Daily Clips for January 5, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Legislator files bill to reverse controversial elections measures
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
State Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, has introduced a bill that would reverse some of the controversial measures in the elections law passed by the Florida Legislature last year.

Iowa results could recast Florida presidential race
News Service of Florida
Ft. Myers News-Press
With his surprise showing in the Iowa caucuses Tuesday, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum might have won himself a second look from voters in Florida's Jan. 31 primary.

GOP campaign kicks into high gear
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Mitt Romney is blanketing Florida with ads and mailers. Newt Gingrich is planning a Miami-Orlando trip next week. Ron Paul is sending out fliers.

Scott’s helpful new spirit on Everglades
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott is beginning his second year in office with a markedly different and more helpful tone on Everglades restoration.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida legislative preview – 2012
By Amy Keller
Florida Trend
Redistricting won't completely dominate the legislative landscape in January. A look at other issues percolating in the background and who wants what.

Republicans are prepared to sacrifice numbers in the redistricting battle
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Florida’s new redistricting standards, coupled with the 10-year shift in population, has forced Republicans to do what is rarely done in politics — sacrifice incumbents – and that is not going over well with some Republicans.

Fla. senator wants transition records kept public
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The deletion of emails sent by Florida Gov. Rick Scott and members of his transition team may spark a change in state law.

POLITICAL RACES

Michele Bachmann ends GOP presidential campaign
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Michele Bachmann left the race for president Wednesday morning, becoming the first casualty of the Iowa caucuses.

Five things we learned from the Iowa caucuses
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
1 Mitt Romney has a serious problem with the conservative base.

GOP Presidential Hopefuls: Where They Stand on Health Care
Staff Report
Kaiser Health News
At first glance, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Utah Gov. John Huntsman, Rep. Ron Paul and Gov. Rick Perry, both from Texas, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum seem virtually identical in their health policy platforms, as does former candidate Herman Cain.

GOP rivals work behind scenes in Florida
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy month.

Rick Santorum's task gets tougher in Florida
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Can Rick Santorum’s Iowa momentum propel him to success in Florida’s crucial Jan. 31 Republican presidential primary?

Foolish consistency, or just foolishness?
By Leonard Pitts
Tampa Tribune
Ralph Waldo Emerson, meet Ronald Ernest Paul. He is the very soul of a foolish consistency.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Environmental coalition calls for an end to subsidies for high-risk coastal development
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
An environmental coalition on Wednesday called on the state to maintain its ban on nearshore oil drilling, to remove subsidies for high-risk coastal development and to encourage local ordinances regulating the use of fertilizer.

Cold, boats combine to produce second-worst year for manatee deaths
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
For a third straight year, cold weather and speeding boats took a serious toll on Florida's manatee population, with 2011 racking up the second most manatee deaths on record.

BP oil spill payments to resume after fee wrinkle
By Cain Burdeau
Associated Press
Payments to those damaged by BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico resumed Wednesday, a day after administrators of the $20 billion fund stopped the flow of money, saying they were unclear on how to assess a 6 percent fee for lawyers handling claims.

New Sierra Club Florida leadership gets to work
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A new executive committee this week took over leadership of Sierra Club Florida almost four years after the state chapter was suspended.

LGBT

Gay activists step up push for registry in Orange
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Some gay-rights activists fear Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs is ignoring early good reviews for a proposed countywide domestic-partner registry and that she actually might be lining up to oppose it.

EDUCATION

Florida high school grades rise again in 2011
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
Florida's public high schools got better grades again in the second year since the state added non-test factors such as graduation rates, college preparation and participation in advanced classes to their annual assessments, education officials announced Wednesday.

Most Florida schools earn top grades
By Christopher O’Donnell
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida's new high school grading formula was intended to gear schools more toward preparing students for jobs and college.

Florida Supreme Court asked to resolve tuition power dispute
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Arguing that the Legislature "resisted its loss of power,'' a group that includes former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham wants the Florida Supreme Court to resolve a long-running dispute about the power of the university system's Board of Governors to set tuition and fees.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Miami Chamber of Commerce endorses casinos
By Douglas Hanks
Miami Herald
The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday endorsed bringing casino resorts to South Florida, throwing the weight of the region’s largest business group behind the push to expand the state’s gambling laws.

Report: Florida workers’ comp market ‘competitive’
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The state's annual report on workers' compensation insurance says Florida's market is "competitive," and its availability is not a significant problem.

Hundreds of employees at nonprofits make six-figure salaries
By Jeff Ostrowski
Palm Beach Post
Nonprofits aren't known for minting millionaires, but a few nonprofit executives have pulled down seven-figure pay packages at least once in the past few years, an analysis has found.

Florida citrus weathers cold snap with little damage
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
With Florida's temperatures dropping to near freezing levels for the past couple of days, the state's growers and farmers dodged a bullet on what was expected to be "the coldest night of the winter season."

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Van Zant files all-out abortion ban
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Last week, state Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Palatka, followed through on his announcement that he would bring back a bill that bans abortion in the state of Florida, providing only an exception to save the life of the mother.

Abolish hospital taxing districts?
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
Florida should scrap special hospital districts and replace them with “indigent health care districts” where money can “follow the patient” and be spread across providers and not just limited to certain hospitals, a report released by a state panel recommends.

State economists say changes to health, drug plans not generating savings
By Tom Flanigan
WFSU Public Radio Tallahassee
Last year, the Florida Legislature had a simple idea.

Group petitions Legislature to take up medical marijuana bill
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
An unknown group is sending around a petition demanding that the Legislature consider a medical marijuana bill filed in the state House and Senate for the upcoming session. The petition already has more than 7,000 signatures.

Florida gets $29M from CDC in HIV prevention grant
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
As part of a national effort to curb the spread of HIV, Florida's Department of Health has received $28.7 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency announced today.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Abortion Clinic Fire Under Investigation
By Mike Vasilinda
Captiol News Service
Arson investigators are awaiting the results of evident that was taken from the American Family Planning Clinic in Pensacola.

Anti-Muslim organization to honor U.S. troops in Tallahassee
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The United West, an anti-islamic organization, will host an event in Tallahassee on the first day of Florida’s 2012 legisltative session to honor members of the U.S. military who served in Iraq.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Judicial Qualifications Commission wants future jurisdiction for former Judge Paul Hawkes
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
On his way out the courthouse door Wednesday, 1st District Court Judge Paul Hawkes was told by the Judicial Qualifications Commission that they'll be waiting if he ever tries to be a judge again.