PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
Town Hall Highlights Local Benefits of American Jobs Act (video)
Reported by Ashley Mitchem
WCTV News Tallahassee
The forum was sponsored by the Capital Area Community Action Agency along with Commissioner Andrew Gillum and representatives from Tallahassee NAACP, Florida NOW, AFSCME, Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, Progress Florida, Big Bend Central Labor Chapter, People for the American Way, Tallahassee Move On Council, and Florida Education Association.
Florida's Top Political Tweeters for October
By SaintPetersBlog.com
Note: @ProgressFlorida is ranked 3rd among all Florida political tweeters and first among organizations. @AwakeTheState is ranked 4th among all organizations. If on Twitter, be sure to follow both for breaking news, actions you can take and insightful commentary.
FEATURED STORIES
Don't dismiss Occupy Orlando or try to pigeonhole the movement
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Snare drums banged. The voice of a fed-up grandmother cackled through a megaphone. And 72-year-old Bill Schikora took it all in.
Peaceful Occupy events across Florida, 4 arrests
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Hundreds of participants were expected to protest corporate influence in politics and social inequality in nearly a dozen Occupy Wall Street protests happening across Florida today, a day after four protesters were arrested in Gainesville for trespassing.
'Follow the money' leads right to Florida Republicans
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
"Follow the money" is an adage for making causal connections between politicians and the interest groups writing big checks and expecting paybacks in the form of preferable policies.
Could Florida's war on voting change the outcome of 2012?
By Chris Kromm
Facing South
It's a well-documented story: Bolstered by new-found control or increased majorities, Republican state legislators pushed a bevy of laws that place new restrictions on voting.
Breaking His Promise To Create 700K Jobs, Gov. Rick Scott Now Says ‘I Don’t Have To Create Any Jobs’
By Marie Diamond
Think Progress
Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) campaigned on a promise to create jobs in Florida — his campaign mantras were even “Let’s get to work!” and “jobs, jobs, jobs.”
EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Jeff Parker
Florida Today
Artist's commentary: It's The Word "Liberal," Isn't It?
FLORIDA POLITICS
More Rick Scott e-mails surface, shed little light on transition
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The Governor's Office released 87 pages of public records Friday showing e-mails Gov. Rick Scott sent and received in the final days of his transition into office that have yet to be made public.
Occupy fever spreads in bay as St. Petersburg joins Tampa in protests
By Curtis Krueger and Shelley Rossetter
St. Petersburg Times
More than 300 people showed up to Occupy St. Petersburg on Saturday, shouting "hey, hey, ho, ho, corporate greed has got to go," and joining similar rallies in Tampa, Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville and across the nation.
Protesters occupy Tallahassee
By Brett Ader
Florida Independent
Related: More than 1,000 turn out for Occupy Miami
Related: Occupy Sarasota, round two
Related: Gainesville denounces corporate greed at Occupy rally
Several hundred protesters gathered at the Old Capitol building in downtown Tallahassee Saturday for what had been established as an international day of solidarity with the burgeoning Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City.
Crist cozies up to Democrats
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
When former Gov. Charlie Crist left the Republican Party, it was pretty clear there was no turning back.
Do you have right to speak at public meetings? One court says no — another may disagree
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Floridians have the right to attend meetings of city councils, school boards and other such public bodies.
Florida gaming commission to follow N.J., Nevada models
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
If Florida is going to be home to Las Vegas-style casinos, it has also got to have Las Vegas-style regulations, say the authors of a massive bill to bring resort casinos to South Florida.
State-backed law firm struggling; Gov. Scott wants to restart from scratch
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
A publicly funded law firm that represents poor people who have been charged with crimes is in leadership limbo.
Florida lawmaker's 'zeal to repeal' easier said than done
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
State Rep. Ritch Workman has earned national notoriety for his idea to scrap a 22-year-old law that bans dwarf tossing in bars.
Scott's misdirection on voting rights
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott's administration has a novel strategy to preserve state election changes that would disproportionately hurt minority voters: Get the courts to end the federal process in Florida that could prevent the changes from taking effect in Hillsborough and four other counties.
POLITICAL RACES
With Obama and Nelson drawing heavily on Florida, state Democrats have trouble raising cash
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
With an election year bearing down and President Obama already in a fierce fight for a second term, Florida Democrats found a new worry this week.
'Super-PACs' ready to spend big bucks in 2012
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
During the 2010 election, so-called "super PACs" — political groups that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money — left a big footprint, spending at least $4 million to elect candidates in Florida, including now-U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
Florida Hispanics' frustration with Obama is jobs
By Alex Leary and Patricia Mazzei
St. Petersburg Times
Manuel Santiago was out of work when Barack Obama ran for president in 2008 and the promise of a better future lured him to the polls.
Rubio cautious on immigration
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is raising his national profile through a series of major policy speeches on the economy and America's role in the world.
Herman Cain's '9-9-9' tax plan no friend of poor working families
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times
The more people learn about Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's "9-9-9" plan, the more questions they have.
Long ties to billionaire brothers key to Cain's campaign
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has cast himself as the outsider, the pizza magnate with real-world experience who will bring fresh ideas to the nation's capital.
Florida fundraiser A.K. Desai sides with Texas Gov. Rick Perry
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
In a spartan, contemporary downtown office with black leather chairs and glistening metal and glass tables, A.K. Desai waxed on about the entrepreneurship of Henry Ford, the latest academic book he's reading on health care reform, and where engineering fits in the future of Florida's higher-education system.
Hasner out-raises LeMieux in race for Nelson's U.S. Senate seat; Nelson doubles them both
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton raised more campaign cash in the third quarter than GOP Senate primary rival George LeMieux - but neither one comes close to incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.
