Daily Clips for April 30, 2012

FEATURED STORIES Florida Supreme Court validates Senate's redrawn redistricting map By Mary Ellen Klas Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau The Florida Supreme Court gave its final blessing to the state's redistricting maps on Friday, giving the Republican-led Legislature a major victory and hitting the reset button on political boundaries for the next decade. RPOF sees tea party route as way for Romney to win Florida By Bill Cotterell Florida Current Republican Party of Florida leaders think Mitt Romney can win the state's 29 electoral votes -- and the White House -- by copying the game plan that lifted Gov. Rick Scott from obscurity to the Governor's Mansion two years ago. Case against Marco Rubio for VP grows by $8,000 By Marc Caputo Miami Herald Sen. Marco Rubio just gave Republican Mitt Romney 8,000 reasons to not pick him as a vice presidential running mate. Widow refuses to attend bill signing ceremony for new law named after her husband By John Woodrow Cox Tampa Bay Times Gov. Rick Scott sat down at a brown desk and plucked the cap from a blue marker. Critics say haphazard, politically driven university system hampers Florida By Lloyd Dunkelberger Sarasota Herald-Tribune In 1980, a powerful state senator decided his hometown university needed a football stadium. EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK By Jeff Parker Florida Today FLORIDA POLITICS Fla. Gov. Rick Scott will sign bill banning governments from hiring companies tied to Cuba By Patricia Mazzei Miami Herald Gov. Rick Scott said on Friday that he intends to sign contentious legislation that would ban the state and local governments from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba and Syria. Vote suppression laws wrong for state Editorial Florida Times-Union Vote suppression laws have received a lot of attention in Florida lately. Adios By Cooper Levey-Baker Florida Independent On Monday morning, The Florida Independent’s Ashley Lopez filed a story with a pretty shocking headline: “Scott cuts funding for rape crisis centers during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.” POLITICAL RACES Obama, Clintons deepen political and policy ties Associated Press Sarasota Herald-Tribune Once a tense rivalry, the relationship between President Barack Obama and Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton has evolved into a genuine political and policy partnership. Rubio may be losing some ground in the veepstakes By Adam C. Smith Tampa Bay Times Marco Rubio had a great week, with a well-received foreign policy speech at the Brookings Institution and loads of buzz about his efforts to craft a new version of the Dream Act. Florida Republicans want Mitt Romney's help in seating delegates By Adam C. Smith Tampa Bay Times Okay, Mitt Romney, it's time to step up for Florida. LeMieux struggles in Senate race against Mack — but won't give up By Scott Powers Orlando Sentinel Republican U.S. Senate candidate George LeMieux insists that he's feeling the love on the campaign trail — despite public-opinion polls and campaign fund-raising that suggest otherwise. Liberal PAC opens Palm Beach County office to ‘take down Allen West’ By George Bennett Palm Beach Post A liberal PAC is opening a “Take Down Allen West Headquarters” in Palm Beach Gardens as part of its efforts to oust 10 House Republicans around the U.S. Allen West's words make him a top Democratic target Associated Press Tampa Tribune Congressman Allen West has compared Democrats to Nazis, said dozens of his Democratic colleagues are communists and called a congresswoman vile and despicable. BALLOT INITIATIVES Florida voters face choice over religion, politics By Anthony Man South Florida Sun Sentinel It sounds as appealing as apple pie: ensuring religious freedom. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Gov. Scott, Legislature revised position, loosened controls on water districts By Eric Staats Naples Daily News Gov. Rick Scott has set the stage for Florida's five water management districts to loosen their purse strings, just a year after Scott cinched them shut. Drought creating severely dry conditions statewide By Craig Pittman Tampa Bay Times The entire state of Florida was classified as suffering from drought conditions, as of last week. The rain that fell over the weekend did little to help, according to Jim Karels, director of the Florida Forest Service.  