Daily Clips for July 11, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

First lady Michelle Obama rallies supporters on campaign stops in Florida
By Adam C. Smith and Laura Isensee
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Fla Poll: Mitt Romney 46%, Barack Obama 45%
If Americans viewed President Barack Obama as favorably as they do his wife, he'd be sitting pretty four months before Election Day.

DOH denies cover-up on TB
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Today, state officials defended the Department of Health from accusations that it covered up a serious TB outbreak in Jacksonville in order to proceed with downsizing of the state's largest agency.

Florida to release larger potential noncitizen voter list
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A month before a statewide election, Gov. Rick Scott's top elections official will belatedly release a database of 180,000 voters whose citizenship is in question.

The GOP's Crime Against Voters
By Eugene Robinson
Real Clear Politics
Spare us any more hooey about "preventing fraud" and "protecting the integrity of the ballot box."

As RNC convention nears, ACLU covers ground rules for protests
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
Leave umbrellas with metal tips at home when ponchos and umbrellas with plastic tips will do just fine.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Voter Registration Deadline Looms
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
A statewide game of catch-up is underway as the deadline to register to vote for the August Primary.

Ethics committee will take no action against Rep. Buchanan
By Larry Margasak
Associated Press
The House Ethics Committee reported Tuesday that Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., omitted information on his financial disclosure forms over four years, but the panel took no action because the errors were corrected.

HP, Deere, CVS, MillerCoors, BestBuy Exit Controversial ALEC Post-Trayvon Martin Shooting
By David Zielenziger
International Business Times
Five more companies, including Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), the No. 1 computer maker, have left the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) since the Feb. 26 killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford, Fla.

POLITICAL RACES

Michelle Obama is cheered at UCF — but will young vote this fall?
By Scott Powers and Alexandria Baca
Orlando Sentinel
The last time Barack Obama ran for president, students lined up three hours deep at the University of Central Florida Arena to vote for him by a 3-to-1 margin.

Mitt Romney not letting up in fundraising dominance over President Obama
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Mitt Romney/Romney Victory and the Republican National Committee raised $106 million in June (vs. $71 million for Barack Obama and Co.) and close to $8 million of that came from Florida.

Romney to make pitch to black voters at NAACP
By Kasie Hunt
Associated Press
Mitt Romney isn't going to win the black vote. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

BP oil spill: Two years later, dispersants' effects still a mystery
ABC News
First Coast News
Two years ago this week, the wellhead that ruptured on the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico, sending 4.9 million barrels of oil into the water, was capped. After three months, the end of the largest oil spill in the industry's history was in sight.

Friends of the Everglades raises issues in federal court with new restoration plan
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A new Everglades restoration plan proposed by Gov. Rick Scott will delay restoration and will be unenforceable, according to the group Friends of the Everglades.

EDUCATION

School grades are coming out Wednesday
By Cara Fitzpatrick
Tampa Bay Times
School grades are coming out Wednesday for elementary, middle and combination schools, the state Department of Education announced today.

Top Florida education official: FCAT changes needed
By Khristopher J. Brooks          
Florida Times-Union
Florida's top education official told a Jacksonville audience Tuesday that he knows changes in statewide testing have been a headache for local educators, but tweaking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test was necessary.

Educators Respond to Scott's ‘Too-Many Tests'
By Merissa Green
Lakeland Ledger
If more parents and community leaders get involved in education, politicians will listen, according to a local high school teacher.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida economists foresee slow but sure improvement in national numbers
By Michael Peltier
News Service of Florida
Facing financial insecurity in Europe, sluggishness in China and an election in November, state economists Tuesday took a cautious, stay-the-course approach to their view of the national economic picture, while saying the recent slowdown likely won’t result in another recession.

State financial regulators tasked to do more with less amid changes
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Budget cutbacks at the Office of Financial Regulation have led to significant staff reductions and the consolidation of half of its satellite offices, but that’s just one of many recent changes at the agency.

Taxpayers underwrite private business deals
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Let me ask you something: If your neighbor told you he was going to plant a rose garden, would you give him $100 to encourage him to plant a rose garden?

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Dems urge panel to probe TB outbreak; GOP lawmakers defend state
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Some angry lawmakers want Gov. Rick Scott to create a panel to investigate a tuberculosis outbreak after learning that state officials kept mum about the epidemic even as the legislature was debating closing Florida’s only TB hospital in Lantana.

Medicaid billing dispute between state and counties heats up
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Tallahassee
A fight between Florida Counties and the state over who should pay outstanding medical bills for low-income people continues.

Scott's thoughtless edict on cancer centers
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott is toying with Florida's economy by sending mixed messages about the state's commitment to partner in high-tech medicine.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

‘Stand Your Ground’ panel hears emotional testimony in Tallahassee
By Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
The task force created by Gov. Rick Scott to review Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law heard from experts on security and neighborhood-watch programs at its third meeting Tuesday – along with emotional statements from members of the public who said crime had touched their lives.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Scott’s Wrongheaded Attack on the Supreme Court
By Dan Gelber
Florida Voices
When the dictator of a nation like, let’s say Syria or Cuba, directs the state police to harass or intimidate judges, no one is surprised.