Daily Clips for June 29, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Supreme Court upholds Constitutionality of individual mandate in federal health care law
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Tampa
The Supreme Court of the United States found the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate to be Constitutional if there are tax penalties, but not if it’s interpreted as a fee through the Commerce Clause…We spoke with Darden Rice, communications director for Progress Florida’s Protect Your Care Campaign.

FEATURED STORIES

U.S. Supreme Court upholds health care law
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Supreme Court ruling could bring relief for many Floridians, uncertainty for others
Related: Health care law upheld: What's next for Florida?
Related: What they're saying about the health care ruling
Editorial: Landmark step toward universal coverage
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the bulk of the federal health care law, including its controversial mandate that most Americans have insurance, a sweeping victory for President Barack Obama and Democrats who had struggled for decades to enact reform.

Fla. GOP disappointed in health law ruling, but ready to use it to block Medicaid expansion
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Related: Gov. Scott says health-care ruling is 'disappointing'
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday upholding key portions of the federal health care overhaul was a major defeat for Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Republican leaders, who helped spearhead the legal fight against the 2010 law.

More state employee cuts coming in new fiscal year
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Continuing the fulfillment of Gov. Rick Scott's campaign promises, Florida government will shrink a bit more in the new fiscal year.

Impact of lobbying contracts on children's education
By George Spencer
Tampa Bay News 9
Despite late scores and questions about grading practices, the state pays International Pearson Incorporated hundreds of millions of dollars to administer the FCAT.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

The Ten Most Interesting Fla State Leg Races
By Steve Schale
Steve Schale
With qualifying over, there is now a chance to look at the field as a whole and the races to watch.

The One Percent’s Efforts to Control the 99%
By Brughart
Hrrumph
Information can bring you choices and choices bring power – educate yourself about your options and choices.

Pro-Voucher Democrats Fundraising Helped By Out of State Right-Wing Interests
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
Political Hurricane
I have often been asked what happened on the school voucher issue to create a dynamic where the number of legislative Democrats who supported corporate tax credit vouchers grew from 1 to 24 between 2001 and 2011.

All the world in a grain of sand: how the Growth Machine ate the Florida Department of Community Affairs
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
John DeGrove was the father of land use planning in Florida and the principal architect of the state land use agency, the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

FL-16: Buchanan facing at least four investigations, including witness tampering
By Christian Dem
Daily Kos
Last night, CNN's Anderson Cooper dropped a bombshell--Congressman Vern Buchanan is in very hot water.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida votes party line on contempt resolution against AG Holder
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Florida Republicans all voted in favor of a contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder.

At Disney, Holder touts record in speech to Hispanic group
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was in Central Florida on Thursday preaching civil rights, voting rights and justice but saying nothing about Congress' prospects of holding him in contempt.

Insurance, health care changes among new laws
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
A major revision of personal injury protection insurance requirements, aimed at curbing rampant auto-insurance fraud in Florida, is among 150 new laws taking effect this weekend.

POLITICAL RACES

Court ruling buoys President Barack Obama, fires up Mitt Romney
By Lesley Clark
Miami Herald
The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the most significant achievement of President Barack Obama’s first term delivers a major boost to his legacy and political fortunes. It comes with a price, however: the risk of galvanizing conservative critics who rose up in the aftermath of the law’s passage, delivering the first tea party lawmakers to Congress.

Sharpton urges Central Florida pastors to engage voters
By Anika Myers Palm
Orlando Sentinel
Churches have a unique role to play in educating and preparing voters for the November election, the Rev. Al Sharpton told dozens of pastors and political activists who gathered at an Eatonville church Thursday.

For Connie Mack, it's good to be the IV
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
It occurred to me the other day that I might like to become a United States senator.

Siplin v Thompson Senate race could be a war
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
One of the closest watched political contests this summer is a fight over a newly drawn minority Florida Senate seat that encompasses much of the political turf of term-limited Orlando Sen. Gary Siplin.

