Daily Clips for August 31, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Critics assail legislators again on redistricting
By Keith Morelli
Tampa Tribune
Florida lawmakers trying to redraw political district boundaries before the election of 2012 met Tuesday morning with a contentious crowd in Largo that didn't hesitate to let loose hisses and boos.

Gaetz proposes moving redistricting process timeline
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
The Legislature could consider a constitutional amendment to change the timeline for redistricting votes in an effort to address a barrage of criticism lawmakers have heard as they have traveled across Florida, Senate Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz said Tuesday.

Gov efficiency task force chief wants $3 billion in savings
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The chairman of the Florida Government Efficiency Task Force set an “ambitious goal” at the panel’s first meeting Tuesday – $3 billion in savings over four years.

Drop in Florida consumer confidence points to possible recession
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Current
Consumer confidence among Floridians has dropped to near record lows leading to fears that the state is headed back into a recession.

A crude Everglades policy
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Michele Bachmann's wish to drill for oil and gas in the Everglades is stupid, and not just for the obvious reason.

FLORIDA POLITICS

GOP, Minorities Partnering to Dilute Redistricting
By Steve Newborn
WUSF Public Radio Tampa
Voters got so fed up with "gerrymandered" districts that practically assured incumbents would get re-elected that they passed Amendments 5 and 6 in November.

Redistricting hearing draws crowd and criticism
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida lawmakers have not even started redrawing boundaries for the state’s congressional and legislative districts, but they are getting an earful about the process nonetheless.

Pinellas County residents criticize legislative redistricting process
By David DeCamp
St. Petersburg Times
Critics of Florida lawmakers' approach to redistricting seats lambasted them at a testy hearing Tuesday in Pinellas County.

Redistricting forums being held today in Southwest Florida
By Bob Rathgeber
Ft. Myers News-Press
Related editorial: It's worth attending redistricting events
When state legislators hold public forums today in Lee and Collier counties to discuss redistricting, a new proposal will be introduced to the talks.

Gov's new neighborhood more like average Floridian
By Mike Schneider
Associated Press
When Gov. Rick Scott moved into the Governor's Mansion, he left one of the wealthiest parts of the state.

FEC case against former Buchanan business partner may be nearing end
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A protracted battle over illegal campaign donations to U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan may be headed for resolution.

Siplin faces new elections violation charges
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
The Florida Elections Commission has found probable cause that state Sen. Gary Siplin broke the law when he spent $13,000 in campaign funds to allegedly pay poll workers without disclosing who they were, and for exceeding campaign-finance limits when he accepted two checks from a phosphate-mining fund.

POLITICAL RACES

Give him a Purple Heart for paper cuts
By Daniel Ruth
St. Petersburg Times
When he entered the political arena, retired Col. Mike McCalister of the Army Reserve wanted you to believe he was some sort of derring-do, special operations, international man of mystery who gallivanted about the globe with a dagger clenched between his teeth, guns blazing on the trail of evildoers.

Adam Putnam as presidential kingmaker?
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Jon Huntsman had him over for dinner in Orlando. Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have left phone messages asking for his support.

Florida Conservative Political Action Conference stacked with GOP stars
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A slew of big-name conservatives will appear at the first ever regional Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando on Sept. 23.

West says Bachmann made ‘incredible faux pas’ on Everglades drilling
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
U.S. Rep. Allen West told a town hall audience today that Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann made “an incredible faux pas” when she said she is open to allowing drilling for oil and natural gas in the Everglades if it can be done safely.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

"Gulf Cleanup Chaos": Report Details Dangers of Dispersants
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
The dispersants used in cleaning up the Gulf Deepwater Horizon oil disaster may have the same types of adverse effects on humans and wildlife as does the oil itself, according to a new report from Earthjustice, the environmental advocacy law firm.

3 Fla. universities to lead oil spill research
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Three Florida universities are receiving grants to lead research groups studying last year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Watchdog group says Crist edged Bush when it came to protecting the environment
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A public employees watchdog group said Monday that state enforcement of environmental violations was better under Gov. Charlie Crist than his predecessor, Gov. Jeb Bush, but the group said enforcement still was disappointing.

