Daily Clips for April 11, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Obama raises $2 million, reconnects with young voters in South Florida visit
By George Bennett and Jeff Ostrowski
Palm Beach Post
Related: Full text of President Obama's speech at FAU
President Obama's first visit to Palm Beach County since he was a 2008 candidate found him in full campaign mode Tuesday, telling $10,000-a-plate donors and enthusiastic Florida Atlantic University students that his policies stand in stark contrast to the "old broken-down theories" of Republicans.

Gov. Scott gets behind Mitt Romney - somewhat
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Responding to word that Rick Santorum is dropping out of the Republican presidential primary, Gov. Rick Scott, who has stayed neutral in the primary, issued a somewhat tepid endorsement of Romney.

Fair Districts backers assail new Senate maps
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
The legal mandate to preserve minority political districts will play a central role in the court fight over the Florida Legislature's once-a-decade redistricting process.

Florida anti-abortion campaign aims to restrict privacy rights
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
— A group of anti-abortion advocates is urging voters to support a constitutional amendment they say will allow lawmakers to revisit a parental consent measure struck down by the courts.

In wake of 'Taj Mahal' scandal, Florida Supreme Court approves new lobbying rules for judges
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Stung by public reaction to judges who lobbied state lawmakers into a $50 million courthouse many have dubbed a "Taj Mahal,'' the Florida Supreme Court has established new rules that would muzzle individual judges who try to have their way with the Legislature.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Some wary of Hillsborough poll-watching group with tea party ties
By William March
Tampa Tribune
A new organization in Hillsborough County says it is making a non-partisan effort to clean up errors or possible fraud in voter rolls, but it is associated with a tea party group accused of seeking to suppress minority votes in Texas.

Republican party fundraising down in early 2012
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
The Republican Party of Florida's fundraising totals dropped off from the same period last year, but still showed an advantage over their Democratic counterparts, according to financial disclosures filed Tuesday.

Doctored headline on Rick Scott's Facebook page draws heat
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Miami Herald headline on the Facebook page of Gov. Rick Scott shouts: "New law helps put Floridians back to work." It is dated Monday, April 9 with the inexplicable dateline of Guatemala City.

Charlie Crist adds to comeback buzz
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Ex-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist does not sound like a man done with politics.

Allen West hears cheers, jeers at town-hall meetings in Palm City, Jensen Beach
By Jonathan Matise
TC Palm
U.S. Rep. Allen West told about 90 largely supportive Palm City voters Tuesday that locally prioritized federal projects — such as the St. Lucie Inlet dredging — aren't going to matter if Washington officials don't address a mounting deficit.

POLITICAL RACES

Rick Santorum suspends presidential campaign
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Rick Santorum came to this storied battleground Tuesday and abruptly surrendered his campaign for president. But as Mitt Romney effectively seizes the Republican nomination, his rival's presence could linger in the tough months ahead.

The Primary Is Over, But These Attacks Will Live On
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Late this afternoon, Rick Santorum announced that he was suspending his campaign, effectively handing the Republican nomination over to Mitt Romney.

President Obama at FAU: Tax the rich plan, tweet Congress
By Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
President Barack Obama came to South Florida on Tuesday to raise money from millionaires and ask them to pay more in taxes.

Ahead of Republican Convention, Tampa draws fire for clamping down on protests
By Kelly Benjamin
Free Speech Radio News
Tampa, Florida is the host city for this summer's Republican National Convention. Thousands of political protesters are expected to descend on the city which has prompted officials to propose strict ground rules as to where protests can take place and for how long.

Students pressuring Tampa for protest permit at RNC
By Ray Rayes
Tampa Tribune
Convention is upset city officials have yet to respond to their permit request.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Report: FL Wetlands Continue to Suffer from BP Spill
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
It's been two years since the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but its effects on the wildlife and shoreline are seen daily by people in the area.

Nuclear court fight heats up in Florida
By News Service of Florida
Ft. Myers News-Press
With legislative leaders rejecting possible changes, a fight is building in the Florida Supreme Court about a law that allows utilities to pass along hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to customers for nuclear-power projects.

Tea party groups oppose Adam Putnam energy measure
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A coalition of tea party groups is urging Gov. Rick Scott to veto the conservative Legislature's energy proposal, calling its revival of expired renewable energy tax credits "crony capitalism."

EDUCATION

'Everything on the table' as UF ponders where to cut
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
Nearly every college at the University of Florida will feel the pain of state budget cuts, but the university's budgeting system means some cuts will be deeper than others.

Florida releases report on charter school performance
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
The new report contrasts with other studies that have shown little difference in performance by students in charter schools and traditional public schools.

Miami-Dade school system makes case against controversial charter school
By Kathleen McGrory and Scott Hiaasen
Miami Herald
The Miami-Dade school district is seeking to close a charter school accused of holding raunchy after-hours parties in its cafeteria, school system officials said Tuesday.

Quality counts when teaching young minds
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Last year, Gov. Rick Scott rode the Legislature hard to slash $3.3billion in education dollars.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Gov. Scott signs bill to reduce insurance assessments
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
A bill signed by Gov. Rick Scott will reduce the burden on customers of other insurers by more than $300 each if a bad storm rocks Citizens, the state's insurer of last resort, officials said Tuesday.

Florida restaurants ordered to pay wages owed to almost 150 workers
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
Two Florida restaurant companies will have to pay back wages to almost 150 workers, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced Monday.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Supreme Court misunderstanding on health overhaul?
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A possible misunderstanding about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could cloud Supreme Court deliberations on its fate, leaving the impression that the law's insurance requirement is more onerous than it actually is.

GatorCare could take a chomp out of fund that pays for state employee health insurance
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
A plan designed to let the University of Florida faculty and other employees move out of the state group health insurance plan could be prove troublesome, according to the Department of Management Services.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Ozzie Guillen Apologizes for Controversial Fidel Castro Comment
By Howard Goodman
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
The fan-starved ball club, reinventing itself as the Miami Marlins, had dreamed of becoming the talk of Little Havana.

Stripped of Dignity and Under Suspicion, Always
By Mary Jo Melone
Florida Voices
With the continuous news coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting, it is easy to overlook how the law has treated Albert M. Florence.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Supreme Court hears arguments on local term limits
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on the constitutionality of term limits for county commissioners.

Barring the gate
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
When Rick Scott ran for governor, the correctional officers union filled the airways with an attack ad depicting a Scott look-alike emptying out Florida's prisons; even shaking hands with grinning inmates about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting society.