Police, protests, pedibuses set for RNC
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
The Republican National Convention is only two months away, and the Tampa City Council was busy Thursday getting ready. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

As deadline looms for growth policies, development near military bases worries state officials
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Living near military bases with live artillery fire or falling bombs may be a headache for some residents. But some military supporters have said those house-rattling booms are the sound of freedom.

Wright to chair Florida Conservation Commission
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Winter Park lawyer Kenneth Wright is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's new chairman.

‘Surplus' water
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Tropical Storm Debby provided a refresher course on the importance of wetlands; natural areas capable of absorbing and storing excess water.

EDUCATION

Brevard joins anti-FCAT movement
By Mackenzie Ryan
Florida Today
Brevard School Board members Thursday called on state leaders to overhaul a school accountability system that they say over-emphasizes and over-uses the FCAT as a measure of student, teacher, school and district performance.

Miami-Dade schools bracing for new letter grades
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
Up until the last week of school, Ofelia Martinez drilled her students on spelling. Especially tricky were words like “knight” with letters hidden in plain sight.

USF Employees Struggle With Closing, Would-Be Celebration Ends Up a Grim Affair
By Mary Toothman
Lakeland Ledger
The University of South Florida treated Lakeland campus employees to a luncheon Thursday, as a way of "Celebrating the Past and Embracing the Future."

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida can now apply to $1 billion mortgage assistance program
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Florida homeowners can now apply to a $1 billion mortgage assistance program under new eligibility guidelines created to allow more people to benefit from the federal plan.

Faced with backlog, regulators fast track property insurance forms
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Changes in property insurance coverage waiting to be approved by state regulators can now be given a swift OK thanks to an order issued this week by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Ruling impacts millions of health care consumers
By Alex Kane Rudansky and Tony Pugh
Miami Herald
Related: Analysis: Health care ruling won’t stop arguments
Related: Healthcare ruling could have big impact on south Florida
Having survived its most serious threat, the 2010 health care law moves forward, dented and dinged by the Supreme Court’s forensic-style ruling but still standing as the most comprehensive, costly and controversial overhaul that the nation’s fractured medical system has ever known.

Supreme Court ruling on health care sets stage for policy, funding decisions
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
Related: Business leaders ready to continue fight
Related: McCollum: The debate has just begun
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the 2010 federal health care law, but also held states like Florida should have flexibility in deciding  whether to expand Medicaid.

FL may resist Medicaid expansion
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Florida elected officials have been griping about the forced expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act ever since it was passed in 2010.

Impact of Supreme Court Decision on Women's Health in FL
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Almost one million women in Florida will gain access to health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday. The ACA also broadens their access to birth control and preventive health screenings.

Get to Work, Governor, and Implement Health Care Reform Now
By Dan Gelber
Florida Voices
Since early 2010, when Congress passed health care reform, Florida Republican leaders have been obsessed with its overthrow.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Attempt to remove Fla. justices is worst judicial activism
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
While the U.S. Supreme Court was exercising judicial restraint in its health care ruling, Florida’s high court remains the target of extreme judicial activism.

Fund the courts to avoid wrongful convictions, panel tells state high court
By David Ovalle
Miami Herald
Lawmakers must come up with better funding for the state police’s DNA lab and the overburdened court system, according to a panel created by the Florida Supreme Court to examine wrongful convictions.

Zimmerman will be back in court Friday to seek bail
By Rene Stutzman and Jeff Weiner
Orlando Sentinel
The judge who threw George Zimmerman back in jail four weeks ago, stopping just short of calling him and his wife liars, will listen again Friday to Zimmerman's plea to be freed.

Daily Clips for June 28, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Awaiting Ruling on Fairly Simple Questions About a Complex Health Law
By John Cushman, Jr.
New York Times
Related: Health Care Ruling Won't Stop All of Industry's Changes
Related: What It Will Mean If the Supreme Court Strikes Down Obamacare
The Supreme Court is expected to announce on Thursday morning its decision on the health care overhaul that President Obama signed into law in 2010 — an act of Congress thousands of pages long, containing hundreds of changes costing hundreds of billions of dollars and affecting nearly every American from cradle to grave.

