Daily Clips for January 16, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Senate wants a session break — to wait for revenues and avoid cuts
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
With updated revenue numbers that offered no relief from deep budget cuts, a bi-partisan majority of the Florida Senate wants to cut short the regular session in February and come back later in the spring when lawmakers hope to have a rosier revenue forecast that will avoid some of the $2 billion in projected cuts.

Florida unlikely to see any money for new school construction
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
There isn't likely to be any new money for school construction and maintenance for the next few years, Florida economists said Friday.

'Accountability budgeting' is latest Scott reform effort
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Now that Gov. Rick Scott has passed his first year as governor, it's time to start giving him some serious job evaluations.

Fla. Legislature could give Scott more power
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Gov. Rick Scott, the outsider who at one point railed against the political establishment, may soon start getting the kind of control that was never bestowed on Florida's previous chief executives.

Florida legislative leaders resume uneasy alliance
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon met their goals and then some in the first half of their two-year tenures.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

Rich won’t propose redistricting maps; Dems to take chances with courts
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich said Friday that she will not propose alternative maps next week when the Republican-controlled chamber is expected to approve new boundaries for congressional and Senate districts.

Election law oddity will leave Hillsborough and Pinellas operating under different rules
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
As Florida's chief elections official, Kurt Browning takes pride in guiding Florida through trouble-free voting since the chaotic 2000 presidential recount.

Activists push politics on Facebook, Twitter
By Walter Pacheco
Orlando Sentinel
Deploying a new weapon for the 2012 election, political activists are reaching out directly to rally their friends and followers through the social-media world of Facebook and Twitter.

Sen. Dennis Jones represents Pinellas, but for tax purposes, home is Marion County
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Dennis Jones has spent more than 30 years as a Pinellas County lawmaker, the last nine as a state senator representing the county's beach communities.

Former staffer accuses congressional candidate of hypocrisy, improper campaign expenditures
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
In an exclusive interview with The Florida Independent, a former campaign staffer for congressional candidate Mike Yost say that the Jacksonville-based Republican squandered campaign funds on personal expenses, refused to listen to his campaign managers and still owes ex-staffers large sums of money.

POLITICAL RACES

Newt Gingrich stumps in Miami and Orlando, slamming Mitt Romney
By Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Newt Gingrich started to turn Florida’s Republican primary into a two-man contest Friday by hitting opponent Mitt Romney from the right, left and center at Miami’s Versailles Restaurant and during a headquarters opening in Orlando.

Campaign officials: Huntsman to quit GOP race, back Romney
By Kasie Hunt and Philip Elliott
Associated Press
Jon Huntsman staked his presidential campaign on New Hampshire and his bid to become a legitimate competitor on distinguishing himself from front-runner Mitt Romney.

Is Mitt Romney's Mormon faith an issue? South Carolina is test case
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
A half-century after the nation struggled over whether a Catholic could serve in the White House, a question is lurking in the Republican race for president: Can a Mormon?

Romney touts for-profit Florida university that may not be all he says
New York Times
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
At a town-hall-style meeting in New Hampshire last month, listeners pressed Mitt Romney on the soaring cost of higher education.

Gov. Scott keeps mum on presidential preference
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
No matter how many times the question was asked or how it was posed on Saturday, Gov. Rick Scott declined to say which presidential candidate he would get his vote in Florida's Republican primary on Jan. 31.

5 reasons why Florida's primary matters more
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
When the Republican presidential campaign shifts from South Carolina to Florida, it's a whole new ball game.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida wildlife corridor expedition to call attention to wildlife plight
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition is the brainchild of Clearwater resident Carlton Ward Jr., who calls himself "an environmental photojournalist."

Attorney General Bondi challenges fund for lawyers in BP oil spill lawsuit
By Katie Sanders
Miami Herald
Attorney General Pam Bondi is angry about a reserve-style fund approved for plaintiffs' lawyers involved in the massive oil spill lawsuit anchored in New Orleans.

No charges in Fla. probe of I-10 tree removal
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A grand jury in Leon County has declined to charge anyone in an investigation of the removal of thousands of trees along Interstate 10 in northwest Florida.

