Daily Clips for August 15, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

The Blu Vu August 8th Weekly Show (video)
By Gayle Andrews
The Blu Vu
Florida Watch Action has launched a campaign to allow Floridians to record their own message for Gov. Rick Scott, and Progress Florida’s Damien Filer is here to tell us all about it.

FEATURED STORIES

Governor meets protesters during Walmart visit
By Kyle Hightower
Associated Press
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's visit to an Orlando-area Walmart to promote the state's back-to-school tax holiday Friday was met with a handful of hecklers and protesters, who shouted questions about his attention to education and job creation.

Accusations of impropriety rock Pam Bondi's office
By Aaron Deslatte and Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Eight months after she took office as a first-time elected official, Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing a management crisis replete with allegations of old-fashioned political interference in cases and a revolving door between lawyers and the companies they investigate.

Appeals panel finds mandatory insurance unconstitutional but upholds other Obama reforms
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Striking a blow to White House health care initiatives, a divided federal appeals panel in Atlanta ruled Friday that forcing Americans to purchase health insurance or face a penalty is unconstitutional.

Lawmakers keep health care to themselves
By Tom Tryon
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida has the 48th-worst ranking in the United States for the percentage of people under 65 without health-care insurance.

It's called Scottcare
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
We do not begrudge our millionaire governor his dirt-cheap, taxpayer-subsidized health care coverage.

Republican Senate challenge murky
By William March
Tampa Tribune
The GOP primary to choose an opponent for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson next year is unsettled, with no clear front-runner, most voters undecided and no candidate sweeping the party as Marco Rubio did in 2010.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Andy Marlette
Pensacola News Journal
Related editorial: Gov. Scott’s Bargain

FLORIDA POLITICS

Fla. public hearings on redistricting to begin
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Public hearings that will allow South Floridians a chance to weigh in on the future of their state and congressional districts are gearing up.

Lawmakers should drop the charade, draw district maps
By Bryan Eastman
Orlando Sentinel
Last month, I, along with many of my fellow Central Floridians, made our way to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre to speak our minds about redistricting.

Scott's promises: Mostly delivered but some course corrections
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Our next guest is Susannah Randolph who is behind the campaign in which ordinary Floridians are sending recorded phone calls to the governor this Monday.

Gov. Rick Scott's new image needs new policies
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott's finally getting out more. Appearing at events other than those aimed at Tea Party enthusiasts.

Campaign to have ordinary people call the Governor's office (audio story)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Our next guest is Susannah Randolph who is behind the campaign in which ordinary Floridians are sending recorded phone calls to the governor this Monday.

My friend, the governor
By Daniel Shoer Roth
Miami Herald
His voice is soft. While he speaks, he stops to think, turning his blue eyes up to focus on the ceiling.

House Speaker Dean Cannon announces 2011/2012 committee assignments
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times
House speaker Dean Cannon has announced his 2011/2012 committee assignments.

Lawmakers should open up about ALEC
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Everyone knows what the legislators who run Tallahassee generally want: lower taxes, fewer regulations, weaker unions and a state that leans right on social issues like abortion and immigration.

POLITICAL RACES

Parties battle early for Florida's crucial Hispanic vote
By Jeannette Rivera-Lyles
Orlando Sentinel
The presidential election is 15 months away, but Republicans and Democrats already are going after the Hispanic vote with a zeal usually reserved for the final stretch.

Florida GOP's Presidency 5 worthy of attention
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Perry's entry in GOP race dilutes Bachmann's victory in Iowa straw poll
The Florida GOP's "Presidency 5" powwow set for Sept. 22-24 hasn't generated a lot of buzz, and last week in Iowa with the national political press corps it was hard to find reporters more than vaguely aware of the event.

Tim Pawlenty had built strong operation in Florida before pullout
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Despite Florida's size and swing-state significance and its efforts to push itself toward the front of the presidential calendar, Tim Pawlenty's dropout is the latest reminder that Iowa and New Hampshire still carry outsize influence in the race for the White House.

Allen West faces unusual challenge from his tea party base
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
After 22 years in the Army, stints in Iraq and Afghanistan, and two of the nation's most bruising recent congressional campaigns, Allen West is no stranger to flak.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

$100 Million to Clean Up ‘Chocolate Mess’
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced in Palm Beach County on Aug. 11 that the federal government will spend $100 million to start the clean-up of the Everglades’ headwaters.