The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal
By Katherine Eban
Fortune
In the annals of impossible assignments, Dave Voth's ranked high. In 2009 the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives promoted Voth to lead Phoenix Group VII, one of seven new ATF groups along the Southwest border tasked with stopping guns from being trafficked into Mexico's vicious drug war.

Judge denies request to stop Florida voter purge
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
A judge on Wednesday rejected the federal government's attempt to block Florida's voter purge of non-U.S. citizens, partly because the purge has been suspended.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Poll: 58% of Florida voters support Obama immigration directive
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Florida voters strongly support President Obama’s new directive temporarily lifting the threat of deportation for as many as 1.4 million young illegal immigrants, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll that also finds Obama edging Mitt Romney in the Sunshine State.

Poll: Scott's ratings recede
Staff Report
The Florida Current
A poll late last month that showed Gov. Rick Scott's approval rating surging above 40 percent for the first time may have been an anomaly, recent surveys suggest.

Health care ruling could boost Bondi's standing
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Pundits speculate whether President Barack Obama or challenger Mitt Romney will benefit from the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Obama's Affordable Care Act, expected today.

POLITICAL RACES

Dems, Nelson reserve $2.8M in Orlando TV ads
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and congressional Democrats are loading up already for a big fall TV advertising blitz, combining to buy more than $2.8 million of ads on Orlando TV stations months ahead of the November election.

Oelrich, Stearns running negative race in 3rd Congressional District? They say no
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
When it comes to their campaigns, candidates never say they want to go negative. An issues-based race, they maintain, is the key to victory.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

After state cuts in beach water testing, feds now propose ending grants
By Bruce Ritchie
The Florida Current
Related: Fla. ranks No. 5 in beach-water quality
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposes eliminating a beach water testing grant program nine months after Florida reduced testing at beaches as a result of state spending cuts.

Deal reached on RESTORE Act
By Deborah Barfield Berry and Ledyard King
Florida Today
More than two years after the BP oil spill ravaged the Gulf Coast, lawmakers reached a deal Wednesday that could spend billions to boost the region’s economy and restore its environment.

Appeals court rejects arguments against new wells
Associated Press
A federal appeals court has rejected arguments by a coalition of environmental groups, who maintain that U.S. regulators failed to thoroughly review the potential dangers of drilling new deep wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

EDUCATION

School Board joins critics of 'extensive' state standardized testing
By Joe Callahan
Ocala Star-Banner
The Marion County School Board has unanimously joined a statewide effort against what it calls "extensive" state standardized testing, such as the FCAT.

USF Preparing Phase-Out Of Lakeland Operation
By Mary Toothman
Lakeland Ledger
Changes at the University of South Florida's Lakeland campus have come in rapidly during the past 11 months: switching from a campus abuzz about becoming Florida's first public polytechnic to one gasping its final breaths.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Awkward agency merger may have led to accidental incentives leak
By Gray Rohrer
The Florida Current
Trouble merging three bureaucracies may have led to an accidental leak of some of the most economically and politically sensitive information in the state.

Clock running out for South Florida prison privatization
By Travis Pillow
The Florida Current
An attorney representing the state told an appellate court Wednesday that it's too late for the Department of Corrections to outsource the operation of South Florida prisons as the Legislature ordered in the 2011 budget.

New state web site shines light on billions in contracts
By Mary Ellen Klas
Florida will spend $47 billion this year hiring outsiders to do state work, but the state’s chief financial officer warns that hundreds of contractors will not be required to show they provided the services they agreed to and that state documents could be rife with errors.

State Farm requests sixth rate hike in 2.5 years
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun Sentinel
State Farm, Florida's third largest home insurer, is requesting a 14.9 percent statewide average rate hike due to changes it wants to make on home insurance discounts and deductibles.

