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 fireBy 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.
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