Daily Clips for July 31, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Scott omits email account from state website
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott said he was championing transparency in May when he gave the public access to his emails by posting them online for anyone to see.

Gov. Scott stokes fears, misleads public on ACA
By Margaret M. Byrne, Kathryn E. McCollister and Harold Pollack
Miami Herald
The long legal battle over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is finally over.

Judge in Jim Greer case declares potentially embarrassing witness statements public record
By Lucy Morgan and Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times
There is a bit of bad news for some of the witnesses slated to testify at the trial of former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer.

Some Florida lawmakers tied to firms that lobby Legislature, group says
News Service of Florida
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
At least eleven sitting lawmakers derive some of their income from work with firms that lobby the Legislature, according to a new report by the watchdog group Integrity Florida.

Florida to appeal ruling blocking law banning doctors from asking about guns
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott, as expected, is appealing a judge’s ruling that blocked the implementation of a Florida law barring doctors from asking patients about guns.

Buchanan a no-show for deposition
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan did not appear for a scheduled court deposition in Orlando on Monday, prompting an angry response from the opposing attorney who said the three-term congressman should be held in contempt of court.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Dr. Gisela Salas, chief of state elections division, resigns
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Dr. Gisela Salas, director of the state Division of Elections, has resigned effective Aug. 1 to take a job closer to her family in Ocala.

Pam Bondi splits her schedule between Tampa, Tallahassee
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Attorney General Pam Bondi seems to be everywhere these days — stumping for Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, schmoozing with Rudy Giuliani in Tampa or talking about health care on Fox News.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama begins 2-day campaign swing in Florida
Associated Press
Florida Today
President Obama's campaign is making a two-day swing through Florida.

As Mitt Romney pursues must-win Florida, Jewish vote is key target
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
As sure as the TV ads start blitzing the I-4 corridor every presidential election, so does the chatter that Democrats have a Jewish voter problem that could deliver Florida to the GOP.

Romney's foreign misadventures
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Mitt Romney bounced from careless to reckless over the weekend during an overseas trip meant to showcase his foreign policy credentials.

RNC shows off Forum changes, including improved acoustics
By Ted Jackovics
Tampa Tribune
More than a half-million dollars in acoustics improvements at the Forum for the 2012 Republican National Convention will not muffle sounds at sporting events and will improve the venue for concerts, officials said today. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida water pollution rules in election-year limbo
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
When the Obama administration agreed to set the first-ever federal limits on runoff in Florida, environmental groups were pleased.

Front & Center: Everglades effort helps economy
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Central Florida earlier this month to announce that his department would spend $80 million to protect the Everglades ecosystem by conserving and rehabilitating ranch land between Orlando and Lake Okeechobee.

Why hasn't Gov. Rick Scott taken a stand on FPL's proposed rate hike?
By Julie Patel
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Critics of Florida Power & Light's proposed $690 million base rate hike have questioned why Gov. Rick Scott hasn't taken a position on it.

Rallying point
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Silver Springs was an obvious rallying point for those opposed to the Adena Springs Ranch consumptive-use permit request to pump 13 million gallons of water a day from the aquifer.

LGBT

Source: Dems move to formally back gay marriage
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A Democratic official says support for gay marriage is set to be included in the official party platform adopted at this summer's convention.

Boy Scouts' gay ban seems outdated
By Michael Mayo
South Florida Sun Sentinel
If the U.S. military, the Girl Scouts and the Boys' and Girls' Clubs don't have a problem with gays in their ranks, why does the Boy Scouts of America still insist on banning "open and avowed homosexuals"?

EDUCATION

Democratic report blasts for-profit colleges
Associated Press
Bradenton Herald
For-profit colleges put revenues above education, and charge students high tuition and loan rates that could leave them in debt for years, a Senate Democratic report said Monday.

Do-overs reinforce need to do over FCAT-based education system
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Despite rising graduation rates, lots of kids are graduating from Florida high schools without the math, reading or English skills to do college-level work.

Duval School Board eyeing anti-FCAT resolution
By Teresa Stepzinski
Florida Times-Union
The Duval County County School Board on Tuesday will discuss whether to jump on the bandwagon of school districts statewide calling for alternatives to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Economic, education study says South is down
By Dave Breitenstein
Ft. Myers News-Press
Blue-collar jobs lost in the recession might never return, and Florida’s housing collapse and health care concerns are barriers to a quicker economic recovery.

Skilled workers high on list of why companies come and go in Florida
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
With 840,000 Floridians out of work, it’s not merely interesting to find out why companies come to the state and why they leave, Carrie Blanchard says.

GOP senators bring budget fight to Tampa
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Three Republican senators brought the federal budget battle to Tampa today in what they said was a nonpartisan effort to avoid "devastating" defense cuts but which carried overtones of political gamesmanship.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Under fire for handling of TB outbreak, state health department releases plan
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post
Under fire for its secretive handling of a Jacksonville tuberculosis outbreak, the Florida Department of Health today released an ambitious new plan for cutting the state’s tuberculosis rate in half by 2020.

Health rebate checks arriving
By Mary Shedden
Tampa Tribune
When the $78 check showed up in David Knowlton's mailbox two weeks ago, he wasn't quite sure what to think.

Florida's waiting list for home-delivered meals more than doubles
By Sonja Isger
Palm Beach Post
Rena Drye once relished cooking a good stuffed pepper or cheesecake.

Florida's most vulnerable in danger of abuse
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Recent newspaper investigations have found rampant abuse and neglect in Florida's assisted-living facilities and now at a rehabilitation center for brain-injured patients in Hardee County.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Stigma and misconceptions could hide human trafficking in Florida
By Liz McKibbon
WMNF Tampa
Florida residents may not consider their community a hub for human trafficking.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

No-bid contract for MP3 players has other Florida prison vendors crying foul
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
A little music is generating a lot of static inside Florida's prison system.

Daily Clips for July 30, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Report: Among Florida Lawmakers, ALEC’s Influence Runs Deep
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
The report chronicles all the ways in which the American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as ALEC, has influenced public policy in the GOP-led Florida Legislature. Compiled by Progress Florida, Florida Watch, People For the American Way, Center For Media and Democracy and Common Cause, the report comes as state legislators from all over the country — including many from Florida — gather in Salt Lake City to attend the group’s annual conference.

FEATURED STORIES

Republican leaders steer millions to hand-picked candidates
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Two leading Republican Florida lawmakers hold an outsized influence over which party legislative candidates will get the fundraising advantage in next month's primary election, a testament to the power of incumbency despite a new redistricting law designed to weaken that clout.

Committees outspend candidates 3-to-1 in latest campaign reports
By James Call
Florida Current
Political spending by committees continues to dwarf spending by candidates, according to campaign finance reports released Friday.

Tab for taxpayers in suits over Scott-backed laws hefty and growing
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Lawsuits over major legislation championed by Gov. Rick Scott more than a year ago are still working their way through the courts, and the legal bills for Florida's taxpayers continue to mount.

Bondi as VP? Speculation rising, but experts say no
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is the latest name to emerge from the pool of rumored contenders for the Republican vice presidential slot, but experts consider her a long shot.

Conservative Duval County in the midst of transition
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
If ever there's a place to see if Democratic enthusiasm for Barack Obama in 2012 matches that of 2008, it's Duval County.

Democrat Rep. Corrine Brown sues over early voting changes
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Days before early voting begins in Florida, a Democratic member of Congress wants a federal court to block the state from what she calls a racially motivated reduction in the days of early voting.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Andy Marlette
Pensacola News Journal

FLORIDA POLITICS

Crist has Greer problem if he runs again for governor
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
It's obvious that former Gov. Charlie Crist is trying to launch a political second-coming as a Democratic candidate for governor in 2014, with his recent media foray decrying Florida's current Republican leadership for its voter purge.

Ethics panel dismisses 2010 claim about Rubio
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Commission on Ethics dismissed a long lingering complaint against U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on Friday, clearing him of wrongdoing in questions surrounding his use of a state GOP-issued credit card.

Plane carrying Rubio makes emergency landing in NM
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
An airport official says a small plane carrying U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and his wife made an emergency landing in Albuquerque.

Sansom sues state for legal bills
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
Former House Speaker Ray Sansom is suing the state, saying he should be reimbursed for the costs of defending himself against corruption charges that were eventually dropped.

Some Florida lawmakers see wealth rise while in office
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Public office has been good to the bottom line of many state lawmakers, for some much more than others, two new analyses of publicly available financial disclosure forms show.

IRS targets, slaps liens on Rep. Daphne Campbell
By Michael Sallah and Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Already facing a Florida Medicaid fraud probe, state Rep. Daphne Campbell is being investigated by federal agents who are tracing hundreds of thousands of dollars through bank accounts tied to a web of family healthcare businesses, The Miami Herald has learned.

As Hialeah absentee-ballot probe continues, voter regrets accepting help
By Melissa Sanchez and Enrique Flor
Miami Herald
Matilde Galindo, who is 75 and illiterate, has no clue who she voted for last week.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama borrows campaign tactics from Bush
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
The embattled incumbent who’s better at campaigning than governing faces a tough challenge from the Massachusetts flip-flopper who comes across as less-likable.

Mitt Romney: Too Wimpy for the White House?
By Michael Tomasky
The Daily Beast
It should be the easiest thing in the world for a presidential nominee: a trip to England.

GOP rivals chafe at Mack’s low-key, no-debate U.S. Senate campaign
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Related: Nelson says he’s taking primary seriously, but looking ahead to Nov. 6 race
Florida Republicans may be ready to bank on history as they try to make some of their own and send two GOP senators to Washington for the first time since 1875.

GOP finds big spenders in legislative battles
By Aaron Deslatte and David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Republicans and their interest-group allies are building a monumental cash advantage this election season despite Democratic hopes that redrawn districts could help restore at least some respectability in the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature.

Coalition to March on the RNC making final preparations for Republican convention protest
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa
A nationwide coalition of political groups is expecting 5,000 protesters to march on the first day of the Republican National Convention one month from today.

RNC 'Romneyville' camp faces legal review
By Ray Reyes
Tampa Tribune
A tentative truce has been reached between city zoning officials and a group of protesters camping out on a commercial lot in downtown Tampa.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Time running out for sick-days initiative
By Mark Schlueb and David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
A coalition of workers' advocates is fast approaching the number of signatures needed for a ballot measure requiring businesses to provide sick time for their workers — but it may not be fast enough.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Audubon Florida files legal challenge against sugar farms' permits
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Audubon Florida says an Everglades restoration plan proposed by the state and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month needs to require sugar farmers to clean up their pollution discharges.

Joining Hands across the Sand: Peaceful offshore drilling protest set for Aug. 4
By Molly Mosher
The Walton Sun
At noon on August fourth, people around the world will gather at Hands Across the Sand events to take hands and ask local, national and international leaders for “clean energy now.”

Growers: Act now to fight greening, save citrus crop
By Ludmilla Lelis
Orlando Sentinel
The battle against the bug-borne bacteria known ascitrus greening — the greatest threat to Florida's valuable citrus crop — is taking on a fresh sense of urgency with a bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson that would pour millions of dollars more into the fight.

LGBT

Chick-fil-A sandwiches become a political symbol after president voices objection to gay marriage
By Bill Barrow
Associated Press
All of a sudden, biting into a fried chicken sandwich has become a political statement.

St. Petersburg domestic registry starts Wednesday
By Stefanie Fogel
WTSP Tampa Bay
Starting Wednesday, gay and lesbian couples in St. Petersburg can register their domestic partnerships with the city clerk's office.

EDUCATION

High number of Florida high school grads needing remedial college classes costing state millions
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
A high school diploma doese not mean the end of high school classes for nearly two out of every five Palm Beach County students who go on to higher education at a public Florida institution.

Ed Commissioner Slips and Slides
By Glenn Marston
Lakeland Ledger
A pair of appearances in Polk County on Monday proved Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson to be politically slick.

Test central
By Brad Rogers
Ocala Star-Banner
There is a growing consensus among policy-makers and the public that Florida needs to re-evaluate FCAT’s dominance in measuring our students, teachers and schools.

State 'Online U' would be innovative, but educators uneasy
By Donna Koehn
Tampa Tribune
Florida, not known as a higher-education innovator, nevertheless might become the first state in the nation to open an all-online public university.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

How accurate are state job-placement numbers?
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
The news release last week hit all the right notes for a governor who has staked his reputation on job creation.

Citizens wants to raise rates 10 percent in 2013
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The board of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. voted Friday to raise rates by a statewide average of 10.2 percent, adding $250 million in new insurance costs for policyholders already burdened by reinspections, higher deductibles and reduced coverage.

Florida's fraud watchdog muzzled
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Even as Florida was leading the nation in mortgage fraud, Tom Grady thought it wise to close half the state's regional offices charged with investigating the mortgage business.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

After horrific abuse documented at Hardee Co brain injury facility, consumer group demands investigation
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Walter Dartland,executive director of the Consumer Federation of the Southeast, is calling on  state and federal authorities to immediately send aprotective services team to Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation (FINR) in Hardee County after Bloomberg News detailed a dangerous a pattern ofabuse and neglect of residents there.

Story of Abuse at Brain-Injury Center Demands Attention, Action
By Rosemary Goudreau
Florida Voices
It is impossible to look at the pages-long list of abuse allegations from a Central Florida facility for people with brain injuries and not wonder how the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation is allowed to remain open.

ALF task force includes owner of home fined for neglect
By Michael Sallah and Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
Related: Stacked task force useless on ALF reform
Rushed to the emergency room, the elderly woman was clad in a filthy hospital gown, covered with head lice, scabies on her face, feces caked under her fingernails — and a pressure sore on her heel.

State sends TB patients to $35-a-night Jacksonville motel
By Pat Beall
Palm Beach Post
The low-rent coral and green motel on the outskirts of downtown doesn’t look like a haven for tuberculosis patients.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

State Not Likely to Change Gun Laws
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
Florida lawmakers are not likely to make any dramatic changes in the state's gun laws in the wake of the Colorado movie theater massacre that left 12 dead and dozens wounded this month.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Court staff blocks subpoenas in case involving justices
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
A lawsuit aimed at barring three Florida Supreme Court justices from the ballot this fall has taken another strange twist.

Teen killers such as Nicholas Lindsey now have a chance to get sentences reduced
By Curtis Krueger
Tampa Bay Times
After teenager Nicholas Lindsey was convicted of murdering a St. Petersburg police officer, his future seemed dismal yet clear: life in prison, no possibility of parole.

Daily Clips for July 27, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

ALEC under fire
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Excerpt: The report is clear. Language drafted by ALEC shows up in multiple bills in Florida. “What’s wrong with it is that the impetus behind these bills is profit for the corporate partners that are behind this legislation,” Damien Filer, with Progress Florida, said. “It’s not what’s in the best interest of public policy.”

Report claims Florida lawmakers do bidding of corporate-funded ALEC
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Some of the most controversial bills introduced recently in the Florida Legislature were thought up by out-of-state corporate interests with financial motives, according to a report released Thursday by two national watchdog groups and Progress Florida.

Groups Claim Conservative Nonprofit Lobbies Fla. Legislators, Influences State Law
By Jessica Palombo
WFSU Tallahassee
News Service of Florida: Report: ALEC's influence in Florida broad
Florida Current: New report contends state lawmakers linked to ALEC
StateImpact: Report Says ALEC Has Growing Influence In Florida Education Policy
WMNF Tampa: Activist group airs grievances against ALEC's influence in Florida
Creative Loafing Tampa:  New report exposes the work of ALEC in Florida
The groups who sponsored the report include Common Cause and Progress Florida. Progress Florida’s Damien Filer says, 60 of Florida’s 160 state lawmakers have had ties to ALEC since 2010. He says controversial Florida bills, like the so-called “parent trigger” and prison privatization, included word-for-word excerpts from ALEC’s model legislation.

FEATURED STORIES

Secret recording details conversation between RPOF's Jim Greer and Delmar Johnson
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Delmar Johnson, former executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, brought Easter presents for the children when he arrived at former party chairman Jim Greer's house in Oviedo on the night of March 29, 2010.

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll apologizes for anti-gay remark
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
After an online petition drive garnered hundreds of signatures demanding her apology, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll on Thursday apologized to the head of an advocacy group saying that her anti-gay comment two weeks ago was "wrong and inexcusable."

Health care advocates say 3.8 million Floridians with pre-existing conditions now have access to health care because of ACA
By Mitch Perry
Creative Loafing Tampa
Although Governor Rick Scott has joined with a group of GOP governors who refused to expand Medicaid after the Supreme Court's affirmative ruling on President Obama's health care reform legislation, there are aspects of the 2010 bill that are already taking effect right now.

The GOP's Rick Scott Problem
By Michael C. Bender
BusinessWeek
It would have been hard for the Republican Party to choose a better backdrop for its August national convention than Florida.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

How Florida’s Nastiest Legislative Race Is Dividing the GOP Coalition
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Political Hurricane
The potential return of former Senate President Tom Lee to the legislature has become the highest profile primary to be decided on August 14th.

ICYMI: In defense of the Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith
By Peter Schorsch
St. Petersblog 2.0
Seeing that Connie Mack’s Campaign is attacking again Adam Smith, I thought it relevant to repost my defense of the Tampa Bay Times reporter.

Rick Scott’s Florida Purge Effort Cost Localities Thousands
By Josh Israel
Think Progress
Now that Gov. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) administration has obtained access to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database — records that Florida could have received months ago had it provided the necessary information to DHS — it has officially abandoned the error-riddled original purge list.

Connie Mack Attacks Reporter (Again) For Stating Facts
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
If you were already somewhat safely employed but had bigger ambitions and wanted to look for another job, would you do things like spend company money sending emails from work with copies of your resume on your employer's dime?

Voter Purge Happening. Be Vigilant Now.
By Jake
Rantings From Florida
Gov. Rick Scott has won the legal battles necessary to move ahead with a disgusting attempt to disenfranchise voters in the state of Florida. 

POLITICAL RACES

Behind Mitt Romney's pro-America rhetoric is subtle portrait that Barack Obama is not
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Is Romney giving Rubio a closer look?
Mitt Romney loves America. Not just the land but the word.

Bill Nelson's tax vote could help the budget — of Connie Mack's campaign
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Sen. Bill Nelson’s decision to cast a deciding vote for raising taxes on the wealthy won’t do much to fix the budget deficit, but it could help the campaign coffers of his Republican rival.

Nasty state House race turns nastier
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Florida’s most-brutal state House race is unfolding in Miami amid vicious attack mailers, phone calls and a whisper campaign involving pornography, divorce, a stalking claim, an arrest warrant and a reference to the recent Colorado shootings.

Private eye’s tip led to absentee ballot fraud probe in Hialeah
By Scott Hiaasen and Christina Vega
Miami Herald
The latest investigation of potential absentee ballot fraud in Miami-Dade County was triggered by a private investigator who went to police with his suspicions that a woman active in Hialeah politics was illegally collecting absentee ballots from voters.

Strip Clubs in Tampa Are Ready to Cash In on G.O.P. Convention
By Lizette Alvarez
New York Times
Over at the back door of the 2001 Odyssey, a limo-size tent with flaps — especially designed for discretion and camera-shy guests — is ready to go up. Déjà Vu is welcoming extra “talent” from around the country in its V.I.P. rooms.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Scientists warn Florida grasshopper sparrows on the brink of extinction
By Olivia Kabat
WMNF Tampa
Scientists are warning that a type of sparrow native to Florida is on the brink of extinction. There is an emergency effort to save Florida grasshopper sparrows before it’s too late.

Dying springs are gaining attention
By Ron Littlepage
Florida Times-Union
The message to Gov. Rick Scott and his team was clear: Save our springs and save them now.

Hearing officer recommends denial of Bay County permit in region's new water war
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A state hearing officer on Thursday recommended denial of a proposed permit that would allow Bay County to pump up to 30 million gallons per day of water along the Washington County line.

LGBT

Does anyone really care if Lt. Gov. Carroll looks like a lesbian?
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
I was talking to Florida’s ranking black lesbian, if there is such a thing.

EDUCATION

Scott's higher ed panel spends day discussing a vague vision for reforms
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's higher education system should be the best value in the nation, should contribute to the state's economic success and should be governed with a spirit of collaboration between its leaders.

University Funding: Cutbacks Hurt Florida
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
Gov. Rick Scott's vision for a revamped State University System is not clear yet.

Private Schools Choosing To Opt Out Of State ‘School Choice’ Programs
By John O'Connor
StateImpact
Just 64 percent of Florida private school participate in the state’s tax credit scholarship program, according to a Stateline analysis.

FCAT accountability
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
When the Florida Department of Education announced last week that it had incorrectly calculated school grades for 213 elementary and middle schools around the state — including three in Marion County — officials tried to pass it off as a minor hiccup in a lengthy and complex process.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Citizens' $6.1 billion surplus may draw private insurers
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
After six years without a hurricane, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has built up a massive cash surplus of about $6.1 billion. And private insurance companies want to get their hands on it.

Citizens lambasted for inspection program
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Florida’s consumer advocate scolded Citizens Property Insurance Corp. officials Thursday for their handling of an inspection program that has generated more than $100 million in added premium for the state-run insurer.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida Slips Even Lower in Mental Health Funding
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Even though Florida was already at the bottom of the list for mental health funding, it seems to have slipped even lower.

Florida pharmacists accuse state of shutting them out of Medicaid
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Pharmacy Association announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in Leon County's Circuit Court in an attempt to nullify state procedures they say is beginning to leave Florida pharmacists out of the business of fullfilling prescriptions for Medicaid patients.

Jackson Health System becomes center for tuberculosis cases
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
With the closing of Florida’s only hospital dedicated to tuberculosis, Jackson Memorial has taken all of the state’s TB patients that health officials believe need hospitalization — a mere 21.

DCF reviews three deaths at GEO-run psychiatric facility
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
Over medication and improper supervision may have caused the deaths of three patients at a privately run mental health facility in Florida last year.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Sen. Nan Rich seeks to block prison outsourcing deal
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich, D-Weston, has lodged a formal objection to the Legislature giving final approval to budget transfers that would allow the prison system to privatize health care for 100,000 inmates.