Daily Clips for August 8, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

State Rep. Dennis Baxley riding wave of success
By Bill Thompson
Ocala Star-Banner
Excerpt: Damien Filer, political director of the Tallahassee-based liberal group Progress Florida, said the fruits of Baxley's labors will only make it harder for women to access health care and would not create a single job in Marion County. "He has an extremist tea party agenda, and that's who's running the show," Filer said.

FEATURED STORIES

Gov. Rick Scott rolls up sleeves to fix image
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Related: Poll: Majority of Fla. voters don't like Gov. Scott or his policies, but job approval up
Is Rick Scott the most hated nice guy in Florida?

For Rick Scott, governing is surprising
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times
Rick Scott's election as governor surprised a lot of people.

Florida's redistricting could pit Republicans against fellow Republicans
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
When Florida voters swept Republicans to record-level super­majorities in the legislature and congressional delegation last fall, the bulked-up GOP looked like it had little to fear from shrinking Democrats.

Lawmakers pushed to slash state oversight of Assisted Living Facilities
By Michael Sallah, Rob Barry and Carol Marbin-Miller
Miami Herald
When Sedrek Singleton, a career criminal with a violent past, checked into Nueva Vida assisted living facility, caretakers at the cluster of cottages in Miami-Dade never took steps to protect other residents.

We don’t need no stinkin’ U.S. tax dollars
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Earlier this summer, a panel of low-wattage trolls known as the Legislative Budget Commission spurned $2.1 million of a federal grant designed to transition ill and elderly Floridians out of nursing facilities and back to their homes.

Jobless worry as state cuts benefits
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Ocala Star-Banner
Melanie Sellers didn't receive her $198 unemployment compensation payment last week.

More former Buchanan employees speak out about pressure to donate, reimbursement scheme
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Two former employees of a car dealership once owned by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, allege that he pressured co-workers into donating to his campaign and then offered reimbursements with dealership funds.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Dana Summers
Orlando Sentinel

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida Governor Scott gets to work on his own problems
By Bill Cotterell
Gannett News Service
A political outsider can get elected, but Gov. Rick Scott has made moves after the first six months of his administration that indicate he believes it takes a Tallahassee insider to govern.

Florida legislators derailing democracy
By Joshua Leclair
People’s World
In November 2010, Florida voters approved two amendments to protect voting rights and prevent political gerrymandering of voting districts.

It's tough to sugarcoat Florida politicians' shenanigans
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
One thing about politics in Florida: They're never boring.

Jim Greer back in court, asks judge to toss charges
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
Ousted Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer returned to court Friday and asked an Orlando judge to throw out the criminal charges against him and much of the evidence seized by state agents.

Legislators trying, but no Florida law yet for texting while driving
By Adam Kealoha Causey
Florida Times-Union
Florida hasn't joined the 34 states that ban texting while driving, but traffic safety advocates say a new law isn't necessary to curb distractions on the road.

Bondi right to investigate forced resignations
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi did the right thing by appointing an independent inspector general to investigate the forced resignations of two staff attorneys.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama, conservatives woo Hispanic vote as deciding factor in 2012
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
It's 3:01 a.m. and the woman in the TV ad wakes, her face a portrait of worry. She rolls over in bed as thunder crashes outside.

Obama quietly revs up Florida fundraising, organizing for 2012
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
As Republican presidential candidates prepare to buzz into Central Florida for high-profile debates, speeches and a straw poll, President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is quietly working under the radar here.

Fla. Gov. Scott wants larger presidential field
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Gov. Rick Scott said Friday that he would like to see the field of Republican presidential candidates expanded, and he praised Texas Gov. Rick Perry's ability to create jobs.

Rubio will be Republicans' veep choice
By Mike Thomas
Orlando Sentinel
Have you listened to the conservative commentators after Marco Rubio waxes poetic about the American dream, and the threat that President Barack Obama poses to it?

Floridians' wallets open for Romney
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
If money talks, Mitt Romney has to like what he is hearing out of Florida so far.

Hasner charms donors but not voters in Florida Republican Senate race
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
The exit of Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos from the Republican U.S. Senate primary race should have brought clarity to the contest.

Q poll gives Nelson reason to smile, and sweat
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Running for a third term next fall, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson can take some solace in this week’s Quinnipiac University poll that shows none of his potential Republican rivals so far emerging as a clear frontrunner.

