Daily Clips for August 18, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi deflects controversy over firings, angry memo
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Excerpt: Meanwhile, the liberal advocacy group Progress Florida is circulating news reports about Bondi's managerial problems, calling it, "Bondigate."

FEATURED STORIES

Floridians kick Rick Scott while he’s down (video story)
By Rachel Maddow
The Rachel Maddow Show
Middle class Floridians are rising up to give Governor Rick Scott a pink slip for his job-killing policies.

Florida redistricting committee hears pleas from cities, minorities
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
State lawmakers made a stop in Miami on Wednesday to hear from passionate but polite residents on how the Legislature should redraw legislative and congressional seats in its once-a-decade redistricting.

Prison privatization isn't going as planned
By Aaron Deslatte
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A massive proposed privatization of prisons throughout 18 south Florida counties pushed by Gov. Rick Scott and Republican lawmakers last session isn't going as smoothly as planned.

Charter school rally in Orlando to attract thousands, Gov. Rick Scott
By Dave Weber
Orlando Sentinel
A for-profit charter school management company that operates a school system larger than a majority of Florida's public school districts is busing its employees to Orlando Thursday for a rally to kick off the new school year.

BP investigates new sheen in Gulf
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Oil giant BP said Thursday it was investigating a new sheen in the Gulf of Mexico but added there was no immediate indication it was the result of a new oil spill.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott and Chiles: Two governors, two regulatory reviews
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Rick Scott is not the first Florida governor to eke out a narrow election victory amid a Republican wave fueled by frustration with government, or to follow that up with an executive order calling for a top-to-bottom review of government rules.

Do you know where your congressman is?
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
It's August, do you know where your congressman is?

New state banking regulator suing his bosses
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida's next banking commissioner is friends with Gov. Rick Scott and even lives right down the street from him in Naples.

Biden to headline Florida Democratic dinner in October
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Vice President Joe Biden will keynote the Florida Democratic Party 2011 State Convention dinner on Oct. 28 in Lake Buena Vista, the party announced this morning.

Florida attorney general faces managerial challenges
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A misstep that raises questions about her managing skills is just about the last thing Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi needs right now.

POLITICAL RACES

Allen West’s ideas fit today’s GOP
By Joy-Ann Reid
Miami Herald
The latest scuttlebutt in the political world is that Florida Congressman Allen West has “cracked the door open” on a U.S. Senate run.

How Rick Perry aggressively pursued federal aid he now decries
By Michael Scherer
Time Magazine
In his campaign kickoff last Saturday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry burnished his conservative credentials by attacking the idea of deficit stimulus spending.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

BP oil spill claims officials say payout criteria will be tightened
News Service of Florida
St. Petersburg Times
Florida individuals and businesses have so far received more than $2 billion in payouts because of the BP oil spill, but the going may get tougher for some, with federal overseers having tightened requirements earlier this week for future payments under the $20 billion claims fund program.

Environmentalists wary outflow of water district staffers will slow Everglades projects
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
The 134 workers laid off from the South Florida Water Management District in the last week will save the district $9 million in salaries but cost more than 1,785 years of experience and institutional knowledge.

LGBT

Florida's gay couples increase in 2010 Census
By Jeff Kunerth
Orlando Sentinel
Abigail is the kind of 2-year-old who likes to play with bugs in the backyard while wearing her tutu.

EDUCATION

ACT scores for Florida rise slightly
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Students in Florida's class of 2011 scored better on the ACT than did recent classes, but they still lagged the nation when it came to leaving high school ready for college's challenges, according to results released today by the national college admissions exam.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

New numbers show Florida tourism rebound
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Florida tourism increased 7 percent this spring over last year, a boost in visitors that added hospitality jobs and cash to the state's economy.

State's plan to absorb Orlando expressway authority could be back
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott and other state politicians may revive a plan to fold Orlando's road-building authority and its almost $270 million in annual tolls into Florida's Turnpike system.

State announces major new toll road for Northeast Florida
Staff Report
Florida Tribune
In what could be the first of new toll roads in Florida, state officials announced Wednesday they were moving ahead with a 15-mile project just outside of Jacksonville.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Lawmakers, Scott argue semantics of national health care
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
A Tallahassee legislator who was among President Obama's early Florida supporters wants Gov. Rick Scott to stop calling the national health-care plan "Obamacare."

Many South Florida seniors overpay for Medicare drug plans
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
The typical senior is in the wrong prescription drug plan, in part because of Medicare's dizzying array of plans and constant changes from year to year.

Hospital Funding Crisis
By Troy Kinsey
WCTV News Tallahassee
Here at Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach, they can handle a medical crisis.

Rick Scott should focus on children
By John Coggin
Florida Times-Union
Florida today faces an economic and political crisis.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

At Miami rally, stories about why Secure Communities doesn’t work
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Reina — an undocumented immigrant who asked that her last name not be used — lives in Homestead with three U.S.-born sons, ages 15, 11 and eight.

Citrus Growers Worried Over Labor Restrictions
By Kevin Bouffard
Lakeland Ledger
Labor could become the "new greening" as the top concern in the Florida citrus industry if state or federal lawmakers succeed in enacting tough, new immigration restrictions.

Gun Laws Changing
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Every city and county government in Florida is being encouraged to review its laws concerning firearms.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Sansom files ethics complaint against prosecutor
By Tom McLaughlin
Northwest Florida Daily News
Former state Rep. Ray Sansom will file an ethics complaint against State Attorney Willie Meggs, who unsuccessfully tried to prosecute him on grand theft charges.

Calling law flawed, Miami-Dade judge dismisses dozens of drug charges
By Diana Moskovitz
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch echoed the ruling of a federal judge and tossed drug cases against 39 defendants Wednesday, saying he feels a section of Florida’s drug law is illegal.