Daily Clips for December 28, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Fla. legislators likely to cut budget again
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
It's almost becoming an annual rite each year in Tallahassee: Another year, another billion-dollar plus budget shortfall.

This session, social issues are low on Florida lawmakers' list
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Anti-immigration rhetoric flared up on Florida's 2010 campaign trail and became a winning wedge issue for Gov. Rick Scott, who used it to woo the tea party and help win election.

Clean energy group to challenge PSC decision on nuke funding
By Jim Saunders
Miami Herald
An advocacy group will ask the state Supreme Court to reject a regulatory decision that would allow Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy Florida to collect about $282 million from customers next year for nuclear-power projects.

Florida Political and Governmental Newsmakers in 2011
Staff Report
Florida Trend
These government and political leaders were exceptionally notable during the past year.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Q&A with: Speaker Designate Will Weatherford
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
There already have been rumblings from the legislative and executive branches that changes are coming to Florida's higher education system.

Associated Industries of Florida lobbyist group in running for 'what were they thinking?' award
By Robert Trigaux
St. Petersburg Times
That disgraced ex-Florida House Speaker and former congressman Tom Feeney was picked just before the Christmas holidays as the new chief of Associated Industries of Florida -- the pushy business lobbying group in Tallahassee -- is not exactly breaking news does not mean I can't express dismay now.

Measure filed in Florida House to curb claims bills
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
A South Florida Republican has proposed placing new restrictions on claims bills, limiting which lawmakers can file the bills and barring lobbyists from collecting contingency fees for getting the measures passed.

R txt msgs a loophole in Florida's public records laws?
By Brittany Wallman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida public records laws are often called among the toughest in the nation. But that was b4 txt msgnging.

S. Florida elected officials richer than those they represent
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Come campaign time, politicians love to portray themselves as men and women of the people.

POLITICAL RACES

Act fast to participate in Florida's Republican presidential primary
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
If you think Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul or Mitt Romney is the solution to the nation's problems, you've got to be a registered Republican to express your support in Florida's primary.

GOP candidates jostle to find tough-enough stance on immigration
By Bob Rathgeber
Ft. Myers News-Press
When Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich recently suggested showing compassion toward some illegal immigrants, his GOP challengers went after him as if he were offering amnesty to al-Qaida.

NASA no priority for most presidential candidates
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
Of all the presidential candidates, the election of Newt Gingrich likely would have the greatest effect on NASA for one simple reason.

Ron Paul's surge prompting a new look from GOP voters
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Ron Paul wants to legalize pot and shut down the Federal Reserve.

UNF tapped as site for next month’s Republican debate
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Republican Party said Tuesday that its pre-presidential primary debate will be held Jan. 26 at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

2012 Session Outlook: Environment and Natural Resources
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A Nov. 30 rally outside the Capitol demonstrated just how far apart state leaders and environmentalists have drifted on key issues.

Looking for Ways Panthers and Ranchers Can Coexist in FL
By Glen Gardner
Public News Service Florida
A new study in Florida is aimed at helping determine the best ways for cattle and panthers to coexist.

For Florida voters, oil spill's hurt still stings
By Kimberly Blair
Pensacola News Journal
Before black, gooey and stinky crude oil from the BP rig explosion in the western Gulf of Mexico washed up on the beaches of Escambia County last year, Northwest Florida residents seemed mildly concerned about expanding drilling for natural gas or oil in federal waters.

EDUCATION

Six Education Bills to Watch in the Florida Legislature
By John O'Connor
StateImpact
Here’s six bills that could set the tone on education for the Legislative session.

Broward Biggest Violator of Class Size Requirements
By Gina Jordan
StateImpact
When Florida voters implemented the class size amendment in 2002, they mandated that public schools limit the number of students in core classes like math and science.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

South Florida Poised for Birth of Casino Gambling
By Fred A. Bernstein
New York Times
When the Florida Legislature returns from its holiday recess, it will consider a bill to allow three Las Vegas-style casino resorts to be built in the southern part of the state.

State to share in $538 million electronics price-fixing settlement
Staff Report
Florida Current
Florida and seven other states will share a $538.5 million settlement reached with manufacturers and sellers of thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels along with $14.7 million in civil penalties, the South Florida Business Journal reports.

Florida can't afford Internet sales tax loophole
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott, Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon have been all too happy to stand by and let the nation's Internet-only retailers reap huge competitive advantages over Florida merchants, thanks to a giant loophole in sales tax policy.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Health reform opens the door for small business to succeed
By Rep. Geraldine Thompson
Orlando Sentinel
It is a sobering fact that many small businesses are unable to provide adequate health-care coverage for their employees and also remain competitive in providing a product or service in the marketplace.

America’s failing healthcare system
Editorial
Miami Herald
Practically every day this year brought some alarming news about America’s failing healthcare system, whether it’s the hundreds of millions of dollars thieves are stealing from Medicare or losses pouring from the Jackson Health System.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Florida report: hate crimes steady, but below high numbers of a few years ago
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The number of hate crimes reported last year in Florida held mostly steady at a two-decade low, mirroring what analysts say is a national decline in violent crime.

6 fired over teen’s death in lockup
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
Five months after an 18-year-old youth died at a West Palm Beach lockup after waiting in vain for medical care, Florida juvenile justice administrators grew tired of waiting for law enforcement authorities to act: On Tuesday, they announced their decision to fire six employees they believe share responsibility.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Wrong convictions spur Florida to rethink using jail informants
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
Chad Heins, a Jacksonville man, spent 11 years in prison for a murder he did not commit based solely on the testimony of two jailhouse informants who lied to jurors, saying Heins had confessed.