Daily Clips for August 4, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

AG Firings Draw Broader Criticism, Calls Ring Out for Federal Inquiry
By Dennis Maley
Bradenton Times
Excerpt: Activist group Progress Florida, along with several state lawmakers, want to know why Bondi didn't return thousands of dollars in political contributions from a company under investigation by the office she was seeking, saying that her firing the two fellow attorneys after she then took office sends up a red flag.

FEATURED STORIES

Scott handed pink slips while selling donuts (video)
By Bob Shaw
Orlando Sentinel
Didn’t take long for the folks at PinkSlipRick.com to post video of folks complaining (albeit mildly) about the economy to Gov. Rick Scott as he worked his shift in a Tampa donut shop.

Rick Scott revives Bob Graham's 'workdays' at Tampa doughnut shop
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times
A head taller than his new co-workers, Rick Scott leaned over the glass counter at Nicola's Donuts and Bakery.

The American Dream is becoming more elusive for Florida's middle class
By Tonyaa Weathersbee
Florida Times-Union
Right now, the future isn't looking too bright for the Sunshine State's middle class.

Dozens of Florida Republicans at ALEC legislative conference courtesy of taxpayers, lobbyists
By Steve Bousquet and Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Dozens of Florida legislators are in New Orleans this week for three days of pro-business pep talks, policy seminars and great food.

State accepts Affordable Care Act dollars for abstinence-only sex education
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Despite turning down money for state programs because of their disagreement with federal health care reform, Florida officials accepted more than $2.5 million made available by the Affordable Care Act to fund its abstinence-only sex education grant program.

Bondi wants fellow Republican to lead inquiry into dismissals
By Gary Fineout
Florida Current
Attorney General Pam Bondi has turned to Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater to lead the inquiry into how her office handled the dismissals of two foreclosure fraud investigators.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Gov. Scott names a new top lobbyist in office
By Michael C. Bender
Miami Herald
Jon Costello will be the new legislative affairs director and replace Hayden Dempsey, who said he's not decided on his next job.

Doughnut clerk? That's not how we roll, governor
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
The new and improved Rick Scott debuted Wednesday as a humble doughnut shop clerk.

Cannon to Randolph on redistricting records: Go fish
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Democratic state Rep. Scott Randolph last week asked House Speaker Dean Cannon’s office for detailed billing records of what was being spent to litigate the court fight against Fair Districts.

Haridopolos taps Benaquisto to be deputy Republican leader
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Freshman state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Ft. Myers, continues here mercurial rise through the Senate as she was named by Senate President Mike Haridopolos Wedneday to be his new deputy majority leader.

Ethics case against ex-Fla. House speaker dropped
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The state Ethics Commission has dismissed three complaints against former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom.

Ouster of Clarkson, Edwards under review
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Attorney General Pam Bondi borrowed Chief Financial Office Jeff Atwater's inspector general Wednesday for an investigation into the disputed firings of two staff lawyers who ran tough prosecutions of mortgage-fraud cases.

Making an end run around Justice
Editorial
Miami Herald
If Gov. Rick Scott and his administration are so convinced that major changes to election laws indeed will eliminate voter fraud (or the potential of it) — not merely make voting difficult for minority and poor people — he’d seek an imprimatur of fairness from the federal Department of Justice.

The myth of Florida voter fraud
Editorial
Northwest Florida Daily News
The foundation of Florida’s election-law changes, the bedrock belief that spurred major reforms this spring, was the notion that voter fraud is rampant.

POLITICAL RACES

RNC chair: Florida GOP will feel penalty for early primary
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, in Tampa for the RNC's summer meeting, reiterated again Wednesday that any state that violates the party's sanctioned primary schedule will be penalized.

Tampa Bay host committee has $15 million raised for next year's GOP convention
By Richard Danielson
St. Petersburg Times
The 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee has raised about $15 million of its $55 million goal to support next year's Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Poll: Debt ceiling fight hurts Obama in Florida
By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press
President Barack Obama is losing support among Florida voters, especially among independents, a poll released Thursday shows.

Nancy Argenziano wants to run as a Democrat, but new law says she can't
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Former Republican state Sen. Nancy Argenziano announced this week she plans to run for Congress as a Democrat in 2012.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Appeals court upholds pollution rules
By Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
A federal appeals court on Wednesday turned down a bid by utilities, farmers and the South Florida Water Management District to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from imposing new water pollution rules across the state.