U.S. Senate primary: To GOP voters, 'none of the above' looks good
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Though it's still 10 months until the U.S. Senate primary, four Republicans have been campaigning for the nomination since spring.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
G.O.P. vs. the Environment
Editorial
New York Times
As of Friday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had voted 168 times this year to undercut clean air and water laws while blocking efforts to limit global warming, protect public lands and guard against future oil spills.
Scott appoints ex-paver, former chemical exec to environmental positions
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Gov. Rick Scott has made some interesting environmental appointments lately. His choice for an appointee to the state’s wildlife commission was a former paving contractor who has tangled with environmental regulators in the past, and on Thursday, Scott tapped an ex-chemical exec to sit on the board of the St. Johns River Water Management District.
Nelson recognized with wildlife award
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Sen. Bill Nelson is probably not the first guy most Florida voters would come up with if asked to name a politician who evokes the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt.
LGBT
Active duty gays: Coming out has been nonevent
By Lisa Leff
Associated Press
Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan kept it simple and sweet.
Attitudes change, but haters haven't
By Gary Stein
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The time is coming soon, probably in the next few years, when equality isn't something that still has to be debated or voted on.
EDUCATION
Jeb Bush's Cyber Attack on Public Schools
By Stephanie Mencimer
Mother Jones
In June 2010, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to give the commencement speech for the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, the state's largest virtual charter school.
Scott's major gripe has minor ring of truth
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
I was ready to skewer our beloved governor over his most recent attack on education.
Scott's talk of changing tenure has UF nervous
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
Gov. Rick Scott's comments this week about the state not needing more anthropology majors received the most attention, but changes to tenure that he's considering have the potential to impact faculty members across disciplines.
The governor likes STEM system of learning, and so do Tampa Bay area educators
By Marlene Sokol
St. Petersburg Times
As one class at Middleton High School studied dehydration synthesis, another took a test on computer networks while students in an engineering class designed assembly lines.
ACT is now the test of choice for Florida students
By Denise-Marie Balona
Orlando Sentinel
More Florida high school students are taking the ACT college-entrance exam, which has overtaken the long-popular SAT as the preferred test in this state.
For Florida Parents, the Future is Now
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Few things in life are guaranteed, but many Florida parents can ensure a college education for their children by participating in the state's prepaid college plan.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Gov. Rick Scott: Agenda could boost state to national leader in jobs creation
By Rick Scott
Orlando Sentinel
"Florida Means Business." That's the core theme of my 2012 Job Creation and Economic Growth Agenda unveiled last week, and that's the message I'm focused on sending to job-growing business around the world.
State, county workers take early retirement to avoid pension changes
By Ray Reyes
Tampa Tribune
Cletus Squires thought firefighting would be a life-long career.
Expressway authority consolidation plans to be scaled back
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A complete consolidation of Florida’s expressway authorities is likely off the table this year after a Government Efficiency Task Force panel decided this week that a further vetting of the idea is needed to determine just how much money might be saved and the practical implications of such a move.
Florida tries to undo traffic school owner's publishing contract
By Susan Taylor Martin and Dan Sullivan
St. Petersburg Times
Six years ago, traffic school owner Kenneth Underwood signed a contract with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in what seemed like a win-win deal for both.
North Florida Broadband Authority: Blood in the street
By Stew Lilker
Columbia County Observer
Related: North Florida Broadband Authority: Small vendors in big trouble
By the time the October 7, 2011 emergency meeting of the North Florida Broadband Authority was gaveled to a close, every major firm doing the Authority's business, Government Services Group (GSG) the project managers, Capitol Solutions, the project's grant compliance firm, and Nabors – Giblin – Nickerson (NGN) the NFBA's attorneys had resigned.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Report: Florida’s health insurance market ‘highly concentrated’ for individuals, small employers
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A new report from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation finds that the individual and small group health insurance market in Florida is “highly concentrated,” which could present problems as the state starts to create a health insurance exchange program or marketplace.
Florida and Texas vie for dubious health insurance distinction
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott often uses Texas and its economic policies as an inspirational goal for his state.
Feds say yes to Florida's Medicaid waiver extension .... again
Staff Report
Florida Current
The federal government on Friday gave the green light to the Agency for Health Care Administration to continue operating its Medicaid Reform pilot plan for another 16 days or until Oct. 31.
Survey shows Latino voters support the Affordable Health Care Act
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Latino voters support the Affordable Health Care Act, but do not support the mandate to purchase coverage, according to a poll released Thursday.
Brand names don’t mean diddly
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
When Medicare's 2012 health plan sign-up season starts Saturday, beneficiaries need to do some homework to see which plan is best for them and comes at a reasonable cost.
State's drug database launches Monday
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
After years of debate about privacy issues and deadly drug use, Florida doctors and pharmacists can start tapping into a state database Monday to check out patients' prescription histories.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Florida a dream state in teaching students about civil rights, report shows
By Brittany Shammas
Naples Daily News
As the nation came together Sunday to dedicate the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial – the first on the National Mall to honor an African-American – a report is calling for stronger teaching of the movement he led, while recognizing Florida as one of a few states that does it well.
13 years after leaving prison, Pasco County man regains right to vote
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Mark Heidrich is a full-fledged citizen of Florida again, and he couldn't be happier.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Florida's private prison fiascoBy Timothy B. Ray
Gainesville Sun
Rick Scott's efforts to place convicts in privately operated prisons to save money have been blocked by court action, we have time to point out that privatization of corrections actually may not save money.
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