Big dreams for South Florida tempered by unique threats, experts say
By Ben Wolford
South Florida Sun Sentinel
In the next few decades, Southeast Florida should offer free public wireless Internet, effortless transit and a wellspring of jobs, according to about 400 policymakers who laid out their vision Wednesday at a summit to bridge the region's economies.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

One more time
Editorial
Miami Herald
Once more — with commitment, Gov. Scott. The governor has reconvened the task force whose recommendations to bring deep reform to how assisted-living facilities treat their vulnerable clients died in the Legislature this year because (a) lawmakers caved in to big-money industry interests and (b) the governor, who swore that protecting the frail and elderly was his priority, failed to get out and push

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Certainty of losing a costly lawsuit forces board's vote on gay-straight alliance
By Joe Callahan
Ocala Star-Banner
The Marion County School Board announced Tuesday night that it does not want a student-run Gay-Straight Alliance club at Vanguard High School, or any school for that matter.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Group formed to defend Fla. Supreme Court justices
Associated Press
A new group is defending three Florida Supreme Court justices who are seeking voter approval for another term.

Florida's Innocence Commission finishes its work
By Rene Stutzman
Florida's Innocence Commission on Wednesday released its final report, hundreds of pages laying out ways to stop bad eye-witnesses, jailhouse snitches, over-zealous cops and unprepared defense lawyers from sending or allowing innocent people to be locked up in prison.

Daily Clips for June 27, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Obama tries to lure in Hispanic votes during Miami Beach campaign stop
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
After enjoying a huge financial advantage in his 2008 campaign, President Obama told donors here Tuesday that he expects to face unprecedented spending by Mitt Romney and Republicans this year on ads blaming him for the sputtering economy.

The Cornerstone
By Beth Reinhard
National Journal
Since 1960, Hillsborough County has called every single presidential election except for one—and there’s no reason to think that voters here won’t do it again.

Florida considers stopping Voter Participation Center's registration drive letters
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
By their own estimate, officials with a Washington nonprofit have registered 200,000 voters in Florida the past eight years.

Privatization of health care in Florida prisons in peril
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The largest privatization venture undertaken by Florida's prison system is in peril, and when the new fiscal year begins Sunday, it might be doomed, in another political victory for organized labor.

Floridians' consumer confidence sinks amid fears of stalled national economy
By Donna Gehrke-White
Orlando Sentinel
Floridians' consumer confidence sank in June amid new worries that the economy was stalling, according to a University of Florida survey released Tuesday.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida and feds head to court over voter purge
Associated Press
Naples Daily News
Florida and the U.S. Department of Justice are squaring off against each over the state's controversial move to remove potentially ineligible voters.

Obama calls Florida governor about storm damage
By Alister Bull
Reuters
President Barack Obama called Florida Governor Rick Scott from Air Force One on Tuesday morning "to ensure the state had no unmet needs" as it responds to flooding from Tropical Storm Debby, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

PIP reform, school prayer, video voyeurs targets of new laws
By Kathleen Haughney
South Florida Sun Sentinel
After Sunday, school districts can begin allowing prayer in public schools. Police will be able to crack down on voyeuristic videographers. And major changes to the state's no-fault auto insurance system will kick in.

Governor set to speak at Republican dinner
By Laura Kinsler
Tampa Tribune
For the first time, Pasco Republicans will be treated to a keynote address from a sitting governor when Gov. Rick Scott attends the party's annual Reagan Day Dinner on Friday.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama rakes in campaign cash at Miami Beach fundraiser with Marc Anthony
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
President Barack Obama made a swing through Miami Beach on Tuesday evening to pursue two re-election campaign goals: raise money from well-heeled donors and lure Hispanic voters — on this night, with a little salsa music.

Fla Q poll: Obama 45, Romney 41; Bill Nelson 41, Connie Mack 40
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's Hispanic voters back Obama 56 - 32 percent, compared to 49 - 39 percent in a June 21 Quinnipiac University poll, conducted before Obama and Romney each made major addresses on immigration policy.

