Daily Clips for June 1, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

The BluVu: Week of May 28^th
By Gayle Andrews
The BluVu
Just call us the "Gunshine" State, Rick Scott's still bumping along clumsily and Progress Florida’s Damien Filer tells us about the continued attack on public schools…all this and more as political reality comes your way.

FEATURED STORIES

Feds to Florida: halt non-citizen voter purge
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
The Justice Department ordered Florida’s elections division to halt a systematic effort to find and purge the state’s voter rolls of noncitizen voters.

U.S. judge blocks limits on third-party voter registration in Florida law
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
A federal judge on Thursday blocked enforcement of several parts of a controversial Florida election law passed in 2011, including a 48-hour deadline for third-party groups to turn in voter registration forms that he called "harsh and impractical."

Jeb Bush’s Top Education Advisor Receives Unfortunate Distinction
By Mc Nelly Torres
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
A Colorado think tank has described the research of former Gov. Jeb Bush’s top education advisor as “nonsensical, confusing and disingenuous.”

Political storm looms as hurricane season begins Friday
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
State officials hope Florida can make it one more year without a major hurricane hitting the state, but a political maelstrom over the cost of property insurance seems inevitable.

Mitt Romney campaign ramping up in Florida to enthusiasm of Republicans
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
As Mitt Romney ramps up his campaign in must-win Florida, he faces a daunting reality.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

Gov. Rick Scott promotes mistrust of his own motives and administration
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
One-on-one, Gov. Rick Scott must be an interesting guy. All governors are.

Will Democrats Embrace Public Schools?
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Political Hurricane
Florida has been at the forefront of the school “choice” movement over the past two decades.

Rick Scott Targets 91-Year-Old Veteran In Florida Voter Purge - Where Is The Outrage?
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
Last year Florida's Governor Rick Scott "honored" veterans, including an estimated 17,000 homeless veterans on Memorial Day by cutting $12 million out of the state budget from the National Veterans Homeless Support Groups.

NAACP Board Endorses Marriage Equality
By Trish Ponder
Pensito Review
Whatever that weird thing is with black churches and gay people is one step closer to being resolved, following an action by the NAACP, which followed an action by Pres. Obama.

Forgiving Crist? That Will Take Work
By Jake
Rantings From Florida
I have made no secret in the last election cycle about my feelings on Charlie Crist, and believe far too many Democrats were placing disproportionately little blame on his spoiler candidacy putting a Senate seat out of reach for the blue team.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Judge strikes down part of Florida's election law
By Steve Bousquet and Marc Caputo
Tampa Bay Times
A federal judge on Thursday struck down a key part of Florida's recently revamped election laws, saying the Legislature's restrictions have made it "risky business" for third-party groups to register new voters.

Feds: Halt Fla. voter purge
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Related: Hillborough officials push back against voter rolls purge
County elections supervisors raised red flags, and then federal authorities weighed in Thursday to demand the state of Florida halt its ongoing push to remove thousands of voters from the rolls.

Florida elections official seeks Homeland Security database for voter-roll 'purge'
Staff Report
Palm Beach Post
Acknowledging that a list being used to try to find potentially ineligible voters has flaws, Florida's top election official on Thursday asked for help from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in culling names of non-citizens from Florida's voter rolls.

Elections Supervisors Throughout Florida Confirm U.S. Citizens Improperly Included In Voter Purge
By Josh Israel and Adam Peck
Think Progress
Related: Florida GOP Chair Admits Voter Purge Is Flawed, Says It Must Continue Anyway
Related: Palm Beach Elections Supervisor Rejects Florida’s Voter Purge List
When Gov. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) administration distributed its controversial lists of possible non-citizen voters last month, state statute required the state’s 67 county supervisors of elections to send out letters requiring those voters to prove their eligibility to vote within 30 days — a window that will end in the next couple of weeks in many counties.

Florida’s Discriminatory Voter Purge
Editorial
New York Times
In Florida, where a few hundred votes can determine a presidential election, Republicans have never stopped searching for new ways to keep ballots out of the hands of minorities and poor people, groups that tend to vote Democratic.

Stop trampling voters' rights
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The state's campaign to purge suspected noncitizens from the voting rolls is flawed beyond repair, and Tallahassee should shelve it and start over.

Advocate claims rampant Florida corruption linked to money in politics
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa
Florida has a corruption problem. So a group is leading an ethics reform charge by looking at how tax dollars are spent.