EDUCATION Gov. Rick Scott vetoes tuition "pre-eminence" bill By Kim Wilmath Tampa Bay Times After saying for months he does not believe in tuition increases, Gov. Rick Scott stuck to his word Friday and vetoed a bill that would have allowed unlimited tuition hikes at top Florida universities. Will extra money, attention help Florida's low-performing schools? By Leslie Postal Orlando Sentinel More than 100 students at Memorial Middle School in Orlando arrive on campus an hour early most mornings for extra math and reading work. Charter schools get a second helping of free money By Scott Hiaasen and Kathleen McGrory Miami Herald >From the outside, it looks like a single school, with one main door, one security guard, one principal greeting students. Fallout from USF Poly investigation: resignations, a call for former leader's firing By Kim Wilmath Tampa Bay Times They asked for this six months ago: A full financial review of all spending at the University of South Florida Polytechnic under former chancellor Marshall Goodman — much like what was done by USF and made public Wednesday, asserting that Goodman facilitated financial mismanagement under a hostile working environment. Political maneuvering over Poly is deja vu By Lindsay Peterson Tampa Tribune The public took notice when the state Legislature approved an expensive new university program and pushed aside the panel created to keep empire-building politics out of state university matters. Even Wall Street agrees Florida shortchanges higher ed By Fred Grimm Miami Herald The Bond Buyer is normally not a publication that grabs my interest. JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY Bad-neighbor banks neglect thousands of South Florida homes, Sun Sentinel finds By Megan O'Matz and John Maines South Florida Sun Sentinel Thousands of vacant homes across South Florida have deteriorated into eyesores that violate local health and safety laws, depress property values and spread blight. The owners of these homes: some of the world's biggest banks. A new era for the Space Coast By Tia Mitchell Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau Tourists began booking rooms weeks ago, making plans to see what is more than a routine rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. Florida's initial unemployment claims rise in mid-April By Marcia Heroux Pounds South Florida Sun Sentinel Florida was among states with the largest number of initial unemployment claims,  2,048, for the week ended April 14, the Department of Labor said Thursday. HEALTH AND SENIORS Rick Scott's choice for surgeon general has ties to USF, Jackson Memorial By Katie Sanders Miami Herald Dr. John Armstrong, a University of South Florida health official and former Army trauma surgeon, will be the state's surgeon general and Department of Health secretary, Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday. Governor signs bill to make everyone responsible for reporting child sex abuse By Mary Ellen Klas Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau After the Jerry Sandusky saga exposed the flaws in Penn State’s storied legacy, it revealed to victim advocates in Florida the need to fix the state’s child sex abuse reporting laws. Palm Beach County stays out of lawsuit over Medicaid billing By John Kennedy Palm Beach Post Palm Beach County — for now — is staying out of a lawsuit filed Thursday by 47 Florida counties over the Legislature’s attempt to recover unpaid and disputed Medicaid bills. CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES Rubio pursues DREAM, but immigration bill is a risk By William March Tampa Tribune Hoping to defuse an issue hurting Republicans among Hispanic voters, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is working on a compromise alternative to the DREAM Act, a proposal backed strongly by Democrats and Hispanics to offer a normal life to children of illegal immigrant families. A Lawmaker Lied and Trayon Martin Died By Rick Outzen Florida Voices The killing of Trayvon Martin has brought to light the role a Northwest Florida lawmaker played in the passage of the “Stand Your Ground” law that gave Martin’s killer the confidence to follow and shoot the teenager. Drop the drug test appeal Editorial South Florida Sun Sentinel It's obvious Gov. Rick Scott is hooked on drug testing — first welfare recipients, now state employees. JUSTICE AND THE COURTS Bumpy road to retention for Florida Supreme Court justices By John Kennedy Palm Beach Post With three Florida Supreme Court justices already raising $500,000 and drawing heat for a near-fatal ballot snafu, this year's normally quiet merit retention contest already is sparking fireworks.