Obama prepping thousands of lawyers for election
By Mike Baker
Associated Press
President Barack Obama's campaign has recruited a legion of lawyers to be on standby for this year's election as legal disputes surrounding the voting process escalate.

Poll: Rubio top choice for VP among voters
Staff Report
Naples Daily News
Marco Rubio is the favorite choice to be Mitt Romney's Republican vice-presidential nominee among voters overall and even more so among Republicans, reports a new IBOPE Inteligência poll.

Tampa sets parade route, protest area for Republican National Convention
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Protesters will be able to demonstrate one block from the Tampa Bay Times Forum during the Republican National Convention, city officials announced Tuesday.

Turning the state Senate inside out
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
Nothing can be more irritating in a political campaign than to have powerful outside forces attempt to use their juice to sway the outcome of the race — especially when other meddlers come along to meddle in their meddling.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Proposed amendment to have homeowners pick up tax slack?
By Troy Kinsey
Tampa Bay News 9
It has been four years since the housing crisis hit by Florida's real estate market continues to suffer.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Debby weakens, but Fla. still faces flooding risk
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Debby, the guest that wouldn't leave, is ruining things for a lot of other visitors despite weakening to a tropical depression and leaving Florida's Gulf Coast behind.

DEP issues guidelines to water districts for buying, getting rid of state lands
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Water management districts must receive Florida Department of Environmental Protection approval for major land purchases under guidelines published by DEP this month.

Stronger Sea Turtle Protections Targeted by Congress
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Congress is weighing in on a rule that advocates say could save the lives of thousands of sea turtles every year.

LGBT

Orlando-based Christian group backs away from trying to 'cure' homosexuality
Associated Press
Orlando Sentinel
The president of the country's best-known Christian ministry dedicated to helping people repress same-sex attraction through prayer is trying to distance the group from the idea that gay people's sexual orientation can be permanently changed or "cured."

EDUCATION

College loan rate deal may ease pain for Florida students expecting tuition hikes
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Congress is fighting the clock as it considers keeping federal student loans at their current rate, a battle now looming as a key election issue in swing-state Florida, where university costs are slated to jump again this fall.

High cost of being cheap: faculty exodus
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
How much does being cheap cost? Florida State University is already finding out, even before the Legislature's $300 million cut to higher education and less-than-expected tuition increases take effect for 2012-13.

Indian River Schools join group seeking to lower stakes associated with FCAT
By Colleen Wixon
TC Palm
The Indian River County School Board joined other school districts throughout the state to adopt the Florida School Boards Association's resolution concerning high-stakes testing, namely, the FCAT.

Orange approves fundraising during class time
By Lauren Roth
Orlando Sentinel
Fundraisers that involve classroom time will no longer be forbidden in Orange County Public Schools.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Cabinet eyes insurance as Debby soaks state
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Barry Gilway has been president and CEO of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. for eight days.

Debby's damaged beaches may hurt tourism industry
By Anna M. Phillips, Jamal Thalji and Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
On Tuesday morning, people in Pass-a-Grille woke up to a nauseating realization: The beach was gone, washed away by two days of pounding by Tropical Storm Debby.

Low interest rates produce state savings
By James Call
Florida Current
Taking advantage of what the head of the state Division of Bond Finance calls an extraordinary run of low interest rates, the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday approved refinancing two bonds: one issued for a transportation project, the other for improvements at state universities.

Florida is Growing in Life Sciences Sector
By Regan McCarthy
WFSU Tallahassee
Florida Officials says the sunshine state is becoming a destination for the life sciences industry.

Orange leaders like idea of paying nothing for $315 million train
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County commissioners appeared enthralled Tuesday with the pitch of an Atlanta area businessman to build a $315 million elevated train that would connect the convention center with Orlando International Airport.

Heads Scott Wins, Tails Obama Loses
By Dan Gelber
Florida Voices
Despite his recent claims that he doesn’t care about who gets credit, Gov. Rick Scott is in the midst of a full blown “I get the credit tour” for Florida’s reducing unemployment numbers.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Swing states would see biggest losses in coverage if court strikes health law
By Sam Baker
The Hill
Several key swing states would be hit especially hard if the Supreme Court strikes down President Obama's healthcare reform law, according to new data from Avalere Health.