Florida Communities Trust awards grants despite demise of Florida Forever program
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Florida Forever funding was vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott but the popular land-acquisition program is still providing money for local parks.

Swiftmud picks engineer as new executive director
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
The new executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District is a 50-year-old engineer from Jupiter who has never worked for a Florida government agency before.

EDUCATION

Teacher Salaries a Victim of Budget Cuts
By Lilly Rockwell
News Service of Florida
Stephanie Rothman has done the math. On her roughly $48,000 a year salary, the 15-year high school English teacher in Broward County barely gets by.

Education bills keep coming in Tallahassee
By Jeff Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
After a busy 2011 session, some key Florida lawmakers tell the Gradebook they expect a less activist 2012 when it comes to education matters.

Students petition for tuition cap
By Karlanna Lewis
FSView
On Sunday FSU Progress Coalition collected over 500 signatures in support of capping tuition.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida and Foreclosures
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
There’s no doubt what the F-word has come to mean in Florida during the past three years. Foreclosure.

Floridians' confidence dip is overreaction, one economist says
By Jeff Ostrowski
Palm Beach Post
Consumer confidence among Floridians fell to a near-record low in August, and a national reading of consumer sentiment also plummeted, renewing fears of a double-dip recession.

FEMA disaster relief fund could face $5 billion shortfall
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
As Florida heads into peak hurricane season and emergency officials calculate the costs of Hurricane Irene, FEMA concedes that its disaster fund might not hold enough money to meet all the claims the agency expects to receive.

Refiled bill wouldn't let bad credit disqualify job applicants
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Nearly half of all employers screen selected job candidates by pulling their credit reports, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Internet cafe crackdown renews legal debate
By Arelis R. Hernandez
Orlando Sentinel
Scores of casino-style "Internet cafes" in Central Florida are thriving in a gray area of state law, irritating some and entertaining others.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida one of five states returning grants for health care reform implementation
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
According to a new map released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Florida is one of only five states returning grants awarded by the federal government to implement the federal health care reform law.

AIDS care money goes unspent, activists say
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
AIDS activists said Tuesday that potentially millions of federal dollars earmarked for medical and transportation services have been left unspent locally in recent years, while Central Florida patients still struggle to get treatment.

Consumers rally for enforcing insurance reforms now
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
Health-insurance reform was the focus of a small rally Monday in front of the Orange County Courthouse.

Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to go live Thursday
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A statewide Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (aka E-FORCSE) will finally go live on Thursday.

Stepping up for Florida's children
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott is wisely making an exception to his opposition to the federal Affordable Health Care Act and rejection of federal money tied to the reforms.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Unmarried? Living together? You're breaking the law in Florida
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Unmarried couples who want to take the plunge and move in together, take heart.

Florida immigrant rights organizers lash out against Alabama’s new anti-immigrant law
By Andrea Lypka
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
As we reported Monday, a federal judge in Birmingham, Alabama has temporarily blocked enforcement of that state's new law cracking down on undocumented immigration.

Florida man whose deportation case was thrown out earns conservative support
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Manuel Guerra — an undocumented immigrant who supports the DREAM Act, and whose deportation case was recently canceled — has earned the backing of some conservatives in Indiantown, Fla.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida cops water down Innocence Commission lineup recommendations
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
For months, Florida's Innocence Commission struggled over whether to recommend that every police agency in the state be required to clean up and standardize how they have eyewitnesses pick suspects from photo lineups.

Daily Clips for August 30, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Bachmann's Everglades drilling comment leaves Floridians scratching their heads
By Catharine Richert
Minnesota Public Radio
Excerpt: ...oil drilling in the protected Everglades isn't typically a topic of discussion, said Mark Ferrulo, who is executive director of the left-leaning advocacy group Progress Florida. "There's no debate or discussion among the most conservative, pro-drilling people about opening up the Everglades to drilling," Ferrulo said. "It would be as crazy as saying, 'let's drill under Space Mountain' in Disney World."

