Daily Clips for May 14, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Florida Supremes facing retention votes in 2012
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Tallahassee
Excerpt: But, groups, like Progress Florida, say it’s a form of retaliation by extremist Republican lawmakers. The group’s spokesman Damien Filer says they are also asking people to sign a petition to tell the Governor and the Florida Legislature to stop their attacks on the judicial branch.

FEATURED STORIES

Gov. Rick Scott’s embattled chief of staff resigns
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff draws ethics complaint
Steve MacNamara, Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff, resigned Saturday afternoon, ending what has been a tumultuous week of news reports about his steering of no-bid contracts to friends and interfering in staffing decisions throughout state government.

Hispanics, NPAs more likely to face noncitizen voter purge than whites, GOP
By Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Hispanic, Democratic and independent-minded voters are the most likely to be targeted in a state hunt to remove thousands of noncitizens from Florida’s voting rolls, a Miami Herald computer analysis of elections records has found.

Immigration stance keeps Hispanics sour on Romney
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
The Republican Party's attempt to woo Hispanic voters this election year has so far been a rough ride.

Mitt Romney's 'hijinks' seen as bullying today
By Leanne Italie
Associated Press
When Mitt Romney was a good-looking teen in the buttoned-up '60s, corporal punishment was the norm and bullying had a different, more acceptable name: hijinks.

Florida farm workers tell how drugs, debt bind them in modern slavery
By Ben Montgomery
Tampa Bay Times
LeRoy Smith thought he had hit rock bottom when he found himself trolling Atlanta's gay district, looking to exchange sex acts for a hot hit off a crack pipe.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jeff Parker
Florida Today
Read the artist's commentary here.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Gov. Scott's top aide resigns in wake of disclosures
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott's embattled chief of staff abruptly resigned from his job on Saturday following a series of news stories detailing his job performance and handling of contracts.

Steve MacNamara: Five Reasons He Had to Quit
By Scott Finn
WUSF Tampa
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's chief of staff, Steve MacNamara, quit Saturday after a week of press reports of shady dealings. Why now?

A necessary exit for Steve MacNamara, the governor's chief of staff
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Steve Macnamara was right to submit his resignation Saturday as chief of staff for Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Florida's legacy of misdirected reapportionment
By David R. Colburn
Ocala Star-Banner
The battle over redistricting legislative seats in Florida has once again resolved itself in a way that limits the voice of many Floridians.

POLITICAL RACES

Voter apathy — not Florida’s new voting laws — may hurt turnout in 2012
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
The congregation repeated every word of the Rev. Jesse Jackson as if he were administering an oath.

Economy is No. 1 election issue for Florida voters
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Forget gay marriage. Put aside the war in Afghanistan. Ignore illegal immigration. All are dwarfed by the big gorilla of 2012 — the economy.

Younger Cuban-American voters shift away from the GOP and toward an independent outlook
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Anton Fajardo voted for John McCain in 2008 but is now for Barack Obama.

Black pastors oppose gay marriage but support Obama
By Jeff Kunerth
Orlando Sentinel
President Barack Obama's endorsement of gay marriage has placed black pastors in an awkward position — opposing his stance while supporting the man.

Florida battleground features full slate of competitive House, Senate races
By Josh Lederman
The Hill
Florida is full of competitive Senate and House races in 2012, but good luck to any candidate who tries to break through the noise of what is guaranteed to be a fierce battle between Mitt Romney and President Obama in the Sunshine state.

Patrick Murphy says he's tied with Allen West in race for Congress; West, others dismiss claim
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Regardless of whether you believe Democrat Patrick Murphy's poll that says he's tied with Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West, there's no disputing the underlying competitiveness of the new Palm Beach-Treasure Coast District 18 congressional seat that emerged in this year's redistricting.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Wise call on wetlands
Editorial
Miami Herald
South Florida’s water managers are drawing up new plans on how best to use wetlands in West Miami-Dade, land that Florida International University had pushed for as part of a land swap.

LGBT

Fla. gays hopeful marriage law will change
By Jeff Burlew
Tallahassee Democrat
Just four years ago, Floridians resoundingly voted to change the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman only.

Sermons against gay marriage have familiar ring
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
The marquee outside a church in Wilmington, N.C., last week made it clear how godly folk were expected to vote on a proposed constitutional ban against same-sex marriage and civil unions: “A true marriage is male and female and God.”

Serendipity in Obama’s timing on gay marriage
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
Miami Herald
So apparently, Barack Obama is finally done evolving.

Gay couple denied driver's licenses
By S. Brady Calhoun
Panama City News Herald
A marriage certificate is valid identification for Florida’s Department of Motor Vehicles — unless your marriage is not legal in the state of Florida.

EDUCATION

Sen. Marco Rubio's claim on student loan bill is false
By Angie Drobnic Holan
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact
Everyone seems to agree they don't want student loan interest rates going up this summer.

Get political hacks out of colleges
By Stephen Goldstein
South Florida Sun Sentinel
I grew up in a city that was home to a major university.

One more insult to teachers
By Bill Maxwell
Tampa Bay Times
You can call it what you want — tax savings, cost cutting or budget restraint — Florida's public school teachers are under siege.

UF college budgets plan attrition, layoffs, but spare degree programs
By Nathan Crabbe
Gainesville Sun
The University of Florida would use attrition, lay off staff and take other steps to make budget cuts, but spare degree programs and tenure-track faculty under plans submitted Friday.

Future of FAMU’s marching band may be decided Monday
Staff Report
Miami Herald
The Florida A&M University Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet with university President James Ammons on Monday morning to decide the future of the school’s famous marching band, which has been under suspension since last year’s tragic death of a band member during a hazing incident.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Unemployment rate doesn't paint full picture of job market
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
The government had just announced a drop in the unemployment rate, but the reader wasn't buying it.

Hurricane fund possible shortfall spurs calls for changes
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
Groups calling for changes to the fund that backstops the state's property insurance market have seized on the latest estimates released this week, which show the state may not be able to borrow enough money to meet its obligations if a big storm hits.

Last day to tell state how to spend giant mortgage settlement
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
Florida is now sitting on about $300 million in mortgage-settlement funds, and everyone from real-estate agents to victimized homeowners has been advising state Attorney General Pam Bondi on how to spend it.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Silver Future May Not Be Silver Lining
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
Florida, a state long tied to its image as a mecca for retirees, will grow older over the next few decades, with serious implications for its policies.

Strokes Expected to Increase Among FL Baby Boomers
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in Florida, according to the American Heart Association.

Facing eviction, paralyzed man gets 15 days to find a home
By Barbara Peters Smith
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Adam Martin, 28, was in the wrong place three years ago when his brother's gun accidentally went off, injuring his spine.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Selling Trayvon Martin for Target Practice
By Mark Follman
Mother Jones
There's a new low in the highly charged Trayvon Martin case.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Cuts would strain South Florida clerk of courts’ offices
By David Ovalle
Miami Herald
In the crowded and stuffy lobby of Miami’s downtown civil courthouse, more than a dozen weary people milled in line, just to turn in a yellow form requesting access to files.