FEATURED STORIES
Florida facing another $2 billion budget shortfall
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Senate President Mike Haridopolos said Thursday that the state is facing another multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, and the public can expect another year of deep cuts to government programs and services.
Protesters assail 'greed'
By Rob Shaw
Tampa Tribune
They're sick of corporate greed and tired of politicians.
Tea party group sets up shop — in the Capitol
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
State tea party leaders proudly announced the grand opening of their "Tallahassee headquarters" for the upcoming legislative session on Thursday.
Florida asks for more time for Everglades cleanup
By Erika Bolstad and Craig Pittman
Miami Herald
Florida needs another six years and millions of dollars in new treatment facilities to clean out the pollution now flowing into the Everglades, Gov. Rick Scott told federal leaders Thursday.
Bondi owes state, not banks
Palm Beach Post
Editorial
The state attorneys general who are balking at the terms of a settlement being negotiated with the nation's largest banks over foreclosure fraud are right to insist on more than a $20 billion payout.
BEST OF THE BLOGS
Governor Scott & His DEP: Snap Out Of It!
By Kathy Aterno
Eye on Miami
Politically derived agendas could destroy Florida’s future economy.
2011 Florida Netroots Awards Voting Now Open
By Kenneth Quinnell
Florida Progressive Coalition
Note: Progress Florida is proud to have been nominated in several categories.
The first round of voting begins now and goes through October 21. A run-off round will take place the week after that, if necessary.
Drug testing welfare applicants is a waste of money
By Mark E. Andersen
Daily Kos
Preliminary figures on a new Florida law requiring drug tests for welfare applicants show that they are less likely than other people to use drugs, not more.
Another Tired Tea Party Teleprompter Joke Delivered Via Teleprompter
By Trish Ponder
Pensito Review
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (Tea/GOP) misplaced his sense of irony at a recent appearance, according to TPM.
Florida State Rep. Wants To End State Ban On ‘Dwarf-Tossing’ To Increase Employment Opportunities For Little People
By Tanya Somanader
Think Progress
Florida state Rep. Ritch Workman (R) is tackling the unemployment rate in the most bizarre way possible.
FLORIDA POLITICS
State CFO says senator should have access to SBA records
By Katie Sanders
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater says state Sen. Mike Fasano should be allowed to review documents from the State Board of Administration regarding a $125 million pension investment.
Protesters gather outside Sarasota bank
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
At 98, Sarasota retiree Joe Newman sometimes worries about the political apathy of younger generations, but Thursday's Occupy Sarasota rally left him feeling energized.
VIDEO: Occupy Sarasota protesters speak out
By Cooper Levey-Baker
Florida Independent
A handful of participants in today’s Occupy Sarasota protest, inspired by the unfolding Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, spoke with The Florida Independent about why they decided to join the fledgling campaign, and what’s next for Occupy protesters in the Sunshine State.
'Occupy Tampa' protesters decide against overnight stay in park, vow to return
By Jodie Tillman
St. Petersburg Times
Behind a kid with blue hair, in front of an old guy in tie-dye and overalls, walked a man named Dale Smrekar.
Haridopolos on prison privatization, gambling and jobs
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Senate President Mike Haridopolos defended lawmakers’ use of the budget to privatize an 18-county region from Polk County to the Florida Keys, said there would be a floor vote on an expansion of gambling and bragged about the state’s job growth in a Q-and-A with reporters this afternoon.
Governor vows to 'keep an eye' on appointee
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Sunday's column revealed that Gov. Rick Scott's new appointment to the beleaguered Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority has multiple conflicts of interest with the agency he now oversees.
Florida Freshman Rep. David Rivera's Future Plagued by Troubles
By Joshua Miller
Roll Call Staff
Florida Rep. David Rivera (R) finds himself trapped in a strange political purgatory.
State can cancel longtime contract for driver's handbook
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida can cancel a longtime contract with a businessman who holds a lucrative monopoly to print safety handbooks for drivers, a court ruled Thursday.
POLITICAL RACES
Hasner touts his Republican credentials at county GOP fundraiser
By Christopher Curry
Gainesville Sun
U.S. Senate candidate and former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner talked Thursday night about momentum and political connections.
Fitzgerald to challenge Buchanan
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Former state legislator Keith Fitzgerald officially announced this morning that he will run for Congress against three-term incumbent Vern Buchanan.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
House votes to delay cement pollution rules
By William Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
To the dismay of environmentalists and the delight of Florida’s cement makers, the U.S. House voted on Thursday to delay air-quality standards designed to remove mercury and other pollution from the skies and waters.