DEP holds more workshops but still undecided on adopting water pollution limits
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Florida is still drafting a proposed new water quality rule but the state isn't sure yet whether it will seek final approval, Department of Environmental Protection officials said Wednesday.

Swim at your own risk? Florida cutting back on water testing at beaches
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Florida Department of Health plans to quit testing water for bacteria at 45 beaches statewide to reduce spending.

Florida congressman to host hearing on EPA ‘takeover’
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, will host a congressional hearing on the economic impact of the EPA’s proposed water quality standards next week.

LGBT

West’s cancelled appearance in LGBT-friendly community generates more controversy
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The controversy surrounding the announcement and cancellation of an appearance by Rep. Allen West, R-Fort Lauderdale, at the Wilton Manors Business Association’s Aug. 8 meeting will not go away.

Editorial wrong in backing invite to West
By Michael Kenny
South Florida Sun Sentinel
I applaud the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board for its long history of advocating for equality and social justice for all Floridians.

EDUCATION

Tying FCAT to dollars is temptation to cheat
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
In the great Atlanta test scandal, educators cheated mostly on behalf of institutions.

Florida's class size debate: It's not over
By Jeff Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
So you're thinking, Florida voters have spoken not once, but twice, on the issue of school class sizes.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Progressives, tea party both hate debt ceiling deal
By Joy-Ann Reid
Miami Herald
Progressives and tea partiers finally have something in common: They both hate the debt ceiling deal.

Unemployed worry they'll be cut off from benefits
By Marcia Heroux Pounds
South Florida Sun Sentinel
South Florida's unemployed continue to be frustrated this week with Florida's online unemployment claim system, which they say freezes and kicks them off, when trying to claim benefits and submit a required work-search record.

More people join the unemployment rolls in South Florida
By Douglas Hanks
Miami Herald
More people are joining the unemployment rolls in South Florida, though the pace remains much slower than a year ago.

Fasano leads Pasco County march on insurance rates
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
State Sen. Mike Fasano is rallying Florida policyholders to join him in front of the Pasco County Government Center next Tuesday in a sign-waving protest of the proposed sinkhole rate increases sought by Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

Investor's mission: Get Florida to regulate property managers
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
British investor Lloyd Green was surprised to learn recently that the taxes on his vacation-rental house in Davenport's Ridgewood Lakes subdivision were unpaid and that the pool was green and the yard unmowed.

Toll hike could hinge on X-way appointment
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
A toll increase set for next summer could be scuttled depending on whom Gov. Rick Scott places on the board of Orlando's road-building agency.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Federal health secretary: Scott putting ‘political ideology’ ahead of state’s ‘health needs’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
In a recent interview with iVillage, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius discussed Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to turn down millions from the Affordable Care Act for the state of Florida.

Health agency to governor and Legislature: Don't cut Medicaid staff
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
There was more than one deadline the Agency for Health Care Administration faced on August 1.

Will ACOs create a revolution in American healthcare?
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
Last year, when blocked arteries landed Syed Abdul Qadri, 68, in Jackson Memorial Hospital, the public facility was struggling with some tough statistics: One in four of its heart patients was being readmitted within 30 days, a performance that put Jackson in the bottom quarter of hospitals in America.

Aging Florida due for a wave of Alzheimer's
By Andrew Doughman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
As baby boomers head for retirement, population experts have warned Americans to brace for what they call a "silver tsunami."

Women with disabilities less likely to be screened for breast cancer
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women with disabilities in Florida, and all over the country, are less likely to be screened for breast cancer than women without disabilities.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Sun Sentinel: Local officials preparing for new gun law
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Whether or not residents think that guns belong in Florida parks and public buildings, a bill approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott says they do.

Mayor Dyer's Food Not Bombs compromise
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer's compromise with the homeless-feeding activists in Food Not Bombs was inspired. Instead of dispatching city police to Lake Eola to keep arresting them, Dyer invited group members to offer their meals in front of City Hall.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Judge rejects challenge to Florida's execution drug
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Lawyers for a man who shot and killed a Coral Gables police officer 33 years ago failed to prove that the new use of a drug in Florida's lethal injections would cause inmates serious pain, a Miami-Dade judge ruled Wednesday.

Trial set for 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Hawkes
By Paul Flemming
Florida Capital News
Judge Paul Hawkes' judicial misconduct trial is set for Oct. 31.

After South Bay incident, Florida corrections department takes watch over private prisons
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
State officials are auditing a private prison in Palm Beach County after inspectors were unable to gain entry to the facility in June despite flashing lights at a security camera to attract attention.