Daily Clips for May 17, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Scott off to Spain on foreign-trade mission
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Gainesville Sun
Excerpt: “We can already see that not only do these things (not) work from a policy standpoint, they don't even work from a political standpoint,” said Damien Filer of Progress Florida, a liberal advocacy group. Filer noted Scott had to retreat on his unpopular plan in his first year to cut education funding by backing an increase this year. He also said the budget cuts in Florida and Spain tend to hit middle-class families more than the corporations, which Scott will be wooing in Spain. “That doesn't feel right to most of the millions of people who live in this state,” Filer said.

FEATURED STORIES

Records show former Gov. Charlie Crist thought Jim Greer was trying to extort him
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Greer and Greer's wife rip into Charlie Crist, deny extortion attempt
The message to former Gov. Charlie Crist from good friend and confidante Jim Greer was ominous-sounding: "Listen I just wanted to call and tell you something as a man, not like these other people that have put knives in your back and never had the courtesy of calling you directly or talking to you."

Fla. election chiefs skeptical of voter purge
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida's local election supervisors on Wednesday sounded skeptical, and even distrustful, of a push by the state to remove thousands of potential non-U.S. citizens from the voting rolls just months before the critical 2012 elections.

Florida says more than 53,000 dead people on voting rolls
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Florida is calling on county election supervisors to remove more than 53,000 dead people from the state's voting rolls.

Mitt Romney rumbles through Florida, raising cash and bashing President Barack Obama
By Marc Caputo and Adam C. Smith
Miami Herald
Mitt Romney swung through Florida on Wednesday, picking up more than $2 million in political contributions while bashing President Barack Obama as an ineffective leader.

South Florida's Republicans veer from the GOP on the Violence Against Women Act
By Erika Bolstad
Miami Herald
South Florida's congressional Republicans were among 23 of those in their party to vote Wednesday against the GOP version of the Violence Against Women Act.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Legislative lobbyists may have had their most lucrative session ever
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
Florida's legislative lobbyists likely saw their combined income reach what may be an all-time high during the first three months of this year, buoyed by an early session and new spending by gaming and transportation interests.

POLITICAL RACES

Mitt Romney criticizes president at St. Petersburg campaign stop
By Marissa Lang
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Romney campaign says it was 'error' to block reporters from candidate in St. Pete
Related: Romney endorses Mack for US Senate
Mitt Romney blamed President Barack Obama for the nation's sluggish economy and high unemployment as his campaign made its way through the Tampa Bay area Wednesday with a rally at the Mirror Lake Lyceum.

Romney keeps media at bay as he sticks to script
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Mitt Romney is trying harder than ever these days to stay on script — and keep his traveling national press corps at arm's length.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Activists launch drive to require paid sick time in Orlando
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Activists launched a ballot initiative today to require employers in Orlando to provide paid sick days to workers.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

FPL adds $600 million to cost of nuclear reactors' project
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
The cost of increasing the capacity at Florida Power & Light Co.'s four nuclear reactors has escalated to $3 billion, a jump of roughly $600 million since the company's estimate last year. That's double the original estimate.

LGBT

Jacksonville councilman: Put gay rights on ballot
By Steve Patterson
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville City Councilman Doyle Carter says he wants a referendum held this fall on legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual preference.

Gulfport unanimously passes domestic partnership registry
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Tampa
Following in the footsteps of Tampa, the City of Gulfport now has a Domestic Partnership Registry.

EDUCATION

Dade schools chief warns low FCAT writing scores sign of things to come
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
Frustration over the FCAT riled the Miami-Dade School Board at its meeting Wednesday, with board members and district administrators criticizing the aggressive pace of changes to the state’s standards for Florida students and schools.

FCAT Reality Check
By Rick Outzen
Florida Voices
State education leaders warned us the new Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests were tougher.

Flunking our own test
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
If it wasn’t so very serious, the recent FCAT fiasco would be side-splittingly funny. Last Monday, we learned that: Preliminary results on the writing portion of this year’s FCAT are so poor that the State Board of Education has decided to lower the passing grade.

Board of Governors creates another study group for state universities
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
Florida Board of Governors Chairman Dean Colson on Wednesday announced a new panel will be looking at how the state university system will meet its goal of issuing more degrees to more students in the coming years.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Citizens again to review plan to raise rates for new customers
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
An actuarial committee for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will look at a plan on Thursday to raise rates for new customers nearly 30 percent statewide over existing premiums.

Nelson tells business group corporate taxes are ‘too high and too complex’
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called for corporate tax reform Wednesday night in a speech to the Florida Council of 100 in Washington.

Hurricane Catastrophe Fund: Build Florida's Backup
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
The 2012 hurricane season will bring good news and bad news.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

American Cancer Society Cautions Sunshine State About Skin Cancer
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Temperatures are rising in Florida - and so are skin cancer rates.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

House passes contested Violence Against Women act
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
The U.S. House on Wednesday approved a bill intended to help domestic abuse victims, but even renewal of the Violence Against Women Act -- long a bipartisan issue -- triggered a bitter debate in a Congress that has been sharply split along ideological lines.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Prison privatization oral arguments date pushed back
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Tallahassee
As a legal battle to privatize South Florida prisons continues, an appeals court, expected to hear oral arguments next month, has pushed the date back.

Appeals court to rule on Florida law targeting political groups
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
A organization opposed to gay marriage is asking a federal appeals court to reject parts of a Florida election law that seeks to rein in outside political groups.

Judicial "payback" disturbing
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Three Florida Supreme Court justices already had been targeted for defeat by conservative activists before they recently handed their opponents some ammunition.