Daily Clips for July 10, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Many voters may be deterred by tough ID laws
By Mike Baker
Associated Press
When Edward and Mary Weidenbener went to vote in Indiana's primary in May, they didn't realize that state law required them to bring government photo IDs such as a driver's license or passport.

President Barack Obama asks Congress for limited extension of Bush tax cuts
By James Rosen and David Lightman
Miami Herald
President Barack Obama expressed confidence Monday that he can win an election-year fight with Republicans over taxes and the economy despite three straight months of weak job growth.

Miami-Dade School Board members decry Michelle Obama campaign stop at local school
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
First lady Michelle Obama will stop in Miami on Tuesday to recruit residents to vote and volunteer to reelect her husband, President Barack Obama.

Rick Scott’s TB scandal
By Alex Seitz-Wald
Salon
On March 26 this year, Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that slashed the state Department of Health’s budget and closed a state hospital where bad cases of tuberculosis were treated.

A battle for power in the Florida House, years in advance
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
What will you be doing in November 2018?

FLORIDA POLITICS

Study: One in 5 black Floridians can’t vote because of felon disenfranchisement
By William March
Tampa Tribune
More than a fifth of black Floridians and a tenth of the state’s total population aren’t allowed to vote because of the state’s prohibition on voting by former felons, the highest rate of disenfranchisement in the nation, according to an advocacy group study.

Florida Republicans don't want to share documents
By Mike Schneider
Associated Press
The Republican Party of Florida doesn't want to share some documents in the upcoming criminal trial of its former chairman.

Q&A with: Don Gaetz
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Having chaired the redistricting committee that drew Florida's political boundaries, Senate President-designate Don Gaetz is spending the summer "hitting every wide spot in the road" to campaign for 32 fellow Republicans, while organizing the chamber for a two-year tenure marked by pressing needs in education, health care and costs of state government.

ACLU to hold online seminar on RNC protest ground rules
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
With the Republican National Convention less than seven weeks away, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is holding a "Know Your Rights" webinar Tuesday night.

Nurses launch first voter registration drive
By James Call
Florida Current
Alisa Snow said nurses and the League of Women Voters teaming up is a "natural fit."

POLITICAL RACES

Obama raises $71 million in June, falling short of Romney's haul
By Melanie Mason
Orlando Sentinel
President Obama raised $71 million for his re-election effort last month, marking his best fundraising month of the cycle but still $35 million short of Mitt Romney’s massive June haul.

Black leaders motivate minority voters
By Mike Salinero
Tampa Tribune
Evoking fiery images from the Civil Rights movement, local black elected officials urged minorities Monday to be aware of changes made to Florida's election laws and to vote in the Aug. 14 primary and Nov. 6 general election.

Political analysts see potholes in Rep. Vern Buchanan’s road to re-election
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The race to represent Sarasota and Manatee counties in Congress is quickly gaining prominence.

Beleaguered Nina Hayden ends congressional campaign and lawsuit
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Beleaguered Democratic candidate Nina Hayden dropped out of the race for Congress on Monday, and also said she is dropping her lawsuit against state and local elections officials. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Volusia residents angry over state survey of conservation lands
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Daytona Beach News Journal
More than 100 people filled the Volusia County Council chambers Monday night to protest the regional water management agency's plan to review its publicly owned land to see if any of it should be considered surplus.

Florida still owes tree owners in canker scare
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
They came to be known as the “Gestapo lumberjacks,” state agricultural workers on a chainsaw massacre, bent on destroying backyard citrus trees.

Former DEP deputy secretary Ballard lands at Wakulla Environmental Institute
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Former Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary Bob Ballard has been appointed executive director of the Wakulla Environmental Institute at Tallahassee Community College.

EDUCATION

As FCAT protests increase, state softens stance on test
By Christopher O'Donnell
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Complaining has become as much a part of the high-stakes FCAT test in Florida as bubble answer sheets and No. 2 pencils.

Grade formulas have schools on edge, wary of potential impact of student disabilities, language issues
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
One student came to Ellicia Brown’s classroom at Allamanda Elementary School at age 7 in a stroller, having never learned how to walk.

Bright Futures scholarship cuts squeezing college students as tuition increases
By Brittany Shamas
Naples Daily News
John Corfias was thrilled when his son, Brad, landed a free college education.

Five questions for USF provost on tuition
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times
Parents, start saving your pennies.

Conflicting Stories About FAMU Band Meeting
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
There are conflicting stories tonight over what transpired in a meeting of FAMU administrators three days before a drum major was beaten to death in a hazing ritual.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Lobbyists, lawmaker, executives follow Scott to UK
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott's 85-member entourage in the United Kingdom this week includes business leaders, tourism executives, and even a couple of lobbyists and mayors.

Florida remains stuck at the station
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Not to beat a dead train, but Floridians who want to ride high-speed rail built with federal money that had been earmarked for them will get to do it one day.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida Governor Scott wants “competitive environment” for cancer treatment, including at UM’s Sylvester
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
In a move that could have large implications for the state’s scientific research centers, Gov. Rick Scott has sent strongly worded letters to the University of Miami and two other cancer research facilities warning them they can’t make money from expanding their brands if they want to continue to receive state funds.

WellPoint to vie for FL Medicaid patients
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
WellPoint Inc., the nation's second-largest health insurer, will soon have a major presence in Florida with its purchase of Amerigroup Corp., one of the significant Medicaid contractors in the state.

10 more FL medical groups win ACO designation
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Ten Florida medical groups totaling almost 1,300 doctors have gained federal designation as "Accountable Care Organizations," which means they are responsible for making sure Medicare patients have easy access to the services they need without duplication and waste.

After Holley
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
For decades seriously ill tuberculosis patients have been treated at the state's A.G. Holley Hospital in Lantana.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Florida loses another ridiculous legal battle
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
A Miami federal judge has struck down the new law prohibiting Florida doctors from discussing gun ownership with their patients.

Florida’s Gun Law Morass
Editorial
New York Times
A federal court has struck down one of the more nonsensical of Florida’s many risky gun laws — one that banned the state’s thousands of doctors from ever discussing firearms with their patients.

Fla. takes lead in congressional hearing on crimes against homeless
News Service of Florida
Ft. Myers News-Press
Florida is both a model and a cautionary tale for other states grappling with violent crimes against homeless people, and on Tuesday it will play a lead role at a congressional hearing on the subject.