Daily Clips for September 7, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Gov. Scott clarifies his support for oil drilling in Everglades
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott found himself on both sides of the fence Tuesday when he told a Tallahassee audience that he supports oil drilling in the Everglades, then hours later issued a clarification that he didn't mean "an expansion of drilling."

Scott: Lower taxes key to solving jobless problem
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday President Obama's plan for getting Americans back to work should emphasize cutting taxes, eliminating business regulation and reducing the size of government, just like the governor's own formula for Florida.

Gov. Scott aims to cut 1,100 state rules
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott provided a glimpse at his second-year agenda as Florida's chief executive Tuesday, promising to continue pushing to create jobs by cutting regulations and declaring war on the state's 1,500 special districts.

Rick Scott names former Bush aide to Board of Education
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott bolstered his own influence as well as that of former Gov. Jeb Bush on Florida's school system Tuesday when he appointed another Bush insider to the State Board of Education.

Federal budget cuts in Florida likely to hurt
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
With hopes dimming that a congressional "super committee" can devise a plan to fix the federal deficit, Florida officials already are bracing for $1.2 trillion in budget cuts that automatically would go into effect if policymakers can't reach an agreement by year's end.

FLORIDA POLITICS

PolitiFact: Haridopolos video is being ‘promoted and defended with taxpayer resources’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
PolitiFact was recently tasked with either affirming or debunking the claim that Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos used taxpayer funds to create and distribute a video attacking President Obama and praising Florida GOPers for moving Florida “in the right direction.”

Lawmakers must stop dithering, get the job done
By Pamela Goodman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
W.C. Fields was lying deathly ill in bed at a hotel. His close friend walked in and saw Fields carefully reading the Bible.

Panel: Florida politicians should pay off fines before campaigning
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A Florida elections panel says that politicians should be barred from campaigning if they owe money to the state.

During Sept. 11 attacks, then-Rep. Adam Putnam was with President George W. Bush
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
The group waiting on the steps of Emma E. Booker Elementary School for President George W. Bush was informed he would not stop to talk to them on the way inside.

POLITICAL RACES

Scott to deliver keynote address at GOP presidential shindig
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
The Republican Party of Florida will host its Presidency 5 event in Orlando later this month.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has yet to tap many of Florida's elite campaign fundraisers
Staff Report
St. Petersburg Times
Check out the host committee for Rick Perry's Florida fundraising swing that starts in Tampa on Tuesday.

Bachmann campaign chief, deputy leave top roles
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann lost her campaign chief Monday, along with his close deputy, in a campaign shake-up that the Minnesota congresswoman's aides sought to downplay.

Senator Nan Rich considering a run for governor
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich of Weston is so unhappy with Gov. Rick Scott, she's thinking about running against him in 2014.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida Gov. Rick Scott open to Everglades drilling
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday waded into the bubbling controversy over Florida's Everglades by saying that he could potentially support drilling in the famed swampland.

Growth law challenge leads to recommendation to clarify "unfunded mandates"
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A Senate committee is recommending that the Legislature clarify a phrase in the Florida Constitution that has played a key role in a recent local government law challenge.

Report says Environmental Regulation Commission should be kept despite limited role
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The state Environmental Regulation Commission's duties have been substantially reduced since the 1980s but the panel should remain a part of environmental rule-making, according to a Senate committee staff recommendation.

Everglades Foundation to host January summit in Tallahassee
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
The Everglades Foundation will host an Everglades, Jobs and Water Supply Summit in Tallahassee on Jan. 17, 2012.

EDUCATION

Public schools, teachers: Worth fighting for
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Teachers in Florida have never been paid what they're worth.

Pearson has problems with Oklahoma testing
By Jeff Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
Pearson Education Inc., the testing company that has paid millions in fines for problems with Florida's FCAT, can add another error to its growing list.

Lake County school district believes teacher violated church-state separation
By Erica Rodriguez
Orlando Sentinel
Lake County Schools Superintendent Susan Moxley said that Jerry Buell "clearly crosses the line" with his religious classroom communication.

Appeal court hearing Florida tuition dispute
Associated Press
Lakeland Ledger
A dispute over who can set tuition rates for Florida's public universities is getting another court hearing.

Don't play politics with preschoolers
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott is usually quick to reject federal funds from President Barack Obama's programs, so it may seem a contradiction for Scott to support seeking "Race to the Top" education funds for Florida.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Fla. lawmakers to go over state's finances
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida state lawmakers on Wednesday will review a new three-year financial outlook for the state.

Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw refuses to meet with cycling Immokalee farmworkers
By Kelly Benjamin
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Tuesday, under stormy skies, a group of tomato pickers from Immokalee, Florida ended their 200 mile bicycle ride from the fields of Immokalee to the Corporate Headquarters of Publix Supermarkets in Lakeland to discuss their wages.

Scott promises to look at transaction fee charged by state's web-based vending system
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott - during an exchange with an audience member of The Economic Club of Florida - promised Tuesday to review why the state-based web vendor system MyFloridaMarketPlace charged a one percent transaction fee to those businesses that wish to work with the state.

After Summer of Storms, Talk of a National Catastrophe Fund
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Late in starting, and with storms being pushed north and west, it has thankfully been a quiet hurricane season in the Sunshine State.

Turnpike, Sawgrass tolls to increase
By Alfonso Chardy
Miami Herald
Motorists, get prepared to pay more to drive on some of South Florida’s toll roads.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida's special districts could become target
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
A panel charged with examining taxpayer funded hospital districts is mulling whether to develop a “bill of rights” so residents better understand how special districts work.

Bid protest holds up HMO contracts for state workers
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times
A battle is brewing over the right to offer HMO coverage to state employees.

Healthy State: Lawmaker says outlook for home visiting grants is positive
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
According to Healthy State, state Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, a member of the Legislative Budget Commission, expects that the committee will accept the millions in Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program grant money allocated to the state by the Affordable Care Act.

Surge in independent pharmacy applications coincides with drug monitoring database
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
A recent surge in pharmacy applications in the state of Florida could spell trouble for the state’s notorious prescription drug problem.

Independent eye on nursing homes needed
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott is violating the spirit of the law by meddling in a volunteer advocacy program designed to protect the elderly and disabled.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Navy vet, ACLU, sue over drug-testing welfare applicants
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Luis Lebron sued the state of Florida on Tuesday over its drug-testing policy for all adults applying for welfare assistance.

State drug tests exploit the poor, enrich clinics
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
Remember all that fuss about testing welfare recipients for drugs?

Tribes, state near pact on re-installation, protection of sacred burial ground
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
At a secret location in what once was the Everglades, a group of archaeologists and engineers is reconstructing a sacred burial ground.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Two Orange circuit judges uphold Florida's drug statute
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
Despite a flood of legal paperwork, calling for judges around the state to throw out Florida's drug statute, two more state trial judges –both in Orange County - have upheld its constitutionality.