Rubio puts foreign policy credentials center stage
By Andrew Rafferty
MSNBC
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) put his foreign policy credentials on center stage on Thursday during an appearance before the Council on Foreign Relations.

POLITICAL RACES

Tension looms at Republican convention
By Jessica Vander Velde and Eric Deggans
Tampa Bay Times
Protesters might not be the only people filling local jails during the Republican National Convention.

GOP to Jim Norman: Who?
By Sue Carlton
Tampa Bay Times
With the flurry over a property appraiser porn scandal and an attorney general's wedding-that-wasn't, you might have missed other intriguing political news, about state Sen. Jim Norman and his future in Tallahassee.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Judge extends deadline for federal agency to issue new pollution limits
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A federal judge on Thursday granted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a nearly six-month extension on a deadline to establish new federal water pollution limits in Florida.

Suwannee River Water Management District issues first-ever watering restrictions
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Rains from Tropical Storm Beryl were not enough to prevent the Suwannee River Water Management District this week from enacting its first-ever watering restrictions.

Customers speak out on FPL rate hike at hearing
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Tea Party came out to protest. So did charity workers, business people and government officials.

LGBT

Court: Heart of gay marriage law unconstitutional
By Denise Lavoie
Associated Press
A federal appeals court today declared that the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally denies federal benefits to married gay couples, a groundbreaking ruling all but certain to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Federal court ruling on same-sex marriage cheers gay leaders in Palm Beach County
By John Lantigua and Lona O'Connor
Palm Beach Post
When Palm Beach county gay rights leader Tony Plakas heard that a federal appeals court had struck down the Defense of Marriage Act Thursday, he said he was pleased but not surprised.

EDUCATION

How Jeb Bush Stood Up To ALEC For National Education Standards
By John O'Connor
StateImpact
Last summer, a multi-state legislative group was meeting in New Orleans to hammer out a list of education priorities.

USF paying bills for Lakeland campus
By Lindsay Peterson
Tampa Tribune
Members of a state governing board went out of their way last week to praise the University of South Florida for its cooperation in the creation of a new university in Lakeland, which requires the closure of USF's campus there.

Poly boosters want to move beyond rancor
By Lindsay Peterson
Tampa Tribune
The message from the Polk County leaders on Thursday was clear: Florida Polytechnic University is coming, and everyone needs to forget the controversy and do what they can to help the fledgling school.

College Banking Deals Mean Added Fees For Students
By John O'Connor
StateImpact
Looking to replace budget cuts, more colleges and universities are signing deals with banks to provide financial services to students.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Critic: Citizens summit snubs consumers
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
Depending on who is talking, a "depopulation summit" scheduled for today in Tampa is either an innovative forum for ideas to shrink Citizens, the state's insurer of last resort, or a "rate hike dream team" that leaves consumer groups out of the loop.

Florida needs bolder insurance fixes
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Another hurricane season starts today, and so do the annual rituals.

Wal-Mart is latest company to withdraw from conservative group
By Mae Anderson
Associated Press
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has withdrawn its membership in a conservative political group that has come under fire as part of the Trayvon Martin case, saying it has strayed from its core mission to advance free-market principles.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

What will the right do if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds health reform?
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post
This video features the Cato Institute’s Michael Cannon, the conservative think-tank wonk who was Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s transition health adviser.

DCF official's ouster linked to alleged affair, sexual harassment
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
A high-ranking Department of Children and Families official who resigned "for personal and family reasons" in January was forced out after being accused of having an affair with and sexually harassing an employee, DCF officials told The Palm Beach Post this week.

Jackson board approves UM agreement
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
Twenty-four hours after lambasting the proposal in often heated terms, the board of the Jackson Health System on Thursday unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding to forge a new relationship with the University of Miami.

Fla. jury awards $75M to family of dead smoker
Associated Press
Ocala Star-Banner
A jury in Fort Lauderdale has awarded the family of a dead smoker $75 million in damages against four tobacco companies.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Gun advocates take aim at Orlando gun-law staffer
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Gun-rights advocates are squaring off against Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer for hiring a new city employee to spearhead the city's fight against illegal guns.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Media argue against sealing Zimmerman records
By Mike Schneider
Associated Press
A consortium of more than a dozen media groups is asking a judge not to seal some records in the case of a neighborhood watch leader charged with killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.