FEATURED STORIES

Bachmann sparks furor by calling for oil drilling in the Everglades
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Related editorial: Drill, baby, drill
Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has reignited an intense debate over energy exploration by calling for oil drilling off the shores of Florida and in the Everglades.

Florida GOP's Presidency 5 straw poll lacking strong campaign support
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
What if you threw a big mock election and nobody bothered to campaign?

Lawmakers get an earful in Tampa on redrawing districts
By Laura Kinsler
Tampa Tribune
Legislators charged with redrawing Florida's political districts got an earful Monday from Tampa Bay as dozens of voters chided them for waiting too late to start the actual mapping process.

PSC begins hearings across state on politically-charged water rate hike requests
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Public Service Commission this week begins a series of 10 public hearings around the state on politically charged rate hikes requested by Aqua Utilities Florida Inc.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Rubio's vague positions haven't hurt his appeal
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio seized the torch of a new generation of conservatives this month when he escorted former first lady Nancy Reagan into the Reagan Presidential Library and delivered a stirring speech sure to inspire Republicans across the country.

Dozens of speakers have their say as legislative redistricting tour comes to Tampa
By Bill Varian
St. Petersburg Times
Vera J. Chapman stood before 40 of the most powerful people in Florida on Monday and told them she'd like to take them to the woodshed.

In Tarpon Springs, activists criticize redistricting process during meeting
By Josh Holton
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Next year Florida will redraw its political boundary lines, and last night Tarpon Springs residents voiced their opinions about the process at a public meeting.

Scott transition e-mails: Budget, politics and prayers
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
One of Gov. Rick Scott’s closest advisors wanted to keep the newly-elected governor out of meetings about the state budget, a recently released batch of e-mails from Scott’s transition team revealed.

Add sincerity to your shopping cart, Scott
By Anna Eskamani
Central Florida Future
On a sunny Friday afternoon, I, along with some of my colleagues, waited at a local Walmart to meet Gov. Rick Scott.

What does the FL Senate have lined up so far for next session?
By Kathleen Haughney
South Florida Sun Sentinel
With lawmakers set to be in Tallahassee in only a few weeks for a round of committee meetings, lawmakers are starting to file legislation that will be seen in the 2012 legislative session.

POLITICAL RACES

Analysis: Support dips for key Obama vote blocs
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Whites and women are a re-election problem for President Barack Obama. Younger voters and liberals, too, but to a lesser extent.

Bachmann defends stance on drilling in Everglades if done without environmental damage
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann says she'd consider drilling for oil and natural gas in the Everglades if it can be done without causing "environmental degradation."

Bachmann barnstorms Florida, explains controversial comments in Miami
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Michele Bachmann became the first major Republican presidential candidate to barnstorm the state this year, capping a six-city tour Monday in Miami where she sipped cafecitos, paid homage to Cuban Americans and kicked off a month of intensive GOP politicking in the state.

In Senate Campaign, A Search for ‘Colonel’ of Truth
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Mike McAlister is campaigning for the Republican nomination to be a U.S. Senator from Florida.

GOP Senate candidate campaigns in Pensacola
By Katie McFarland
Pensacola News Journal
Adam Hasner, Republican candidate for United States Senate vying to take current Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson’s seat, made a campaign stop in Pensacola today.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Fierce dispute over EPA water rules continues
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A recent string of opinion columns proves just how intense the debate over new water rules proposed by the EPA have become in Florida.

The Florida Black Bear: A Conservation Success Story
By Kathy Barco
WCTV News Tallahassee
This is my first column as Chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Bacteria killing sabal, date palm trees in Florida
By Tamara Lush
Associated Press
An insect with a disgusting habit is killing palm trees in the Tampa Bay area and experts are worried the disease transmitted by the bugs will affect trees around the state.

Hunters' claim to new Florida lands is dubious
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
A bid by hunters to gain access to more public lands owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District should be treated with extreme caution.

LGBT

A Teacher Is Back in Class After Anti-Gay Diatribe, but Did He Really Win?
By Tim Padgett
Time Magazine
Jerry Buell is back in the classroom, as he should be. Or, perhaps, shouldn't be.

