Daily Clips for December 2, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

November 28th Weekly Show
By Gayle Andrews
The BluVu: Florida’s Political Reality Show
Subpoenas are issued for voter suppression lawmakers, the maps are in and it looks oh so political, Bob Graham tells Scott to lead, the foreclosure crisis escalates on Pam Bond’s watch, and Damien talks about our homeless.

FEATURED STORIES

Lawsuit filed to head off proposed state water quality rules
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Earthjustice law firm on Thursday filed a legal challenge against state water quality rules that would replace controversial federal rules that are scheduled to be implemented in March.

Haridopolos: State budget deficit may hit college students' wallets
By Ray Reyes
Tampa Tribune
College students may need to dig deeper into their pockets next year to make up a projected $2 billion shortfall in Florida's budget, state Senate President Mike Haridopolos said Thursday.

In Miami, Plans For Mega-Casinos Bring Hope And Ire
By Greg Allen
NPR
A high-stakes gamble is playing out in Miami, where a Malaysian developer, the Genting Group, plans to spend more than $3 billion to build what it touts as the world's largest casino.

Gov. Rick Scott says 'Obamacare' is 'not the law of the land': False
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact
By Becky Bowers
Gov. Rick Scott, who has led Florida's opposition to the federal Affordable Care Act, offered justification for refusing millions of dollars in grants to implement the health care law: "It's not the law of the land."

BEST OF THE BLOGS

Rick Scott Serves Turkey, Pie, And Jargon Salad To The Homeless
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
Gov. Rick Scott and his wife Ann turned up at St. Matthews House in East Naples on Thanksgiving to help volunteers serve dinner to what was expected to be over 1,000 homeless and jobless Floridians.

Florida Congressional Redistricting, Senate Map, Take 1
By Steve Schale
Steve Schale
This afternoon, the Florida Senate released its preliminary Congressional and State Senate map proposals.

Redistricting: New Map Looks Like Old Map
By Bruce Seaman
Daily Marion
With the Florida Senate releasing its (first) proposal for redrawing the US Congressional and State Senate districts, their similarity to current districts should not come as any surprise.

Mediocre and Dim: What Passes for Best and Brightest in the GOP
By Trish Ponder
Pensito Review
We’re not the only ones to notice that Connie Mack IV, nee Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IV, is one of the lightest weight lightweights ever to run on the Republican ticket for the Senate from Florida, and that’s saying something.

Big Bluff: Mitt Romney's Inevitably Uninspiring & Insulting Candidacy
By Daniel Tilson
West Palm Beach Liberal Examiner
My GOP friends (yup, I do have some) are sick and tired of hearing about the “inevitability” of Mitt Romney’s presidential nomination.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Lobbyist Brian Ballard recounts call with Gov. Charlie Crist for Jim Greer criminal case
By Lucy Morgan
St. Petersburg Times
Lobbyist Brian Ballard has unwittingly become a pivotal figure in the state's fraud and money laundering case against former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer.

In Orlando, Republican governors tout can-do reform efforts
By Adam C. Smith
St. Petersburg Times
You've heard the laments about gridlocked, dysfunctional government with leaders unable to make hard decisions needed to get America back on track.

Scott says Democrats 'shocked' he kept campaign promises
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott told an audience of Republican state officials from around the country Thursday that his first year in office had been a success, and that Democrats were "shocked" he had kept campaign pledges to go after teacher tenure, cut taxes and scale back state regulation.

Gerrymandering means the joke's on you
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
I've heard some bad jokes in my day.

What stinking amendments?
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
When the Florida Senate released its proposed congressional and legislative maps this week, it was as if last November didn't happen.

State Dems slap Senate prez with ‘hall of fame’ honors
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Florida Democrats said Thursday they’ve added a new honoree to their ‘Rickpublican’ hall of fame — Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

Florida gambling law filled with barrel-sized loopholes
By Michael Vasquez
Miami Herald
As Florida considers ushering in a new era of casino mega-resorts, a dispute in the tiny Panhandle town of Gretna has focused attention on the state’s existing gambling landscape — and the considerable confusion that surrounds it.

