Daily Clips for May 15, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

FCAT writing scores plummet, prompting school grade concerns
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Board members speak from the same page in FCAT writing "emergency"
Plummeting FCAT writing scores have led to a renewed round of criticisms against Florida's ongoing effort to ramp up its education accountability and testing program.

Non-citizen voter database has flaws, local elections officials say
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida election supervisors, at their annual convention in Tampa this week, find themselves focusing once again on a familiar and troubling issue: the accuracy and reliability of the state voter registration database.

New engineer for Gov. Scott's train; Can Hollingsworth put the gov on track to popularity?
By John Kennedy and Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: Shake-ups shaking Florida
Sixteen months into the job, Gov. Rick Scott is welcoming his third chief-of-staff in what even allies Monday said began looking like a 'Goldilocks' approach toward running the state's top executive office.

Gov. Rick Scott feels good, from head to toe
By Bob Rathgeber
Ft. Myers News-Press
It doesn’t take long to realize that Gov. Rick Scott is thriving in his first 17 months in office, and has grown comfortable running the nation’s fourth most populous state.

Sen. Nelson: business group ad is 'deliberate deception'
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Seeking to extinguish an issue that burned Democrats in the last congressional elections, Sen. Bill Nelson today asked Florida TV stations to stop running a U.S. Chamber of Commerce ad that says Nelson's 2010 vote for the federal health care law will hit seniors with $500 billion in Medicare cuts.

FLORIDA POLITICS

All about Steve: He did himself in
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
This is always the kiss of death. Just a few days ago, Gov. Rick Scott took time out from his hectic schedule of reducing state government to the size of a food truck to praise his chief of staff, Steve MacNamara, who learned the art of executive management from Tony Soprano.

Scott's new staff chief brings political, lobbying experience
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott's soon-to-be chief of staff described his new duties Monday as a mix of managing daily operations, spreading the governor's gospel of job-creation and red tape reduction, and maintaining good relations with legislators.

State may need to start undoing email consolidation
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
The state's technology officials may have to start walking back an embattled effort to combine email services for all of state government under a single provider.

Dan Webster, census taker?
By Bill Thompson
Gainesville Sun
Central Florida U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster in recent days has been taking heavy criticism for a push to end a key demographic survey that proponents say is an indispensable tool for tracking the nation's economic social and economic tides.

Hillary Clinton To Address U.S. Special Operations Command Conference in Tampa
By Howard Altman
Tampa Tribune
With U.S. Special Operations Command in such great demand around the world, and often requiring permission from the State Department before engaging, folks in Tampa attending an upcoming special ops conference in Tampa will get to hear from the Secretary of State herself.

POLITICAL RACES

U.S. Senate rivals fire at each other
By William March
Tampa Tribune
As Florida's U.S. Senate race begins to come out of the shadow of the presidential battle and draws more attention, sniping among the top three contenders –— Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson and GOP primary opponents George LeMieux and Rep. Connie Mack IV — is increasing.

Report: Marco Rubio not seriously under consideration for VP
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
From Politico today: ... But a Republican official familiar with the Romney campaign’s thinking says the vice-presidential search will be more rigorous, and likely produce a candidate a lot less flashy than McCain’s running mate, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Paul to continue delegate fight without spending
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Ron Paul says he is done spending money on his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

RNC 'event zone' goes to final city vote
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
The Tampa City Council will take a final vote this week on Mayor Bob Buckhorn's "event zone" proposal aimed at controlling protests at the Republican National Convention.

Ted Deutch uses Republican budget plans to fire up Democrats
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca, Raton, sought to fire up a key constituency on Monday, warning senior voters that fairness will go out the window and Medicare will be in jeopardy if Republicans in Washington, D.C. get their way.

Latvala mulling district switch, could set up bruising primary
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, looked like he was heading toward an easy re-election without serious opposition in a newly drawn north Pinellas senate district. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Gulf Oil Spill: Where are we now?
By Greg Angel
WTXL Tallahassee
Two years ago it was hard to escape the images emerging along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico.

Look who's deciding the future of your water
By Steve Lodle
Gainesville Sun
We are currently in a water crisis in North Florida.

LGBT

Scott steers clear of gay marriage
By Brent Batten
Naples Daily News
When it comes to the hottest political topic of the day, Gov. Rick Scott is playing it cool.

State protects us from gay couple seeking to drive
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
If you're one of those people who think gay marriage should be left up to individual states to decide, consider the plight of Dana Lafita-Smith.

Many Businesses Offer Health Benefits To Same-Sex Couples Ahead Of Laws
By Julie Appleby
Kaiser Health News
President Obama's pronouncement last week in favor of same-sex marriage has no legal effect on employers’ decisions on whether to offer benefits to workers’ domestic partners, but some advocates believe it could reinforce a decade-long trend toward coverage.

Activists meet to discuss Mayor Jacobs’ registry proposal
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs recently proposed what she says would expand the Orlando domestic partner registry countywide, and another plan to offer end-of-life and emergency notification options for any two adults.

EDUCATION

FCAT writing scores are a 'disaster'
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Related: State schools chief Gerard Robinson defends FCAT
Scores on Florida's writing test dropped dramatically this year, with student essays earning such poor marks that one superintendent called them a "disaster" and many educators demanded that the state study what happened.

Parents sign petition against use of FCAT
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
For years, students and teachers have dreaded the FCAT, Florida’s standardized exam.

Feds crack down on South Florida student loan defaulters
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
As a growing number of Floridians fail to repay their student loans, the federal government is aggressively filing lawsuits in hopes of recouping taxpayer money.

FAMU band suspended for 2012-13
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida A&M University's Marching 100 band will remain suspended for the 2012-13 school year, university President James Ammons announced Monday.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Lawmakers looking at large paid-time-off payouts by government workers
By Alexi Howk
TC Palm
State and local governments dole out millions of dollars annually on unused sick and vacation time — a perk offered by few private employers — and some Treasure Coast lawmakers want to devise a plan to end the practice.

Gov. Scott: Economic turnaround doesn't 'happen in a day'
By Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Naples Daily News
Florida's job outlook is getting better, but Gov. Rick Scott said the state still has a ways to go.

Miami to Orlando train proposal rolling down the planning tracks
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
A Coral Gables development company expects to have a study completed next month that could determine whether it builds a privately funded $1 billion train linking Miami with Orlando.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

3.8% home sales tax in health-care law clause without merit for 99%
By Lona O'Connor
Palm Beach Post
An email circulating on the Internet claims anyone who sells a house after 2012 will be hit with a new 3.8 percent sales tax, thanks to an obscure clause in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

'Stand your ground' claim by Trevor Dooley in fatal park shooting rejected by judge
By John Barry
Tampa Bay Times
A neighbor who fatally shot a 41-year-old father on a basketball court after they argued over a skateboarder is not entitled to immunity under Florida's "stand your ground" law, a judge has ruled.