Military prepares for end of 'don't ask, don't tell'
By Franco Ordonez
Charlotte Observer
In less than four weeks, openly gay men and women will be able to serve in the U.S. military.

EDUCATION

Senator wants voters to pick Florida's education commissioner
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Saying education is just as important as agriculture or the state's finances, a state senator wants voters to choose Florida's education commissioner.

Changes in state rules lead to cramped classes
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
At Miami Beach High, it takes 20 minutes for Nadia Zananiri to take attendance in a college-prep World History class.

Students Start the School Year with Less Money, Higher Tuition
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Forty-one thousand students began a new year today at Florida State University.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott's top priorities: jobs, jobs, jobs
By Peter Guinta
St. Augustine Record
Gov. Rick Scott presented his vision Monday on how he hopes to attract hundreds more jobs statewide.

Fewer Florida businesses mean fewer Florida jobs
By Robert Trigaux
St. Petersburg Times
If small businesses are the lifeblood of the Florida economy, maybe it's time for a transfusion.

Florida insurance rates could rise as Hurricane Irene adds to yearlong disaster tally
By Jeff Harrington
St. Petersburg Times
Florida was spared Hurricane Irene's wrath, but that doesn't mean homeowners here won't have a price to pay down the road.

Attorney general investigating lawsuits pitched to distressed homeowners
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
The Florida attorney general's office is investigating the use of mass joinder lawsuits marketed to homeowners facing foreclosure, a new practice that got a California lawyer with ties to a prominent Tallahassee lobbyist shut down earlier this month.

Florida Senate bill would tax bottled water
News Service of Florida
Florida Times-Union
A proposal to tax bottled water was filed Monday in the Florida Senate, re-igniting a water war that has pitted Sen. Evelyn Lynn against bottlers and business groups.

NASA's smaller programs could be at risk
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
The cost of NASA's two flagship programs — a new space telescope and its next rocket — is poised to devour much of the agency's shrinking budget in coming years, putting at risk everything from efforts to develop futuristic spacecraft to returning rocks from Mars, scientists and congressional insiders warn.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

How the Legislature eliminated the state’s prison health care watchdog
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
In January 2007, a woman was diagnosed with vulvar cancer while she was held in a Florida jail.

Elders on waiting lists could wait longer under privatized Medicaid
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Supporters of privatized Medicaid say it will help keep more seniors in their homes.

Lawsuit seeks to help VA pension beneficiaries wrongly purged from Medicaid rolls
By Adam H. Beasley
Miami Herald
Irene Czajkowski, 84, is the widow of a military veteran, living in a St. Petersburg nursing home with a fixed income of roughly $20,000 a year.

Two-thirds of Americans agree with feds’ birth control decision
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
According to a recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll conducted by Public Opinion and Survey Research Program, 66 percent of Americans agree with the federal government’s recent decision to include birth control in its list of preventative services.

Hospital sues law firm for legal malpractice
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
A merger negotiated behind closed doors between a private hospital and public facility spawned a controversy in the Florida Legislature last year and helped lead to the creation of a gubernatorial committee on taxpayer-funded hospital districts.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

'Penny a Pound' Protestors to Bike 200 Miles to Confront Publix CEO
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
Planning to arrive on the first day back to work after Labor Day, a group of farm workers will make a 200-mile trek from Immokalee to Lakeland where they hope to get an audience with Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw, who they intend on inviting for a visit to the fields where Publix tomatoes are picked in hope of finally convincing the supermarket chain to join the “penny a pound” movement.

Whatever NRA wants, it gets
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
You might not have figured sleepy little Groveland, Fla., to be a hotbed of pointy-headed-liberal anti-gun predilections, with local laws restricting patriotic Americans’ God-given right to pack heat anywhere and anyhow they the damn well see fit.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Change in Florida drug law under legal fire
By Jay Stapleton
Daytona Beach News-Journal
When Volusia County sheriff's agents raided a house on Oleander Place in Ormond Beach looking for drugs, a man living in the house said he knew nothing about illegal activity.