Political money: power rules, candidates stockpile cash
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Even though the 2012 primary is a year away and the general election isn't for another 15 months, candidates who want to go to the state Legislature are already raising campaign cash at a furious pace, hoping they'll have the bucks to sell their virtues to voters.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Environmental battle brews over Port Everglades dredging plan
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun Sentinel
An environmental fight is brewing over plans by Port Everglades to blast and dredge a deeper entrance channel to accommodate the super freighters that are beginning to dominate the world's trade routes.

Environmental groups say Stearns is ‘shutting out the public’ at water hearing
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
In a press release sent out today, environmental law firm Earthjustice alleges that Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, is “shutting out the public” and “refusing to invite” clean water advocates to his upcoming hearing on water pollution standards in Florida. According to the release, only representatives from the sewage, agriculture and fertilizer industries have been invited to testify.

BP oil spill compensation fund chief blasted for handling of illness claims
By Sue Sturgis
Facing South
Before President Obama appointed him to administer the $20 billion compensation fund for the 2010 BP oil disaster, Kenneth Feinberg ran two other disaster-related funds.

Victory for clean water
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Score one for clean water. A federal appeals court Wednesday rejected a bid by polluters and their enablers in state government to block new clean water rules for Florida.

EDUCATION

Duncan: States to Get School Testing Waivers
By Donna Gordon Blankinship
Associated Press
State and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law, but school starts soon and Congress still hasn't answered the call.

New Lakeland university seen as drain on others
By Lindsay Peterson
Tampa Tribune
State officials say Florida faces a crisis in higher education, ranking in the bottom 20 percent nationally in the number of college degrees it awards.

The future of Bright Futures
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
The Bright Futures website states it pretty clearly: “In 1997, the Florida Legislature created the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program to reward students for their academic achievements during high school by providing funding to attend post-secondary education in Florida.”

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida state investment chief says transparency was a big issue for lawmakers in 2011
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times
Facing criticisms about the handling of the state's $130 billion investment portfolio, the executive director and chief investment officer of the State Board of Administration tried to reassure Gov. Rick Scott that everything is fine.

Scott calls for road expansion, more use of tolls
By Gary Fineout
Sarasota Herald Herald-Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott, who killed high speed rail in Florida earlier this year, is pushing ahead with a major transportation plan that calls for speeding up road projects and relying more on new tolls to help pay for them.

Gov. Scott Lukewarm to Debt Deal
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
The debt ceiling deal in Washington does not help President Barack Obama's re-election chances in the key swing state of Florida, a new independent poll shows.

Federal cutbacks will hurt South Florida’s economy
By Douglas Hanks
Miami Herald
The Pentagon cuts came early for Goodwill Industries of South Florida.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

What will Medicaid look like in Florida? Details of proposal revealed
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
The Medicaid overhaul proposed by Florida would start shifting patients into managed-care plans in 2013 and would use a controversial pilot program as a springboard, according to hundreds of pages of documents released this week.

Florida doctors organization opposes Medicaid overhaul
News Service of Florida
Miami Herald
Florida Medical Association officials voted in a closed door session last weekend to take a position in opposition to the state’s proposed Medicaid overhaul.

HCA warns investors about the cost of Medicaid cuts
By Travis Pillow
Florida Independent
Hospital corporation HCA warned investors in a Friday filing that reductions in Florida’s Medicaid program could cost the company $50 million over the next year.

As Americans' debt has soared, so has obesity
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
Feeling fat and poor? You have lots of company.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

State toughens policy of restoring rights to freed felons
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Desmond Meade served time for cocaine possession and aggravated battery, but turned his life around and overcame the drug and alcohol addictions that forced him to live on the streets of Miami.

Report: FL Ex-Cons Benefited From Rights Restoration
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Ex-convicts who have their civil rights restored are far less likely to return to a life of crime and go back behind bars. That's what a new report from the Florida Parole Commission details.

Food Not Bombs didn't make a truce
By Ben Markeson
Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Food Not Bombs has not negotiated or agreed to anything that could be considered a "truce" or a "compromise" with Mayor Buddy Dyer or City Commissioner Patty Sheehan.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Backlog of felons’ clemency cases grows
By Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Desmond Meade served time for cocaine possession and aggravated battery, but turned his life around and overcame the drug and alcohol addictions that forced him to live on the streets of Miami.