FEATURED STORIES
Hate the new bank fees? Florida lawmaker wants to make them illegal
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times
A House Democrat disgusted by big banks and their new monthly fees for using debit cards proposed Monday to make those charges illegal for Florida customers.
Gov. Scott draws parallel between Occupy protests and tea party
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times
On WTVT in Tampa today, Gov. Rick Scott compared the Occupy protests to the tea party movement that helped him win election.
Occupy Miami picks up union support
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Occupy Miami garnered public support from local unions today.
How far off were Rick Scott’s anthropology remarks?
Staff
Florida Current
In a column on the Huffington Post, cultural anthropologist Janice Harper writes that Gov. Rick Scott's suggestion that anthropology is not preparing its graduates for jobs is not so far off the mark.
Early look at Florida redistricting: Some incumbents might be in trouble
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Although nothing is set in stone, concrete examples of the tough political scenarios that will fall out of the state's once-a-decade redistricting process were on full display Monday.
FLORIDA POLITICS
Obama’s top Fla bundlers
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Unlike the Republican presidential candidates to date, Barack Obama has released a list of his 351 top campaign contribution bundler, including 27 Floridians.
Jobs, legislative plans topics as Gov. Rick Scott makes two bay area stops
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times
At two stops Monday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott was asked about the things that have come to dominate his public schedule: his plan for the 2012 legislative session, his belief that the state doesn't need more anthropology majors and his inconsistent math when it comes to creating 700,000 private-sector jobs in the state.
Hasner ally says Muslim Brotherhood is behind Occupy Orlando
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
In a video clip and blog post published today, a right-wing activist with ties to GOP Senate candidate Adam Hasner alleges that Occupy Orlando, a Central Florida group that has sprung up in solidarity with the New York-based Occupy Wall Street movement, has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Florida’s special districts look in line for a fix – but how?
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Florida’s 1,633 special districts — which range in scope from behemoth water management districts to small town community development authorities — are being dragged slowly under the microscope of the state’s biggest government entity, the state Legislature.
Senate panel reviews red light camera issue again
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A rehash of the red light camera fight could be on tap again for the upcoming session.
POLITICAL RACES
Adam Putnam backing Mitt Romney
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
Florida Agriculture Commissioner and former U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam is endorsing Mitt Romney for president, becoming the first member of the Florida cabinet to take sides in the presidential race.
Rick Scott on the Cain train? Doesn’t sound like it
By Aaron Sharockman
St. Petersburg Times
It might make sense for Rick Scott, the lifelong businessman turned governor to endorse Herman Cain, the lifelong businessman turned Republican candidate for president.
Grayson outraises other Central Florida congressional candidates
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
If campaign dollars were votes, former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson would be headed back to Capitol Hill.
Congressman West second among incumbent fundraisers in GOP
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
The $1.96 million that freshman U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, raised during the third quarter was more than any Republican House member except Speaker John Boehner.
McCalister raised $71,000 in 3rd quarter for Senate race
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Plant City businessman Mike McCalister raised about $71,000 during the third quarter for his Republican U.S. Senate bid, his campaign said today.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
St. Johns Riverkeeper, city officials renew call for reevaluation of Georgia-Pacific pipeline
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
At a press conference held today in downtown Jacksonville, leaders from the St. Johns Riverkeeper and the Jacksonville City Council again touted their firm stance against the construction of Georgia-Pacific’s hotly contested pipeline, which would reroute waste from the company’s Palatka plant directly into the St. Johns River.
PSC to consider OK for nuclear cost recovery as repeal of practice is filed again
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Florida Public Service Commission staff is recommending approval of more than $300 million requested by Florida Power & Light Co. and Progress Energy for planned new nuclear power plants and existing plant upgrades.
Bondi, Florida join 18 states in asking for Supreme Court review in logging roads case
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Attorney General Pam Bondi says Florida has joined 18 other states in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a federal appeals court decision that could lead to permits being required for logging roads across the country.
West Palm Beach’s water supply could dry up by spring
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
The source ofWest Palm Beach's drinking water "will probably be exhausted" by March and the city will not be allowed to pull water from its well field in violation of its permit, as it did to weather this year's drought, regional water managers warned the City Commission last week.
LGBT
Our Fund foundation launches in Fort Lauderdale with national LGBT leadership forum
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
About 200 LGBT community leaders in South Florida recently attended a national leadership forum in Fort Lauderdale sponsored by Our Fund, a new foundation "connecting the LGBT Community.