Bill is a giveaway of a precious resource
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Reclaimed water, which comes from highly treated sewage, is increasingly vital for watering lawns, replenishing water bodies, and meeting industrial needs — tasks that otherwise would consume drinking water.

LGBT

When Miami-Dade was culture-war central
By Julio Capo Jr.
Miami Herald
The culture-wars caravan is rolling into town. Assuming the Republican field isn’t whittled to one in South Carolina, the campaign will arrive in full force in advance of Florida’s Jan. 31 primary, and with it will come reinvigorated debates over “family values” and gay rights.

EDUCATION

On education, money counts
By Myriam Marquez
Miami Herald
Money can’t buy you love, and maybe it can’t buy you happiness, but can it buy a top-notch education?

Alternative Fla. teacher programs called a success
Associated Press
Gainesville Sun
A new report concludes Florida's alternative teacher preparation programs are succeeding.

College presidents suggest differentiated tuition
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times
Should an engineering degree cost more than a degree in English? Or a degree in education?

School bus ads cheapen education
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
In recent years, whenever the subject turns to funding Florida schools, the Legislature turns into an episode of "The Honeymooners."

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Push for online sales tax gaining steam in Florida
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Carla Jimenez owns an independent bookstore in Tampa, and her top competitor is 3,000 miles away, operating outside the purview of Florida's sales tax laws.

Plenty of options but no consensus on car insurance reform
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
What happens after you get into an automobile accident, and who pays the bills, could be changing.

2 big companies poised to benefit from new tax law
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Two of Florida's biggest industrial companies are planning to take advantage of a new tax break that lawmakers approved last year amid predictions that it would lure new capital investment — and jobs — to the state.

Resolve to help workers
By Mike Williams
Florida Today
New Year’s resolutions generally conjure up good intentions to lose weight and spend more time with family.

It’s Miccosukees vs. Lehtinen in legal battle over Miami-Dade casino taxes
By Jay Weaver
Miami Herald
Stung by a malpractice lawsuit, prominent Miami attorney Dexter Lehtinen has struck back at his former client, the Miccosukee Indian Tribe, by disclosing highly sensitive information about its longstanding tax battle with the federal government.

Tourism interests to gather in state Capitol
By Sara K. Clarke and Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Florida Tourism Day at the Capitol, the annual day of industry lobbying in Tallahassee, is set for this Wednesday -- and the primary issue on the agenda is funding.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Young adults file Supreme Court brief in support of health care reform
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
An advocacy group for young people called the Young Invincibles filed a legal brief in support of President Obama’s health care reform law, which the group says promised health insurance for 17 million young adults.

Florida criticized for low KidCare enrollment as federal health bonus goes unused
By Richard Martin
St. Petersburg Times
Florida is losing out on millions of federal dollars by failing to help more low-income families get health insurance for their children.

Medical groups pushing Legislature to reduce liability of emergency doctors
By Liz Freeman
Naples Daily News
Dr. Larry Hobbs remembers when current governor Rick Scott used to visit the emergency room of a Fort Myers hospital once owned by the hospital chain, Columbia/HCA, which Scott ran in the 1990s.

Florida attorney general clears way for blood bank merger
By Barbara Peters Smith
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Florida Attorney General’s office announced Thursday that it will not object to a merger among the state’s three largest nonprofit blood banks, to form a giant network that serves 213 hospitals from the Keys up into Alabama and Georgia.

Pesticides put farmworkers at risk
By Bill Maxwell
Tampa Bay Times
We hear a lot about farmworkers' low wages, their poor housing and the anti-immigrant movement that has frightened many.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Keeping his dream alive: King's relevance today
By Georgia East
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A dream, but also a plan. Soaring oratory, but also keen attention to improving the nitty-gritty realities of life like schools, housing and jobs.

Homelessness bill moved forward this week
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
A bill written to provide more financial aid to the growing number of homeless Floridians passed unanimously through a state House health committee this past Wednesday.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

State has new prison privatization proposal
By David Royse
News Service of Florida
After being rebuffed by a judge for its effort to privatize several prisons because of the way lawmakers went about it, the Legislature will try again to shed several prisons, this time doing it in statute.