Big challenge for new state surgeon general
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The state's new surgeon general says he has no delusions about the tough job before him.

Dollars and Dentists
Staff Report
PBS Frontline
FRONTLINE and the Center for Public Integrity investigate the shocking consequences of a broken dental care system.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Illegal workers' new ally: Gov. Rick Scott
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Illegal immigrants have a strong new ally in Florida: the governor.

Rules for Florida residents to avoid getting asked to ‘show your papers’
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has green-lighted the part of the Arizona immigration law that requires local law enforcement officers to ask people suspected of being illegal immigrants to “show their papers”, it’s only a matter of time before Florida’s troglodyte-infested legislature follows suit.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Fla. justices push back electronic exchanges
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Florida lawyers won't be required to begin exchanging pleadings with each other by email instead of on paper for another two months.

Measuring justice for the young
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Any parent knows that children are different from adults.

Daily Clips for June 26, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Lawsuit aims to throw three Florida Supreme Court justices off ballot
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Two Seminole County men filed suit Monday in Leon County asking the secretary of state to remove the three Florida Supreme Court justices who are seeking merit retention from the November ballot.

State won't release larger list of possible noncitizen voters
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott insists Florida's voter rolls must be scrubbed carefully to remove any non-U.S. citizens, but his administration is keeping secret a list of more than 180,000 voters whose citizenship may be in question.

Supreme Court decision could lead to “show me your papers” law in Florida
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a split decision on Arizona’s immigration law, striking down three parts but leaving intact the “show me your papers” provision that was the centerpiece of the nation’s most sweeping immigration law.

Nail-biting ends soon
Staff Report
Health News Florida
The long wait for a Supreme Court ruling in Florida's lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act will end soon --- probably on Thursday.

Barron: FSU faculty a 'farm team' for out-of-state schools
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The head of Florida State University told Gov. Rick Scott's higher education reform panel Monday that budget cuts are making his faculty a "farm team" for out-of-state schools.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott gives MacNamara 'the triple crown'
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott said farewell to chief of staff Steve MacNamara Monday night, presenting him the "triple crown" of Capitol clout at a reception attended by more than 150 of Tallahassee's past and present power brokers.

Dreadful disease strikes one of the good ones in Tallahassee
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Former state Sen. Ken Plante has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — ALS, commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease.

POLITICAL RACES

President Obama to travel to Miami on Tuesday
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
President Barack Obama will travel to South Florida on Tuesday to attend a pair of fundraisers, including one with salsa singer Marc Anthony.

Tampa unveils alert systems for RNC week
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
With the potential for mayhem looming over the Republican National Convention this August, Mayor Bob Buckhorn unveiled a two-prong approach the city will take to keep businesses and residents up-to-date about trouble spots around downtown.

Bill Nelson's opponents frequently melt away
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Before he headed to Congress from Orlando, Dan Webster was the first Republican speaker of the Florida House since Reconstruction. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

As springs, rivers decline, 40-year-old law to protect them mostly goes unheeded
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The sign at Falmouth Springs near Live Oak describes it as a "jewel of the Suwannee" River and an example of Florida as it existed a century ago.

U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear Florida's case in tri-state water dispute
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up an appeal filed by Florida in the case involving the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system.

Florida black bear poised to come off threatened list
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The future of Florida's largest native land mammal will be on the table Wednesday as the state wildlife commission votes whether to remove the Florida black bear from the state's list of threatened species.

Gov. Scott declares statewide state of emergency because of Tropical Storm Debby
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott today signed an executive order declaring a statewide state of emergency because of Tropical Storm Debby.

LGBT

Full house as Tampa kicks off its domestic partnership registry
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Tampa
Couples in Tampa who want some of the rights of married couples, but either don’t want to, or are legally forbidden from getting married, can now sign up as domestic partners.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Jacksonville: Be 'open' to gays
By Matt Pearce
Los Angeles Times
Archbishop Desmond Tutu would like to have a word with Jacksonville, Fla., about gays and lesbians.