Feds step up to save Everglades, economy
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
As Florida leaders continue to defend the deterioration of the state's waterways, the federal government continues to clean them up.

Congressman again defends shortage of environmental groups at water pollution hearing
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, is again defending his decision not to include Florida environmental groups in a recent hearing on a set of EPA water pollution standards, saying that the list of witnesses was finalized before any of them asked to be included.

"Brain drain astounding" as dozens depart water district under state cutbacks
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Officials at the South Florida Water Management District did not release the number of workers laid off by the agency on Friday but there were many, with departures throughout the day. Workers were asked to leave quickly.

Protections Approved for Dozens More Fish Species
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Florida fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico lost $12.3 million due to over-fishing in 2009, according to a new study by the PEW Charitable Trust Environmental Group.

LGBT

With 'It Gets Better' message, Rays win off the field
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Homosexuality always has been a taboo topic in the locker room of professional sports.

EDUCATION

Seismic changes, challenges define new school year
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Another new school year has arrived in Central Florida, and in many ways, the ritual and rhythm of the season — school shopping and meet-the-teacher events — are the same as ever.

Ex-Fla. education commissioners still on payroll
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida doesn't have one, or even two education commissioners earning a paycheck right now. Try three.

State university system maintains it is working to deal with state's lackluster graduation rate
By Ana Goni-Lessan
Florida Current
Florida's state university officials - caught up in an ongoing tug of war over the future of the state university system - maintain that they are taking steps to help deal with a chronic problem: The state's low rate of producing graduates with bachelor's degrees.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

PBS stations expecting a reprieve from state budget cuts face another shutout
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
When Republican Rick Scott vetoed $4.8 million for Florida public broadcasting stations, program supporters mocked the governor as a penny-pinching enemy of Big Bird and other familiar PBS figures.

DOT hopes billion dollar investment in roads leads to jobs
By James Call
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
The state of Florida is accelerating its road building plan. The transportation department is advancing more than $1 billion worth of projects that had been slated to start as much as five years down the road.

Ask not for whom the road tolls
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott has seen the transportation future of the state, and it is a paved and tolled re-hashing of the past.

No property tax? Idea has fans, foes
By Derek Catron
Daytona Beach News-Journal
With property-tax notices coming out this month, it might be tempting to imagine what you'd do if you didn't have that expense.

Pension losses don't worry officials
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
The Florida Retirement System lost about $9 billion, or 7 percent of its value, over the last six weeks, but state investment officials say that's nothing to fret about.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

State employees may get new HMO plan
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
A third of state employees currently covered by HMO plans will need to reconsider their health insurance next month if new statewide contracts go into effect as planned.

Florida Medicaid rates keep Loxahatchee man, others in medical limbo
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
For most families, news that a loved one was being admitted to an intensive care unit wouldn't bring relief.

Former nursing-home watchdog's lawsuit: I was fired for doing my job
By Kate Santich
Orlando Sentinel
The state's former top watchdog for long-term-care facilities has filed a civil lawsuit against the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and two industry groups, alleging "retaliation" against him for merely doing his job.

Dosed in juvie jail: Investigators focus on antipsychotic doses for kids and possible fraud
By Michael LaForgia
Palm Beach Post
On alert for signs of fraud, state Attorney General Pam Bondi's office said months ago it was looking into the Medicaid billing habits of doctors who worked in Florida's juvenile jails.

Ignoring the vulnerable
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
It is a reflection of how deeply the Florida Legislature is in the pockets of special interests that lawmakers have continually sought to eliminate protections for assisted-living facility residents, though abuse is widespread.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Ex-felons grow old waiting for civil rights to be restored in Florida
By Lisa Marzilli
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Today we’re going to talk about civil rights restoration - and specifically, the ways in which Gov. Scott and his cabinet have made it more difficult for ex-felons to get those rights restored.

Florida cities, counties must take local gun laws off books
By Martin E. Comas
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County employees have started removing "no firearms" signs at county parks, and soon they'll probably black out the same words on brochures.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Legal drama flares in Florida drug-law case
By David Ovalle
Miami Herald
The legal battle over Florida’s drug law is heating up.

3 appointed to Fla. judicial commission
Associated Press
Lakeland Ledger
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has tapped three attorneys to serve on the First District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission.