Daily Clips for June 19, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Political witch hunt threatens Florida Supreme Court
By Randy Schultz
Palm Beach Post
The most important election in Florida may take place far down the ballot and
involve people unfamiliar to most voters.

Lawsuit calls Fla. voter purge discrimination
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida is again being sued over its contentious push to remove potentially ineligible voters from the rolls.

Democrats thwart GOP’s state Senate strategy
By Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
A half-dozen Republican Senate candidates were on the verge of winning new terms without opposition — until the Democrats saw an opening.

Board of Governors faces tuition increase decisions this week
By James Call
Florida Current
Florida students are bracing for another round of tuition increases.

Rubio cools talk on immigration plan after Obama announcement
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Sidestepped with an executive order by President Barack Obama, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio indicated Monday he may back off legislation giving legal status to some children of illegal immigrants.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Sen. Marco Rubio's autobiography presents obsessive politician with compelling family story
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Marco Rubio was so consumed making fundraising calls for his U.S. Senate race that he didn't notice his youngest son had slipped out of their Miami home and nearly drowned.

Scott’s lawsuit record
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Almost since the moment he took office, Governor Rick Scott has been caught up in litigation.

In Florida's ethical swamp, swatting a gnat
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
Let's review. Florida is governed by an assemblage of politicians who can be bought off for the price of a Slurpee.

‘Obama birthers vs. Scott deathers’
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott may be a zombie.

Allen West to feds: Let states purge voters
By MJ Lee
Politico
Rep. Allen West said Monday that Florida’s controversial effort to purge its voter rolls is not an attempt to target minorities, as some progressive leaders have charged, and he accused the federal government of “going after sovereign states.”

Democrats ahead of Republicans in Florida registrations
By David Royse
News Service of Florida
More Democrats than Republicans registered to vote in Florida in May, driven by women and Hispanics, according to state registration data released early by the Democratic Party.

POLITICAL RACES

Birther Lawsuit Asks Obama’s Name Not Be on Florida’s Ballot
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
A Circuit Court judge in Tallahassee spent an hour this morning listening to arguments over Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

SEVEN Issues Mitt Romney Won’t Take a Position On
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Mitt Romney’s campaign is well-versed in the art of secrecy.

Romney owes nation straight answer on immigration
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Presidents do not get to dodge issues, and candidates for the nation's highest office should not get into that bad habit.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tells ABC News President Obama is "deliberately divid[ing] Americans against each other"
By Eric Deggans
Tampa Bay Times
After President Obama announced his executive order allowing young illegal immigrants to avoid deportation for at least two years, national news outlets noted how it caused problems for presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who was starting a massive multi-state bus tour at the same time.

Obama to rally at Hillsborough Community College
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
We've got details on the previously reported Obama visit to Tampa.

Coalition to March on the RNC holds organizing meeting at USF in Tampa
By Michelle Friedline and Sean Kinane
WMNF Tampa
The Coalition to March on the RNC is solidifying its plans to march on the first day of the Republican Convention in August.

Write-in gimmick used to disenfranchise voters
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Write-in candidates almost never win.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Increased power at FPL’s Turkey Point plant approved by Nuclear Regulatory Commission
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that it has approved Florida Power & Light Co.’s request to increase the capacity of its Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Units 3 and 4 by 15 percent. The plant is 20 miles south of Miami.

Fla. endangered species suit planned against feds
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The Center for Biological Diversity plans to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its alleged failure to protect 10 Florida species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Florida’s Black Bears Deserve Room to Roam
By Susan Clary
Florida Voices
When I was a kid, we had to go deep into the woods to see wildlife.

Keep it clean
Editorial
Miami Herald
After the Environmental Protection Agency’s decade-long quest to implement needed standards for cleaner air and save Americans from the ill effects of mercury poisoning and other toxins, the EPA’s rules are under attack in the U.S. Senate.

EDUCATION

Number of Miami-Dade students ‘Baker Acted’ on the rise
By Laura Isensee and David Ovalle
Miami Herald
The number of Miami-Dade students taken by school police from campus for an involuntary psychiatric exam has almost exactly doubled in the past five years, according to the district’s records.

Put the brakes on state university tuition hikes
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
For four years straight, each of Florida's public universities has raised its tuition as much as state law allows, with the blessing of their state overseers.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott works as cowboy on Okeechobee ranch
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott played cowboy in his latest effort to spend a day in average Floridians' shoes.

Gaming rules to be repealed without hearing
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A meeting to repeal about a dozen rules regulating pari-mutuel and slot machines operations scheduled for Monday was cancelled when no one requested a hearing.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida Department of Health sees employee exodus
News Service of Florida
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Several high-level employees have left the Florida Department of Health in recent months, and one of the latest to leave said the departures highlight an agency abandoning its public service mission for political ideology.

Feds in Miami: Millions stolen from Medicare wound up in Cuban banking system
By Michael Sallah
Miami Herald
In an unprecedented case, federal prosecutors have charged a Miami man with engaging in a massive money-laundering operation that moved millions stolen from the federal Medicare program into Cuban banks.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Commission accepting nominations for FL Civil Rights Hall of Fame
Staff Report
WTXL Tallahassee
The Florida Commission on Human Relations is now accepting nominations for the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Prosecutor Releases Tapes of Zimmerman’s Jail Calls
By Regan McCarthy      
WFSU Tallahassee
The Prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case released tapes of six recorded phone conversations Monday that Martin’s shooter, George Zimmerman, had with his wife while in jail.