Proposed wildlife officer cuts alarm some legislators
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The possible cutting of 130 state wildlife officer positions and state spending reductions for invasive species control had some legislators raising concerns on Wednesday.
Bondi spells out desire for oil spill claims audit
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
Florida's attorney general released a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday spelling out her desires for a coming audit of the fund that handled claims stemming from last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Delray Beach duo charged with bilking $340,000 from Gulf of Mexico oil spill trust find
Staff Report
Palm Beach Post
Two Delray Beach residents have been charged with filing $340,000 in fraudulent claims against the $20 billion Gulf of Mexico oil spill trust fund and using that money to rent luxury homes and buy high-end cars and boats.
LGBT
Christian group slams Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for seeking repeal of Defense of Marriage Act
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
A Christian group has chastised U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, as “an arrogant, anti-family, homosexualist extremist” for becoming the first Republican in Congress to co-sponsor legislation to repeal the federal ban on gay marriage.
Census revises, lowers number of same-sex couples in Florida
By Adam Playford
Palm Beach Post
The U.S. Census Bureau released new estimates of the number of gay couples living together last week, saying that its original counts in the 2000 and 2010 censuses were almost certainly too high.
EDUCATION
State Senators push back against $40 million requested for reading coaches
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
State Sen. Stephen Wise led a push-back Thursday against $40 million requested by the Florida Department of Education for reading coaches.
State must wake up to student loan defaults
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
At Orlando's Centura Institute, a private health-care career college, 26 percent of students whose loans came due in 2009 had defaulted by the end of 2010, according to recent federal statistics.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
What You Need to Know About the 99 Percent Movement
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Emboldened by the inspiring actions of activists who have been protesting in New York City since Sept. 17, thousands and thousands of individuals are flocking to the streets in cities across America to express their disgust and anger with a political and financial system that unjustly rewards the richest 1 percent at the expense of everyone else.
Obama stimulus plan would help more than GOP failures
By Stephen L. Goldstein
South Florida Sun Sentinel
If you refuse to accept funding necessary to accomplish something, can you honestly say there was something wrong with it, not you?
Court ruling allows legislators to expand casino gaming in South Florida
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
A Tallahassee court cleared the way Thursday for legislators to expand gambling in South Florida without a referendum vote, while two key sponsors of a casino bill finished drafting their proposal to allow three resort casinos to operate in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Florida reels in a keeper, Time Warner, as another big one quietly gets away
By Robert Trigaux
St. Petersburg Times
What one Florida business incentive giveth, another Texas business incentive taketh away.
Wekiva Parkway, SunRail get big bucks as I-4 waits
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
Interstate 4 carries nearly 200,000 motorists each weekday in downtown Orlando and — as anyone who drives it surely knows — often backs up in both directions.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Senate health budget panel gets good news on state spending
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
After a troubling August where his agency overspent its budget by millions newly appointed Agency for Persons with Disabilities Director Mike Hansen told legislators on Thursday that September spending was just $200,000 above budgeted.
Lawmakers want doctors under investigation to face suspension
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
A Senate panel that normally only listens to budget requests diverted their attention to what they called a more serious matter.
Pill Mill Bill 2.0
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
State lawmakers are back in Tallahassee working to fill gaps found by criminals trying to skirt the new pill mill law.
Medicare drug plans abused, says GAO
By Brittany Davis
Health News Florida
At least 170,000 Medicare recipients used the program's prescription drug plans to “shop” for dangerous amounts of controlled narcotics in 2008, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
Legislator will bring back bill addressing shackling of pregnant women
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
State Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa, says she is getting ready to re-introduce legislation that would create humane rules for the shackling of pregnant women who are incarcerated.
Top Republican questions mail-in pharmacy requirements for state employees
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
A top Senate Republican on Thursday said he’d be willing to re-examine mail-order pharmacy requirements for state employees.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Florida’s No. 1! (In Feeling the Effects of Hunger.)
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Poverty has real, and far-reaching, consequences.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
Haridopolos defends prison privatization processBy Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Senate President Mike Haridopolos defended the state’s prison privatization plan, which was recently struck down by a Tallahassee court, saying the process was completely done in the sunshine.
Staff shake-up continues in Florida's prison system
By Steve Bousquet
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The staff shake-up continues in Florida's prison system.
Florida court system deserves steady, reliable funding
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Florida's courts may know as soon as today whether they have avoided another funding crisis not of their making.
No comments:
Post a Comment