POLITICAL RACES

Democrats push for voter rights — and get a wedge issue
By Mark Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
National Democrats today launched a campaign that is designed to raise awareness about restrictive new voting laws in several states — while doubling as a recruiting tool to attract supporters, especially among minority voters.

In South Florida, Bachmann tees off on rivals
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Michele Bachmann popped unexpectedly into South Florida on Thursday and started throwing haymakers at Republican presidential frontrunners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.

For Herman Cain, the campaign all but over
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Herman Cain is still campaigning for president. But by most measures, his White House bid is all but over.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Algae blooms: Take the ''slime tour'' of Florida waterways
By Dave Heller
WTSP 10 News Tampa Bay
Environmental groups want you to take a so-called Internet "slime tour" of polluted waterways in Florida as they try to raise public pressure for stricter pollution controls.

Hot and hotter
Editorial
Miami Herald
The U.N. Climate Summit opens this weekend in Durban, South Africa, amid still more evidence of dangerous changes in extreme weather patterns.

EDUCATION

Gov. Scott and his policies are challenged during roundtable with Osceola teachers
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
In the quiet of a school library, more than a dozen Osceola County teachers shared their professional frustrations with Gov. Rick Scott this afternoon, challenging some of his policies and urging him to promote Florida's public schools.

Gov proposes parents 'union' to control underperforming schools
By Chris Umpierre
Ft. Myers News-Press
From academics to quality of teachers, Tice Elementary parent Maria Mendoza would make a lot of changes at her daughter’s east Fort Myers school.

FCAT Scoring May Get Stricter
By Merissa Green
Lakeland Ledger
The State Department of Education is proposing more stringent scoring for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

UF trustees give initial OK to hiking undergrad fees
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
As a boisterous group of students protested tuition hikes, University of Florida trustees voted Thursday to create a new fee that would amount to a 5 percent tax on undergraduate tuition.

FAMU expels 4 over band hazing death
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald
Florida A&M University has dismissed four students amid growing pressure from top state education officials and the governor’s office over an alleged hazing incident that led to the death of a 26-year-old drum major.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Back on Their Heels After the 99 Percent Fight Back
The Progress Report
Think Progress
What a difference two and a half months makes. The 99 Percent movement is now part of our culture, is changing the narrative, and is here to stay.

Police arrest 29 Occupy Tampa protesters after asking them to vacate park
By Marissa Lang
St. Petersburg Times
Police arrested 29 Occupy Tampa demonstrators during a peaceful protest Thursday night after, police said, the protesters refused to leave a park.

Unemployment compensation fund on the mend as taxes rise
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A more than 20-fold jump in the minimum unemployment compensation tax in the past three years will soon be reversed, although it will take longer than three years to drop back to pre-recession levels, according to estimates from state economists released Thursday.

Scott touts gunmaker’s move to Florida
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Connecticut gunmaker Colt’s Manufacturing Co., plans to open a regional manufacturing plant in Central Florida’s Osceola County, bringing with it 63 jobs, Gov. Rick Scott said Thursday.

Report: America – Not as Broke as You'd Think
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
The congressional "super-committee" failed to cut more than $1 trillion from the federal deficit.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

St. Petersburg bishop joins Catholic leaders in opposition to part of health reform law
By Richard Martin
St. Petersburg Times
Related editorial: Women’s rights at risk
When Bishop Robert Lynch spoke from the pulpit Wednesday to a crowd of lawyers and judges, he may have surprised some with his pointed opposition to a key provision of the federal health care reform law.

Obama announces additional funding for domestic AIDS programs on World AIDS Day
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
President Obama announced today that $50 million in additional funds will be going toward treatment and care for people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

Psychotropic drug use higher for foster kids
By Ana M. Valdes
Palm Beach Post
The first day Ke'onte set foot in Carol and Scott Cook's home, two months before he was adopted by the Dallas couple in 2009, the boy had a stash of four or five types of pills to control his behavior.