Daily Clips for August 29, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Critics: State needs independent investigators of state offices
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Excerpt: Damien Filer, spokesman for Progress Florida, said that with Bondi and Atwater being from the same party "and having the same ideology, and seemingly, the same political agenda," the investigation hardly seems impartial. Said Filer, whose group was first to call for a probe, "This is like trusting Exxon Mobil to tell us whether BP's rig was leaking or not."



The Blu Vu August 22^nd Weekly Show
By Gayle Andrews
The Blu Vu: Florida's Political Reality Show
Editor's note: Progress Florida Political Director Damien Filer is the newest contributor to "The Blu Vu" - a weekly roundup of Florida political stories that matter.
Show Highlights: This week's episode features Gov. Scott's prison privatization disaster, his deleted Emails and Florida Watch Action's Robocall Rick! campaign.

FEATURED STORIES

Scott transition team knew of e-mail deletions in March, records show
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott said he learned within the past two weeks that state transition e-mail accounts could not be recovered from a private computer server, potentially erasing records that state law requires be kept.

County health clinics serving the poor face cuts
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Cathy Dewey had to wake up her two children at 4 a.m. Thursday in Apopka, just to get a good spot in a long child-immunization line at the Orange County Health Department's clinic in downtown Orlando.

Florida's redistricting: Where are the maps?
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida legislators bring the contentious redistricting road show to the western half of the state this week as they work to persuade doubters that they really aren't interested in drawing legislative maps to protect themselves or their parties.

A year away from GOP convention, hosts must get funds for the fun
By Richard Danielson and Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
To land a really big catch, sometimes you want a really big boat.

Threatening Florida's water
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Jeopardizing Florida’s drinking water, scrapping purchases of sensitive lands, and rubber-stamping permits for agricultural and industrial water hogs puts the state's future at risk.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jeff Parker
Florida Today
Artist's commentary: Deleted Sunshine

FLORIDA POLITICS

Emails: Jeb Bush was upset Scott fired staffers
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Newly released emails show that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was disappointed that Gov. Rick Scott fired the mother of an Army soldier who had just been killed in Afghanistan as well as others who worked in the governor's office.

Tallahassee, this is repugnant
By Mark Woods
Florida Times-Union
The old saying that laws are like sausages — it’s better not to see either being made — truly is an insult to sausage factories everywhere.

Our region’s turn to give input on fair districts
Editorial
Bradenton Herald
Floridians spoke loud and clear in the super majority passage of Fair District Amendments 5 and 6 last November with 62 percent approval votes on both.

POLITICAL RACES

Bachmann vies for evangelical vote so important to Florida GOP primary
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Related AP story: Bachmann says she'd consider Everglades drilling
Support for abortion rights or gay marriage is a deal-breaker for David Bracken when he evaluates presidential candidates.

Michele Bachmann rally draws over 1,000 in Sarasota, but some prefer Rick Perry
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Hurricane Irene bypassed the state and spared Michele Bachmann's first campaign foray in Florida this weekend, but now she has to contend with Hurricane Perry.

Nelson beats any Republican in new Sachs/Mason-Dixon poll
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, handily leads all declared Republican challengers plus a couple of undeclared challengers, according to the new Florida Poll.

'Business' of politics prompts former supporter to slam Adam Hasner
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
It wasn't personal or political - just business, says Boca Raton conservative activist Jack Furnari of his recent online slamming of longtime friend and ally Adam Hasner as a "moderate-conservative chameleon."

Senate candidate Mike McCalister breaks Army rules, wears uniform to fundraiser
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Mike McCalister, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, violated U.S. Army regulations by wearing his uniform to a political fundraiser — a move that further fuels the criticisms of veterans and service members who say he's misleading voters to seem like more of a soldier than he ever was.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Pilot finds oil bubbling up at Deepwater Horizon well again; BP reports no leaks
By Ben Raines
Mobile Press-Register
BP PLC officials reported finding no apparent leaks in the seal on the Deepwater Horizon well or the relief well after a Thursday night inspection in the Gulf of Mexico with a submersible robot.

Q&A: Florida industry's fierce fight against EPA pollution rule
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
A new federal rule meant to limit the phosphorus and nitrogen pollution in Florida waters is arguably the most fiercely contested environmental regulation yet imposed on the state.

Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge yet to rebound from water supply woes
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Summer rains that rescued crunchy lawns and filled neighborhood ponds so far have not been enough to boost water levels back to normal in the northern reaches of the Everglades.

Florida isn't whole yet following BP oil spill
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
BP has paid individuals and businesses in Florida more than $2 billion in claims from the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Ready or not
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Ready or not, the Obama administration has announced plans to hold the first sale of offshore oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico since last year's BP disaster.

EDUCATION

Scott prepares, serves meals at Orlando elementary
By Lauren Roth
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Senator’s daughter pulls strings to win Scott’s first public school visit
In his first visit to a traditional public school since taking office in January, Gov. Rick Scott this morning donned an apron and gloves to prepare and serve meals to students at Audubon Park Elementary School in Orlando.

Randolph says Scott’s Visit to School Like a “Grave Robber”
Staff Report
West Orlando News
Governor Rick Scott on Friday, visited Audubon Park Elementary School in Orlando, his second ‘Let’s Get to Work’ trip.

States Search For Answers To Cheating Scandals
By Larry Abramson
NPR
Cheating scandals have rocked a number of school districts across the country this year.

Panel OKs turf war rule for Fla. universities
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
A revised proposal to tamp down turf battles among Florida's state universities won approval Friday from a Board of Governors committee following the removal of a contentious provision that would have split the 11 schools into eight regions.

Lakeland may be home to next state university
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
Saying it could help broaden Florida's economic base, Senate Budget Chairman J.D. Alexander this week personally pitched the idea of creating a new, technology-oriented state university in Lakeland to Gov. Rick Scott.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Tri-Rail board head: Scott, Florida DOT trying 'hostile takeover' of region's passenger rail
By Joel Engelhardt
Palm Beach Post
In a cordial but testy, hour-long exchange Friday, a top state transportation official parried with a Tri-Rail board whose members fear he is trying to dismantle it.

Science key to Florida's economic future
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Florida is looking to diversity its economy.

Taxpayers could be on hook for jobs agency's misspending
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
As investigators dig into the finances of the region's workforce development board, federal law indicates that Central Florida taxpayers might have to repay any money that is ultimately determined to have been misspent.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Affordable Care Act a boon for women
By Staci Fox
Gainesville Sun
A recent study found that in 2009 more than a half of women delayed or avoided preventive care because of its cost. It’s easy to tell ourselves that skipping a year between mammograms or pap smears isn’t a big deal, but we all know that it is.

Florida gets Affordable Care Act dollars for immunizations and tobacco cessation
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Florida is getting another round of grants from the Affordable Care Act for public health. The state was awarded nearly $1 million for immunizations and a tobacco cessation program.

AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list still growing steadily
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
During the month of August, 110 people have joined Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list, the longest waiting list in the U.S.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Jacksonville author, civil rights activist Stetson Kennedy dead at 95
By Charlie Patton
Florida Times-Union
William Stetson Kennedy, whose radical opposition to Jim Crow racial segregation made him a pariah in his hometown early in life and an honored elder statesman late in life, died at 9:25 a.m. Saturday at Baptist Medical Center South.

Petition Drive Targets a 'Monster' of a Problem
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Monster.com, a national online employment company used by thousands of Florida job seekers, is the target of a petition drive organized to stop what supporters are calling discrimination against the unemployed.

Welfare drug-tests
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott vowed that he'd drug-test welfare applicants. And make them pay for the tests.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

New prisons chief clashed with Gov. Scott's inner circle, hastened departure
By Steve Bousquet and Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott scoured the country for the ideal candidate to take charge of the nation's third-largest prison system with its history of cronyism, insider dealing and dismal record of rehabilitating criminals.

Federal review blasts "constitutional violations" in Miami jail system
By David Ovalle
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade's jail system engages in a "pattern and practice of constitutional violation" against inmates that includes woeful medical and mental illness care that sometimes leads to death, abuse by corrections officers, repulsive living conditions and the failure to properly supervise dangerous offenders, according to a sweeping federal investigation.