FEATURED STORIES
GOP debate in Orlando is round 3 of Mitt Romney-Rick Perry
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Related: Poll: Rick Perry surges as Barack Obama's approval ratings nose-dive
It's round three for Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. But Thursday night's debate in Orlando could be strike three for the other Republican presidential candidates.
GOP convention-center events spur protest-zone changes
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Protesters planning to be outside this weekend's Republican presidential debate and straw poll at the Orange County Convention Center learned Wednesday that they will have a much smaller area in which to make their opinions heard.
GOP candidates dismiss poor people
By Rev. Wayne Robinson
Ft. Myers News-Press
Like News-Press Executive Editor Terry Eberle, I listened with alarm to the Republican presidential candidates' debate last week.
Survey: Significant drop in uninsured young adults
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
Associated Press
The number of young adults without health insurance has dropped significantly, a new survey finds, thanks to a provision of President Barack Obama's health care law allowing them to stay on their parents' plans.
Floridians facing foreclosure could lose their homes faster under plan making rounds in Tallahassee
By Kathleen Haughney
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Floridians facing foreclosure could be stripped of their homes faster and have routine access to the courts limited under a proposal likely to come before Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature in the coming months.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Poll: Floridians not crazy about Scott but love his welfare drug-testing law
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Voters are still lukewarm about Gov. Rick Scott but give a resounding thumbs-up to one of his more controversial policies, according to a poll by Quinnipiac University released Wednesday.
State Senate president promises chamber will pass immigration bill
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The Miami-Dade County Commission on Tuesday approved a resolution urging the Florida Legislature to not pass any immigration legislation in 2012.
FDOT 's new boss gets earful from Senate Transportation Committee
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Ananth Prasad, the new Florida Department of Transportation Secretary, got a unanimous recommendation for confirmation from the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday, but was soon greeted with heated criticism and a long to-do list.
POLITICAL RACES
Florida's Hispanic voters follow a different line than those in the rest of the country
By Guillermo Martinez
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Once again the eyes of the politically-minded public will be fixed on the Sunshine State. Tonight, the eight contenders for the 2012 Republican Party nomination square off in Central Florida.
Stakes high for GOP candidates at Orlando debate, straw poll
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Florida Republicans will see all eight leading GOP presidential candidates this weekend and cast a straw vote likely to foretell the winner of next year's Florida primary — and possibly the party's nominee to run against President Barack Obama.
Gibson will be Northeast Florida state senator
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Audrey Gibson is going to be the next state senator from Northeast Florida.
Debate, straw poll highlights of GOP's Presidency 5
By Don Walker
Florida Today
Count Melbourne Beach resident Peter Fusscas among Florida Republicans eager to pare down the field of candidates in the 2012 presidential campaign.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
BP oil not degrading on Gulf floor, study says
By Jay Reeves
Associated Press
Tar balls washed onto Gulf of Mexico beaches by Tropical Storm Lee earlier this month show that oil left over from last year's BP spill isn't breaking down as quickly as some scientists thought it would, university researchers said Tuesday.
New Gulf Oil Spill Raises New Questions
By Simon Mahan
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Reports have been spilling all over the Gulf region for the past several weeks about a mysterious oil sheen that has been spotted near the site of the blown-out Macondo well made infamous last summer as the source of BP’s oil spill disaster.
Sierra Club sues University of Florida for records related to fertilizer dispute
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Sierra Club said Wednesday it is suing the University of Florida to force the release of what it says are public records involving university researchers' opposition to city and county fertilizer ordinances.
Tampa Bay Florida's Second-Smoggiest Area
By Steve Newborn
WUSF Public Radio Tampa
An environmental group has named Tampa Bay as the second-smoggiest metro area in Florida. The study comes on the heels of a retreat by the Obama Administration on toughening clean air standards.
Florida Battery Factory Highlights Republican Hypocrisy on Clean Energy Funding
Staff Report
Sustainable Business
An advanced lithium-ion battery factory opened this week in Jacksonville, Florida - an event that highlights the political hypocrisy of Republicans in Congress who are attacking the Obama administration for funding clean energy projects in the Stimulus Bill (American Recovery Act).
