Daily Clips for August 24, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Dems say lawmakers should investigate missing e-mails from Rick Scott's transition
By Michael C. Bender
Miami Herald
Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith said today that the Florida House and Senate should be in charge of investigating the potential destruction of records from Republican Gov. Rick Scott's transition into office.

Florida prisons chief packs staff with Indiana hires
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott's choice to reform Florida's prison system came from Indiana and quickly decided the agency needed new leadership.

Big Decisions Ahead for 4,000 FL Correctional Employees
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
The move to privatize 29 south Florida prisons means that about 4,000 corrections officers have big decisions to make.

Sources: State talking to FEC about running Tri-Rail; cutting Tri-Rail board out of talks
By Joel Engelhardt and John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The state has been in secret talks to transfer the operations of the South Florida commuter rail line, Tri-Rail, to the Florida East Coast Railway, The Palm Beach Post has learned.

Redistricting talks are a lot of hot air
By Eric Ernst
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Talk about a waste of time and money.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott’s Missing E-Mails Prompt FDLE Probe
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
From the beginning, Gov. Rick Scott has seemed about as comfortable with public records as Rick Perry might at a Brokeback Mountain screening.

GOP using redistricting to shore up House majority
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The odds of getting re-elected have gotten better for Rep. Renee Ellmers and other Republican freshmen in the House — thanks to GOP calculations in redrawing congressional maps.

To prepare for hurricanes, Florida turns to former Walmart executive
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A Walmart executive from Arkansas wouldn't seem the logical choice to lead Florida through a vicious hurricane, wildfire or terrorist attack.

Sen. Marco Rubio faults both parties for 'behemoth' government
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Heralded as "perhaps a new great communicator," U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio delivered a speech before an adoring crowd Tuesday evening at the Ronald Reagan Library in California.

Florida congressman the 10th richest
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Among Roll Call‘s list of the 50 richest members of Congress: Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota.

Is the case against Jim Greer falling apart?
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A lawyer for former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer predicts he'll prevail in the criminal fraud case against him after the defense team today deposed Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, Sen. John Thrasher, former party attorney Jason Gonzalez and private attorney John Harris.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida congressman again defends water hearing critics say was one-sided
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, has been playing defense lately.

Florida leads in BP oil spill claims payouts
By Louis Cooper
Pensacola News Journal
Florida has received more in compensation for damage from the BP oil spill than any other state in the first year of operations by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.

Environmental groups urge Scott to rethink highway plan
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A coalition of environmental groups (including 1000 Friends of Florida, Audubon of Florida, the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida) have sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott and the Department of Transportation, outlining their concerns with the recently renewed Future Corridors Action Plan.

EDUCATION

Eager for Spotlight, but Not if It Is on a Testing Scandal
By Michael Winerip
New York Times
Why won’t Michelle Rhee talk to USA Today?

Board of Education seeks modest increase in spending next year.
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Current
The State Board of Education on Tuesday signed off on a $17.1 billion budget request for public schools that would bring spending next year up by 1.88 percent over this year's levels.

New rules aimed at curbing abuses at for-profit colleges
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A series of new federal regulations aimed at ending high-pressure and misleading sales tactics at for-profit colleges take effect this month, as the industry continues to face scrutiny from the state and federal government.

Nonprofit writes Florida law for its own program
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
A 2011 bill aimed at protecting a scholarship program funded by corporate donations was written by the only group that offers the scholarship program - not an elected official - and included a provision that would have given that group access to confidential tax information, according to emails and documents obtained by the Times-Union.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Modest Growth in Florida Job Market
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
A new report from an economic advisory council affiliated with Florida TaxWatch is projecting a modest growth in Florida jobs over the next year - but far less robust than historic rebounds from previous economic recessions in the state.

Feds commit $745 million to Amtrak for NE rail
By Michael D. Bolden
Washington Post
Amtrak will receive nearly $745 million from the federal government to upgrade its Northeast Corridor rail lines, with the goal of allowing trains to run at increased speeds along the heavily used tracks.

State tells jobs agencies to stop doing business with board members
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's 24 regional workforce boards are now prohibited from awarding business contracts to companies controlled by or tied to agency board members.

Rates to increase for Gulf Power
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
The Public Service Commission unanimously approved a $38.5-million rate increase for Gulf Power Co. Tuesday as part of a major hike in revenues the electricity giant said it needs "to keep the lights on" in Northwest Florida.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida poised to be 'bell-cow in aging'
By Barbara Peters Smith
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
At the state's annual conference on aging this week, the people who look after Florida's seniors are trying to figure out how to provide more caregiving with fewer dollars.

Medicare says competitive pricing will save $28B
By Sam Baker
The Hill
Medicare is dramatically expanding a program that it says will save billion of dollars and serve as a model for other cost-cutting efforts.

George brothers, 30 others arrested in pain clinic chain
By Bob LaMendola
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Law enforcement on Tuesday arrested twin brothers they called kingpins of South Florida's biggest pill mill network, along with 30 of their top lieutenants in a criminal operation that used kidnapping and gunfire to profit.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Welfare drug-testing yields 2 percent positive results
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Since the state began testing welfare applicants for drugs in July, about 2 percent have tested positive, preliminary data shows.

Process to review 300,000 deportation proceedings leaves room for doubts
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The implementation of a case by case review of at least 300,000 deportation proceedings, announced by the Department of Homeland Security last week, has left room for questions among immigrant advocate groups.

Deport the serious criminals
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Predictably, the Obama administration's decision to focus deportation efforts on illegal immigrants who commit crimes rather than those who don't has been derided as "amnesty."

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida Supremes approve death drug
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida's new lethal injection drug poses no substantial risk of undue pain, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, lifting a stay of execution for convicted cop-killer Manuel Valle.

Bishops call on Scott to stop execution
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Florida’s Catholic bishops repeated their plea for Gov. Rick Scott to call off the execution of Manuel Valle, the subject of Scott’s first death warrant.

FBI probes Santa Rosa County connection to prison
By Richard McVay
Pensacola News Journal
A federal grand jury in Pensacola is investigating the building and funding of a privately owned correctional facility that opened last year in East Milton, including the role of former state Rep. Ray Sansom.

Prison pushback: Scott's staff told of MSNBC deal
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times
The state Department of Corrections has begun pushing back, ever so slightly, on the governor's office in the flap over the TV contract with the MSNBC series "Lockup."