FEATURED STORIES
Newt Gingrich stomps Mitt Romney in S.C.; Florida becomes major battleground for GOP nomination
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Newt Gingrich crushed the once-mighty Mitt Romney in South Carolina’s first-in-the-South primary, in a victory that transformed Florida’s upcoming vote from a snoozer into a dogfight.
Bruising Republican presidential campaign unfolds in Florida
By Andrew Abramson and George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Get ready for a bruising campaign leading up to Florida's crucial Jan. 31 Republican presidential primary.
Catholic leaders tell Gingrich, Santorum ‘to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes’
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Catholic leaders issued a letter Friday to GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, themselves Catholics, urging them “to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail.”
Prisons may be privatized before taxpayers know consequences
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Outsourcing government services has been on the conservative agenda for three decades, which is a blessing for Florida policymakers because it means there are lots of successes and missteps around the country to emulate or avoid.
House panel narrows Florida redistricting maps
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A Democratic lawmaker suggested the creation of a couple of black-Hispanic “coalition” Senate districts and other changes affecting minority representation as the House Redistricting Committee took another step toward finalizing Florida's legislative and congressional maps today.
EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Jim Morin
Miami Herald
FLORIDA POLITICS
Politicians to voters: FORGET YOU! They can't kick gerrymandering habit
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Take a moment to look at the lines on the map we have here.
Haridopolos taking heat for committee assignments on prison privatization bills
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Senate President Mike Haridopolos is under fire from fellow Republicans for his handling of a controversial prison privatization plan.
Do they really think we're going to buy this?
By Carl Wernicke
Pensacola News Journal
OK, let's take this not necessarily in chronological order as there was so much scandal to research in so little time.
Secrecy and lawmaking don't mix
Editorial
Florida Times-Union
Florida’s legislators seem to be drawn to secrecy and backroom deal-making at the expense of good government and public trust.
Powerful duo in state Capitol wary of dangers
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
They're a generation apart and not widely known outside the corridors of the Capitol.
Post investigation: What Florida lawmakers are worth
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
The net worth of the people representing Floridians in Congress is much higher than that of the average voter, and the gap is growing.
Report: Florida ranks low in civic engagement
By Mark Lane
Daytona Beach News-Journal
When it comes to civic engagement, the kids aren't all-right.
POLITICAL RACES
Florida up for grabs in GOP presidential race
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Skipping Florida smart for Ron Paul
Related: 5 things we learned in the South Carolina primary
Three states. Three winners. A divided delegate count. If there is one clarity in the unpredictable, captivating turns of the Republican presidential race, it is this: Anything can happen and Florida, which is next to vote, is wide open.
Previewing the Tampa GOP presidential debate
By Angie Drobnic Holan
Tampa Bay Times
Related editorial: For GOP candidates, 10 questions from Florida
The Republican candidates for president gather tonight to debate in Tampa, PolitiFact's home turf.
Floridians, brace for blitz of GOP campaign ads
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Florida couch potatoes, it's your turn now to watch a seemingly endless barrage of campaign commercials — especially ads supporting Mitt Romney and bashing his rivals — as the four remaining Republican candidates sprint toward the Jan. 31 presidential primary.
Super PAC Millions Flow Into the Sunshine State
By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Buckle up, Florida. After tour stops in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary and Wild West Show is coming to a town near you.
Tea Party trying to find its focus
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Bradenton Tea Party activist William Benedict talks like a boxer who landed a punch square in the nose of the Republican establishment with the 2010 Florida election.
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
FL Wildlife Federation Pushing State Restoration Act
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
A telephone poll by U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio conducted late last year found that an over-whelming majority of Floridians think all of the funds paid out by BP for the oil-spill disaster should come back to the states affected, to clean up the environment.
Those big snakes are here to stay
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Now that federal regulators have outlawed the importation of humongous, gator-eating pythons, all Floridians can breathe a grateful sigh of relief. Finally we are saved from this insidious reptilian plague!
LGBT
70-plus U.S. mayors join in support of gay marriage
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Related: Six Florida mayors sign Freedom to Marry statement; none from Miami-Dade County
Mayors of more than 70 cities are joining forces to support gay marriage.
EDUCATION
School officials critical of Gov. Scott's plan to release school ranking
Staff Report
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday will release a ranking of the state's 67 school districts based on standardized test scores, his office confirmed late Friday.
Florida schools, colleges are growing, but state construction money has dried up
By Kim Wilmath and Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
An unfinished university science lab. Leaky roofs in elementary schools. Plans for a new classroom put back on the shelf.
House proposes more money for Florida schools
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Is the tide turning for education funding?
Florida lawmakers' personal interests complicate effort to overhaul higher education
By David DeCamp, Kathleen McGrory and Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Amid a clamor to overhaul a state university system lawmakers say isn't cutting it, Sen. John Thrasher wants to ban lawmakers from holding jobs with public colleges and universities they fund.
New higher ed appointee’s company donated big to Republicans last year
By Virginia Chamlee
Florida Independent
Gov. Rick Scott yesterday announced the reappointment of Ava Parker and the appointments of Joseph Caruncho and Thomas Kuntz to the State University System’s Board of Governors.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida jobless rate dips to 9.9 percent
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's unemployment rate fell into single digits for the first time in more than two and a half years last month, dipping to 9.9 percent, state officials said Friday.
Scott not worried about revisions in jobless estimates
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott — who has billed himself as Florida's jobs governor — says repeatedly that he receives a new grade every month when Florida's unemployment rates are released.
GOP bill would rebrand unemployment compensation as ‘reemployment assistance’
By Marcello Iaia
Florida Independent
The state Legislature’s Economic Affairs Committee yesterday passed a bill that would rebrand unemployment compensation as “reemployment assistance.”
Most Florida jobs don't require bachelor's degree
By Marcia Heroux Pounds
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Get a college education, young students are often advised.
Reacting to consumer complaints, Citizens blinks on setting premiums
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
Homeowners who protested rocketing insurance bills based on claims of rising rebuilding costs have sparked a big change at the state's largest insurer.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
Lawmakers seek alternatives to Scott’s hospital budget cuts
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott’s controversial plan to cut $1.9 billion in Medicaid payments to Florida hospitals may not win backing in the Legislature this year.
Conservative lawmakers push legislation that would recommend HPV vaccine
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The same Florida legislator who is seeking an all-out ban on abortion in the state has sponsored a bill in the Legislature that would recommend the HPV vaccine for young girls entering the sixth grade.
Floridians could get $140 million in rebates
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
Federal authorities have rejected a request from Florida to get a waiver on a crucial reform requirement -- a move that could clear the way for state consumers to get more than $170 million in refunds on their health insurance.
On Roe v. Wade Anniversary, Obama Vows To Protect Women's Choice
By Laura Bassett
Huffington Post
Drawing a stark contrast between himself and the Republican presidential candidates on the issue of women's reproductive rights, President Barack Obama released a statement on Sunday, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, reaffirming his commitment to protect a woman's right to choose.
Take the profit out of dying
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
In 2006, when the Legislature and then-Gov. Jeb Bush allowed for-profit hospices to operate in Florida, this paper predicted that the move would undermine the successful hospice model.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Four FAMU band members charged with hazingBy Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Police have accused four more Florida A&M students of hazing fellow members of the Marching 100 as part of an initiation into a band clique last fall.
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