LGBT Intimate Partner Violence
Editorial
Jacksonville Times-Union
According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) intimate partner violence occurs in as many as one-in-three relationships regardless of the sexual orientation of the partners
EDUCATION
Better options to gutting education
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The new math's not much better than the old: State government, according to the numbers crunchers in Tallahassee, will likely face a $2 billion shortfall next year.
Adam Putnam steals school lunch from Department of Education
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times
The federal government has granted Commissioner Adam Putnam's request to move oversight of school food and nutrition programs to his agency, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Rick Scott posts university salaries online
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott wants Floridians to know more about university salaries as he pushes for major higher education reforms.
“Needs Improvement:” Congress takes up Foster Care Student Report Cards
By Deb Courson Smith
Public News Service
School report cards for children in foster care usually show they are behind their peers in almost every academic measure.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Paying the price for financial fraud
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
It has become something of a rallying cry this election season and inside the Occupy Wall Street movement that not enough bankers and financiers at the helm of their mismanaged companies during the country's economic meltdown have been held accountable in a court of law.
Foreclosure ruling irks banks
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
An appeals court ruling in favor of Wellington homeowners in foreclosure is causing "calamitous confusion," according to bank attorneys who say it could snarl hundreds of thousands of pending foreclosure cases.
For Cain, 9 + 9 + 9 = 0
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan helped him win Florida's Sept. 24 straw poll in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but the enthusiasm will fade as details and implications are exposed.
Florida’s minimum wage to rise 36 cents on Jan. 1 to $7.67 an hour
Staff
Orlando Sentinel
The minimum wage in Florida will increase from $7.31 to $7.67 an hour on Jan. 1, 2012, to keep pace with the rising cost of living, as required by a state constitutional amendment.
Gaming bills’ authors look to Nevada, New Jersey as pattern for new commission
Staff
Florida Current
If the Legislature approves large resort-style casino gambling for Florida, the regulatory structure will likely be a hybrid between the tough laws that govern gaming in Nevada and New Jersey, reports The Miami Herald.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Proof of a problem: When 31 pills = 15 years
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Earlier this year, Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff first trotted out legislation to revamp Florida's out-of-kilter prescription-drug laws.
Nursing homes face state probe
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Attorney General's Office is probing a chain of nursing homes in Pahokee, Gainesville and Bradenton investigated on matters from executive pay and perks to maggots in a patient's eye.
Anti-abortion groups to push state-level fetal heartbeat bills
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
As state legislatures prepare for new sessions, anti-abortion groups are getting ready to push state-level bills that would force women to hear a fetal heartbeat before undergoing an abortion.
Limited competition could complicate Florida health insurance reform
Staff
Florida Current
The fact that most of Florida's individual and small group health insurance market is held by only four insurers, according to a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation report, could pose difficulties as the state begins to create a health insurance exchange program, The Florida Independent says.
Medicaid ‘reform’ plans get rate hike
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Medicaid managed-care plans in Florida's five Medicaid "reform" counties have been granted a 10.8 percent rate increase because of ever-increasing hospital costs, the president of Florida Association of Health Plans confirmed today.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
An era later, some Florida legislators still pushing for ERA
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times
Here's an idea whose time has not yet come in Florida: passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Planned Parenthood turns 95 amid congressional attacks
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Planned Parenthood celebrates the 95th anniversary of its founding this week amid a barrage of political attacks, ranging from a full-on congressional investigation to a proposed federal budget that would defund the chain of women’s clinics.
Scott team, ACLU battle over whether ACLU can be subpoenaed in employee drug testing case
By Kathleen Haughney
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Lawyers for Gov. Rick Scott and the American Civil Liberties Union are engaged in a tussle over whether the ACLU can be subpoenaed for a case in which the civil-rights advocacy group is the legal counsel.
Tampa Police tell Occupy protesters to get rid of tarps but they’re allowed for bedding
By Sean Kinane
Public Radio Tampa
On Monday night Tampa Police told Occupy Tampa protesters that they had to get rid of tarps at their week-long encampment along the sidewalk of N. Ashley Drive.
State’s new gun law doesn’t address waiting periods
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
If the Legislature's aim in ordering the repeal of all local gun laws was to clear up confusion over a hodgepodge of rules, it didn't work.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Time for shared sacrifice
Editorial
Miami Herald
That Miami-Dade County police officers were promised a 10-percent pay raise at the height of South Florida’s recession was outrageous enough.
Fewer Florida ex-convicts returning to Prison
Associated Press
Fewer convicts are returning to Florida's prisons after being released.
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