LGBT
UF reacts to end of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
By Sijun Li
Gainesville Sun
The words of President Barack Obama echoed around the nation Tuesday, signaling the end to an 18-year policy that forbade homosexual military personnel from announcing their sexuality.
EDUCATION
Putting teacher merit pay in practice draws House panel questions
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A new law that ties teacher pay to student test scores that sailed through the Legislature this year may have a more difficult implementation process.
Some say an ESOL exam right before the FCAT hinders success
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
At South Grade Elementary School in Lake Worth, 75 percent of the 550 students are still learning the English language. Some barely understand any English, let alone read or write it.
New pre-K testing rules impact schools
By Jeff Schmucker
Hernando Today
A decision to raise the bar on testing standards that determines whether children are "kindergarten ready" has education officials worried that thousands of preschools and daycares will be unfairly classified as underperforming — resulting in some closing down and fewer children attending preschool.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Scott: Dump jobs agency leadership, board
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott demanded Wednesday that virtually the entire leadership of Workforce Central Florida be replaced within two weeks or the labor board will lose its status and funding as the region's jobs agency.
Gov. Rick Scott deflects question about higher taxes on the wealthy
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
A curious moment early this week at Gov. Rick Scott’s press gaggle after he spoke to business types at a Florida Chamber of Commerce forum in Lake Buena Vista.
Scott appoints insurance industry insiders to Citizens' board
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott announced Tuesday that he has appointed two former insurance industry executives to serve on the board of state-backed Citizens Property Insurance.
GOP Efforts to Satisfy Tea Party Extremists Threaten Jobs, Disaster Aid
The Progress Report
Think Progress
We warned you last week that Republicans and their job-killing agenda were back with a vengeance.
St. Petersburg Democrat continues push to collect online hotel taxes
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times
The state tax collector was caught in the crosshairs Wednesday of a simmering controversy over online hotel tax collections as a St. Petersburg legislator accused the department of bowing to political pressure.
Senate panel OKs limited funds for high-speed rail
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
President Barack Obama would get just a small fraction of the money he wants to build high-speed rail lines, one of his leading economic priorities, under a bill approved today by a Democratic-led Senate committee.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Fla, feds hammer out Medicaid overhaul
By Kelli Kennedy
Associated Press
Federal health officials are pushing Florida lawmakers to include a provision in their Medicaid overhaul that would require private health plans to spend 85 percent of funds on patient care, state health officials said Wednesday.
A quarter of Florida workers lack health insurance, Census says
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
A quarter of Florida's working adults — including those with full-time jobs — had no health insurance in 2010, according to figures released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Disabled-aid agency's new chief questions whether funding can sustain its mission
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities usually is under the microscope for financial reasons.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Florida Dems skeptical of welfare drug testing law
By Kelli Kennedy
Associated Press
Democratic lawmakers questioned state child welfare officials Tuesday about a new law requiring drug testing for welfare recipients, including whether recipients had adequate access to testing facilities and whether parents who test positive would significantly delay their children from receiving funds.
Uncertainty surrounds welfare drug testing law
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The Florida Department of Children and Families testified before a state House committee Tuesday about the implementation of new drug screening requirements placed on Temporary Assistance for Need Families (aka TANF) applicants.
Should cracking down on illegal immigration be a priority for Gov. Scott?
By Gary Stein
South Florida Sun Sentinel
There is good news and bad news in Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed legislative agenda for next year. The good news is Gov. Scott actually has an agenda, which means he has been thinking.
State senator wants Legislature to take a hard look at ‘soft social services’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
In a committee meeting today, state Sen. Joe Negron made clear that he wants legislators to take a hard look at social services in order to determine whether the state will continue funding them.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Asked about lost jobs from GCI shutdown, Scott says his job to use 'tax dollars efficiently'By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott was unapologetic Wednesday about the closing of Glades Correctional Institution ordered by his Department of Corrections chief for Dec. 1.
Corrections officers protest in Boca Raton
Staff Report
Miami Herald
State correctional officers from around Florida protested Wednesday morning at the headquarters of GEO Group Inc. in Boca Raton, a prison management company.
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