Daily Clips for October 11, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Obama's Orlando visit comes amid sour voter mood
By Mark K. Matthews and Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
President Barack Obama plans to visit Orlando on Tuesday as part of a nationwide tour intended to drum up support for his jobs bill — and his own re-election.

The tricky 2012 math for President Barack Obama
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Related: Florida already flexing 2012 election-year muscle
There's good news for President Barack Obama as he sweeps into Florida today to raise money in a state where barely four in 10 voters approve of his performance: He can lose Florida's 29 electoral votes and still comfortably win re-election in 2012.

Florida Law Tightens Voting Rules, Angers Advocates
By Greg Allen
NPR
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan group with a distinguished history.

Scott to push corporate income tax cut
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Although the state may be facing a $2 billion shortfall, Gov. Rick Scott said today he will press ahead with his plan to phase out the corporate income tax.

Money used to plug local budgets may be taken away
By Carrie Wells
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Local governments across the state could be forced to give up millions of dollars in saved retirement money they are using to plug dwindling budgets under a new proposal by the governor.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Miami begins to mobilize in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Related: Occupy Fort Lauderdale draws hundreds of protesters
Related: Occupy Wall Street takes Jacksonville
>From more than 200 people gathering on a rainy Saturday on Miami Dade Community College’s Wolfson Campus this weekend to a smaller meeting this Sunday at the Miami Workers Center, Miami-ans are mobilizing in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement.

'Occupy' protesters strength is not numbers
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
Occupy Lake Worth? I thought Lake Worth was already occupied.

Critics of Wall Street protests out of touch
By Mary Sanchez
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Herman Cain just doesn't get it.

Rick Scott Adversary "Pink Slip Rick" Starting Broward County Task Force
By Matthew Hendley
Broward New Times
Gov. Rick Scott doesn't always make appearances in Broward County, but when he does, the folks from "Pink Slip Rick" would prefer to be there.

Former senator says he'll return to Capitol to oppose "dwarf-tossing" repeal
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Former Sen. Al Lawson said Monday he would return to the Capitol to speak against a bill that would repeal Florida's ban on "dwarf-tossing."

Former Fla. First Lady Carole Crist now a Democrat
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
The wife of former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is now a Democrat.

POLITICAL RACES

Friend of Perry is enemy of almost everyone else
By Daniel Ruth
St. Petersburg Times
You might say the oh so very Rev. Robert Jeffress, the Torquemada of Texas, has put the yuck into ecumenical.

Miami is source of Obama's Florida money
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
President Barack Obama is coming to Orlando for two fundraisers, even though the biggest source of his Florida money-raising has come from Miami and other places in South Florida.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Oil drilling in preserve? It's not new
By Mary Wozniak
Ft. Myers News-Press
A dirt road twists and turns to the future of oil drilling deep in the heart of the Big Cypress National Preserve.

Electric utilities back Bondi's lawsuit against federal air pollution rule
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Florida's major electric utilities said Monday they're supporting Attorney General Pam Bondi's lawsuit against the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency despite revisions to an air pollution rule announced by the federal agency Thursday.

Progress Energy insists approach to bungled nuclear power project was 'reasonable'
By Ivan Penn
St. Petersburg Times
Progress Energy asked the state Monday to rule the botched handling of improvements at its Crystal River nuclear plant were "reasonable" and "prudent," the first step to passing at least some costs to customers.

Sea turtle nesting numbers have biologists encouraged
By Bill DiPaolo
Palm Beach Post
This year's statewide nesting numbers continue to improve for leatherbacks and green sea turtles, and have stabilized for loggerheads.

LGBT

National Coming Out Day: It's about more than one day
By Mary Kelli Palka
Florida Times-Union
Throughout the United States today, people will openly support equality to mark National Coming Out Day.

EDUCATION

FCAT soon could be a lot tougher for students to pass
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Passing many of Florida's crucial FCAT exams may soon be more difficult, and the percentage of students failing likely could zoom upward, under a proposed new scoring system being considered.

School transfers by race in Orange County may end
By Lauren Roth
Orlando Sentinel
Each year for more than a decade, more than 1,000 Orange County students have changed schools based on their race.

Citrus school board to decide if pamphlet is religious
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A conservative political group wants a school board to overrule its superintendent and allow it to give eighth graders pamphlets that contain the Constitution and Declaration of Independence along with a religious reference.

Rick Scott wants to shift university funding away from some degrees
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Future anthropology majors be warned, Gov. Rick Scott does not believe such programs contribute much to Florida’s economy and wants them on the losing end of university funding decisions.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

State may expedite Florida foreclosures
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
Retirees Neil and Marilyn Strawbridge haven't made a mortgage payment so far this year, and yet Bank of America has not sent them even a foreclosure notice.

Gov. Scott’s transportation plan paved with toll roads
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
With a coming nationwide trend of tougher fuel standards and vehicles with higher gas mileage acting to depress fuel tax revenue during the next decade, Florida and other states are embracing toll roads as a way to pay for their transportation needs.

State economists to revise Florida revenue estimates
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
State economists will figure out just how bad Florida's financial situation will be during the coming year.

Lieutenant governor in Europe on Space Florida trade mission
By Dara Kam and John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll is on a trade mission this week to England and Spain with Space Florida officials.

Fla pols, biz look forward to trade pacts passing
News Service of Florida:
Florida Times-Union
Florida officials say the three trade deals currently awaiting passage by Congress could mean thousands of jobs for Florida over the next several years, and several major industries in the state are looking forward to their approval.

Washington on jobs: Do something or do nothing?
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
President Barack Obama's proposition to raise taxes on households earning $250,000 or more to pay for a jobs bill never had much of a chance.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Medicare benefits increase for seniors
By Barbara Peters Smith
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Overshadowed by all the political rhetoric this year about the future of Medicare is the fact that seniors under the program next year will have more benefits than ever.

Florida readies its own health care exchange
Staff Report
Florida Current
As it fights to overturn the federal health overhaul, Florida is preparing to launch an insurance marketplace early next year that looks like a distant cousin of the ones being created under the federal law, according to Kaiser Health News.

Daughter’s complaint puts focus on Medicare payment to for-profit hospice
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
When Carol Flatto saw that Medicare was paying $4,500 a month for her father’s hospice care on Miami Beach, she was astounded.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

New policy lets concealed permit holders bring guns into Florida Capitol
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
It may have been against the law, but until less than two weeks ago someone with a concealed weapon permit wishing to enter Florida's Capitol with a gun was asked to leave it at the door or had to go forward accompanied by an officer.

Florida's dangerous export: concealed weapons permits
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Add this to the list of citrus, phosphate and other top Florida exports: concealed weapons permits.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Gov. Rick Scott signs death warrant for Oba Chandler, killer of Ohio mom, kids
By Jamal Thalji
St. Petersburg Times
He lured the Ohio mother and her two daughters onto his boat.

Florida's Innocence Commission votes to make cops record confessions
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's Innocence Commission, a blue-ribbon panel trying to come up with ways to keep innocent people from being convicted, voted Monday to recommend that police officers statewide record all suspect statements in violent felonies.

The wrong 'reform'
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
If Gov. Rick Scott and Florida legislative leaders would get over their obsession with privatizing prisons, perhaps they might focus on the real cause of Florida's runaway corrections spending.