remains a national punch line.
The insider in Gov. Rick Scott's team of outsiders
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald
In the Capitol, everyone needs an insider.
Rick Scott finds ways to skirt mainstream media
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott, plagued by plummeting poll ratings and a fractious relationship with the state's traditional media, has increasingly turned to alternative methods of communicating with voters — including social media — in an effort to improve his public image.
Gov. Scott's wealth declines 53 percent
By Paul Flemming and Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Florida's wealthiest governor is a lot less rich these days.
Big corporations calling the shots
By Seeta Begui
Florida Today
The Tea Party of 1773 was an action taken because of a tax levied by British lawmakers for Americans living in the colonies.
Major Tallahassee lobbying firm picks up Jim Smith
By Gary Fineout
Florida Current
Former Attorney General Jim Smith is joining Southern Stategy Group after leaving the firm he started with his son-in-law Brian Ballard.
Gov. Scott's taxes
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Apparently, Gov. Rick Scott hates taxes, except when it comes to taxing Floridians for their right to know what's going on in his office.
POLITICAL RACES
Some fear tea party could hurt GOP in 2012
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Some Republican fear the tea party movement that gave Republicans key wins last November could be a detriment in 2012.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott: No way I'm not running for re-election
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Imagine you're Gov. Rick Scott. After spending $73 million of your own money to win office, you face protesters constantly, you have little privacy and you are America's most unpopular governor.
Gov. Scott doesn't need to be popular -- yet
By Thomas Tryon
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott said it. I believe it.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Gov. Rick Scott defends plan to expand camping in state parks
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
Despite strong criticism from members of his own party, Republican Gov. Rick Scott on Friday defended his administration's push to add new campgrounds with spaces for recreational vehicles in more than 50 state parks, including Dunedin's popular Honeymoon Island State Park.
Meetings seek public input on camping
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Daytona Beach News-Journal
A series of four meetings taking place this week, including one in DeLeon Springs, asks the public to weigh in on adding family-style camping to more Florida state parks.
Budget cuts hurt Everglades
By Allan Milledge
Orlando Sentinel
"To maintain our natural wealth, we must engage in full and complete conservation of all our resources."
Can Florida dry up? We seem intent to find out
By Carl Wernicke
Pensacola News Journal
Droughts come and go, and Florida has always experienced its wet and dry seasons. But natural Florida was fully evolved to wait out the droughts and dry out from the floods.
Governor's energy policy veers toward drilling
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott and state Senate President Mike Haridopolos have short memories.
Water testing to decline?
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
Frankly, we think our Gulf beaches are better than the three-out-of-five-stars ranking given them by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
LGBT
Obama administration says DOMA motivated by hate of gays, supports lesbian employee's case
By Sudhin Thanawala
Associated Press
In a strongly worded legal brief, the Obama administration has said the federal act that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman was motivated by hostility toward gays and lesbians and is unconstitutional.
Florida not close to backing gay marriage
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Legalized gay marriage continues to be a national trend. Unfortunately, don't expect that trend to come to Florida any time in the near future.
EDUCATION
Black colleges' goal: More graduates
By Bill Maxwell
St. Petersburg Times
President Barack Obama spoke in August at the University of Texas in Austin, urging the United States to regain the world lead in college graduation rates by 2020.
Adult-education classes in Florida now come with fees
By Denise-Marie Balona
Orlando Sentinel
Florida educators worry that a new fee on adult-education classes will force students to drop out of a program meant to help them secure work or higher-paying jobs.
Cautionary tales
Editorial
Florida Today
Welcome to Florida, Commissioner of Education Gerard Robinson.
FSU study of Bright Futures scholarships welcome
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Yes, $780,000 is a lot to pay for data and research that state officials should already have in hand.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Gov. Rick Scott says SunRail, hi-speed rail “two totally different” projects
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott defended his decision to allow a controversial Central Florida commuter rail project to move forward, saying he legally had no authority to block the $1.5 billion SunRail line as he did when rejecting $2.4 billion in federal funds for high-speed rail.
Tallahassee judge rejects union request to segregate employee pension payments
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times
Saying unions were requesting a "drastic remedy which should be granted only sparingly," Leon County Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford rejected a union request to issue an injunction and segregate public employees' 3 percent pension contributions from the state's retirement fund. A new law requiring the payments went into effect Friday.
Unions to keep fighting set aside of pension funds
By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press
Despite an unfavorable judicial ruling on their first stop, union leaders representing teachers and other public employees say they have just begun their fight against a new Florida law taking effect Friday that requires workers to contribute 3 percent of their pay to retirement.
Tight budget meant few tax cuts by Florida Legislature
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
What makes a successful lawmaking session?
Florida Cities Struggle with State Funding Cuts
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
The massive budget cuts passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature, and signed into law by Tea Party-backed Gov. Rick Scott, are coming home to roost in Florida's municipalities.
Infographic: 1,662 State Workers' Employment Ends Today
Staff Report
Florida Current
As originally reported by The Florida Current, July 1st marked the last day on the job for 1,662 agency employees.
Change to FRS has $93 million price tag for Big Bend area
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Today
In all the debate about requiring public employees to ante up 3 percent of their salaries for retirement, both sides agree on one thing.
It's your last chance to see a shuttle launch
Staff Report
Ft. Myers News-Press
Viewing history won't be easy for Southwest Floridians wanting to drive to the east coast to see the final space shuttle launch scheduled for Friday.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Health care: Private managed-care plans not answer
By Stephen Galvacky
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The Legislature's planned conversion of Medicaid into private managed-care plans certainly got the backing of the for-profit HMO industry.
Hopes crushed for seniors seeking care at home
By Brian Lee
St. Petersburg Times
The Legislative Budget Committee's recent decision to reject federal Money Follows the Person dollars is not only baffling but an affront to nursing home residents and their families.
Medicaid fraud probe focuses on state lawmaker
By Michael Sallah, Rob Barry and Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
Months after Florida lawmaker Daphne Campbell promised to crack down on Medicaid fraud, state agents are now carrying out her pledge by focusing on an unexpected target: Campbell's own health care business.
Blood bank officials on alert for parasite-spreading tick making its way to S. Florida
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post
As if Lyme disease wasn't worrisome enough, ticks are increasingly spreading a malaria-like parasite to humans which infects red blood cells, and has been fatal.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Hackers continue 'Operation Orlando' website attacks
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Computer hackers continued their assault on Orlando websites on Friday, attempting to disrupt the site for Orlando International Airport going into a busy travel weekend.
Tarpon Springs Food Not Bombs has mellow protest in solidarity with its Orlando comrades
By Kate Bradshaw
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
The battle over the right to share food with the hungry may be raging in Orlando, but a solidarity demonstration in Tarpon Springs suggests that perhaps not all touristy Florida towns are ready to bring down the gauntlet on the practice.
Wake up, poor people: You really don't have rights
By Paul Flemming
Ft. Myers News-Press
>From now on (or until the courts overturn it) Floridians will be free from the scourge of the drug-addicted welfare recipient supporting his $8-a-day crack habit at the public trough.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Appeals Court: Illegal Residents Entitled to Workers' CompensationBy Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
After dropping out of school in his native Mexico, Luis Aragon crossed the U.S. border as an illegal immigrant at age 16 in search of work.
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