EDUCATION

Manatee School Board requests a scale-back of FCAT
By Christopher O'Donnell
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Add another name to the growing list of critics of the FCAT: the Manatee County School Board.

Testing experts play critical role in students', teachers' futures
By Erica Rodriguez
Orlando Sentinel
Heather Wright often meets people who are confused about exactly what she does for a living.

Barron continues push for tuition flexibility
By James Call
Florida Current
Florida State University won’t appeal the Board of Governors’ decision to grant a lower tuition increase than the one the school requested.

South Florida students lobby for student loan rate freeze
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Students and administrators from Palm Beach State College and Miami Dade College on Monday voiced their concerns about the imminent rise in new Stafford student loan rates.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

State list of business incentives, released in error, may make Florida more accountable with tax dollars
By Robert Trigaux
Tampa Bay Times
What should we make of the contents of a mistakenly released database of state incentive packages created to lure hundreds of businesses and produce more than 32,000 jobs in 39 of Florida's 67 counties?

Scott’s office flips out over accidental release of data
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Planning to post some scraps and tidbits that didn’t make it into my weekend story on Florida’s use of tax-incentives to try and create jobs.

Should state show bid preference to in-state companies?
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
When Carole Gilbert lost a state contract this year to a cheaper competitor, she was disappointed.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Attorney General Bondi confident Supreme Court will strike down 'Obamacare'
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
There was a chance that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Florida's challenge to health care reform would occur today, so all the cable news channels were focused on "Obamacare" coverage this morning.

The group trying to kill Obamacare
By Alex Seitz-Wald
Salon
If the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act, this week, you’ll have the National Federation of Independent Business to thank for it, at least in part.

What small business owners should know about each possible Supreme Court health-care ruling
By William H. Maruca
Washington Post
The Supreme Court is set to release its ruling on the constitutionality of President Obama’s controversial health reform law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as early as this week.

Panel revives effort to reform residential care for the elderly
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
After a failed attempt to pass legislation to protect the frail and elderly in assisted living facilities, industry experts reconvened in Jacksonville Monday with the hope of hammering out measures to curb abuse while appeasing the powerful long term care industry.

Vulnerable Florida seniors going hungry
By Beth Reese Cravey  
Florida Times-Union
Hundreds of homebound senior citizens are on a waiting list for hot meals and a bit of conversation.

Lack of dental prevention costly to state: report
Staff Report
Health News Florida
Many Floridians forgo routine dental care because they can't afford it, which runs up the costs of emergency care for conditions that could have been prevented, according to a report released today.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

High court limits state action on immigration
By Mark Sherman
Associated Press
A divided Supreme Court threw out major parts of Arizona's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants Monday in a ruling sure to reverberate through the November elections.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

U.S. Supreme Court lets decisions stand on water war, Florida death penalty
By Michael Peltier
News Service of Florida
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it would not take up three Florida cases: one dealing with a decades’ long water war among three states, a ban on Cuban travel and a death penalty case involving a man with an IQ his lawyers said was too low.

Miami federal judge blocks new Florida anti-Cuba law from taking effect
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
A Miami federal judge on Monday blocked Florida from enforcing a new state law that prohibits governments from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba.

Hundreds of Florida killers could get new sentences under Supreme Court ruling
By David Ovalle and Scott Hiaase
Miami Herald
Hundreds of convicted murderers in Florida will likely get a chance to convince a judge that their life prison terms should be reduced because they were juveniles when they killed.

Florida prison privatization issue in court again
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
A judge is hearing additional legal argument on the privatization of health care services in Florida's state prisons.

Supreme Court strengthens Citizens United decision with Montana ruling
By Matea Gold
Los Angeles Times
The Supreme Court on Monday reaffirmed the right of corporations to make independent political expenditures, summarily overturning a 100-year-old Montana state law that barred corporations from such political activity.