Daily Clips for July 20, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Progressives think Voter-Purge is Politically Motivated (includes video)
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Excerpt: “This is about politics; it’s not about trying to keep people who shouldn’t be able to vote from voting. It’s about keeping people who they don’t want to vote from voting,” said Progress Florida’s Damien Filer.

FEATURED STORIES

President Barack Obama visits Florida to tout his plans for ‘middle class’ tax cut, debt reduction
Staff Report
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
President Barack Obama returns to the Sunshine state Thursday for the start of a two-day campaign tour to talk tax cuts and debt reduction.

Advocates for hospitals and the poor push back on Florida’s refusal of federal Medicaid money to expand health coverage
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
Advocates for hospitals and the poor are ramping up lobbying in an effort to persuade state legislators to block Gov. Rick Scott’s refusal to expand health insurance for the poor, under the Affordable Care Act.

Dear Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll: Yes, you do look like a lesbian
By Nadine Smith
The Grio
As a black lesbian who also heads Equality Florida, the state LGBT advocacy group, I initially wasn’t going to write about the accusations that our lieutenant governor Jennifer Carroll was caught in her office having sex with a female subordinate.

Make system progressive and eliminate exemptions
By Alan Stonecipher
Orlando Sentinel
Within a few years, Florida will become the nation's third-most populous state.

Despite progress, White House worried about “U-turn’’ in Everglades
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
Related editorial: Everglades gets fighting chance
From a helicopter over Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar took in some of the daunting challenges of restoring the Everglades.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Sarasota County's quiet voter purge
By Carrie Wells
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Long before Florida's controversial non-citizen voter purge drew national attention, a dozen Sarasota County residents got letters in the mail from the supervisor of elections warning them that they may have broken the law by registering to vote.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama supporters line up for chance to see the president Friday
By Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Naples Daily News
Teresa Cowens was first. Then came Desiree Suarez.

Mack's message to Republicans: Supporting Sen. Bill Nelson is like supporting the president
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney and Bill Nelson vs. Connie Mack IV may be different races, but Mack is determined to make them inextricably entwined.

Event Zone established for St. Petersburg during RNC
By Mark Puente
Tampa Bay Times
The city has set up rules for its Event Zone for the Republican National Convention in August, and masked protesters will not be allowed.

Protesters will get heat relief if needed at RNC
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
The Republican National Convention is in just six weeks, and because the event is held during the last week of August, heat will be a huge concern for anybody spending time outside. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Pumping in polluted water considered to boost Lake Okeechobee
By Andy Reid
South Florida Sun Sentinel
More polluted water could get dumped into Lake Okeechobee to boost South Florida water supplies under a new proposal to roll back restrictions on "back-pumping."

Florida's environmental chief tours Collier, Lee counties to study region's needs
By Eric Staats
Naples Daily News
Florida's top environmental official marveled at an armadillo and admired the shady beach views during a tour of Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park on Tuesday as part of a swing through Collier and Lee counties this week.

FPL president: Rate increase needed for more fuel savings
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
Florida Power & Light Co. President Eric Silagy shot back Wednesday at critics who have said the utility has minimized the impact of its proposed 16 percent base rate increase by emphasizing low natural gas prices and the total bill.

LGBT

Democratic Party: Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has 'embarrassed our state,' insulted gays and lesbians
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Florida's Democratic Party has slammed Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll for "public comments insulting the gay and lesbian community."

Super PACs say Mitt Romney would roll back LGBT protections in new attack
By Callum Borchers
Boston Globe
A pair of liberal super PACs are teaming up on a new Web campaign that accuses Mitt Romney of advancing an “extreme anti-LGBT agenda” that would make life worse for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

EDUCATION

FCAT doesn’t serve students — or parents
By Frederica S. Wilson
Miami Herald
As a former school principal I believe in accountability, but it must be transparent.

Education Commissioner: Focus on curriculum, standards so 'FCAT is easy'
By Brittany Shammas
Naples Daily News
Florida's top education official told Fort Myers parents and educators he's heard "horror stories" about student anxiety over the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Florida Educators Concerned Higher Testing Standards For Teachers Could Lead To Shortage
By Laura Hibbard
Huffington Post
Tables have turned for some Florida educators after the state Department of Education announced they want teachers to earn higher grades on their certification exams, WFTV reports.

How 20 Minutes With A Principal Determines 12 Months Of Teacher Pay
By Sarah Gonzalez
StateImpact Florida
When Florida teachers were evaluated last year, the stakes for most of them were pretty low.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Unions fight Gov. Rick Scott over prison health care
By Dave Heller
WTSP Tampa Bay
Florida labor unions are battling Gov. Rick Scott over his plan to privatize health care in state prisons.

Gov. Scott touts new jobs in Central Florida
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott made a swing through Central Florida on Wednesday, highlighting projects that will add about 4,500 jobs to the state over the next five years.

Citizens customers stung by inspection-fueled premium hike
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
The state’s insurer of last resort says mistakes have been rare in a massive home inspection campaign, but records show more than 1,300 cases where Citizens agreed to reapply credits for storm-resistant features — and hundreds where Citizens acknowledged errors by the company or inspectors.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

U.S. judge rejects states’ challenge to health care law’s contraceptive rule
News Service of Florida
Palm Beach Post
A federal judge Tuesday tossed out a challenge by Florida and six other states to the part of the federal health law that requires coverage for contraceptives in insurance plans.

Duval's TB outbreak highlights other issues
By Tonyaa Weathersbee
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville is supposed to be the Bold New City of South. Yet it leads the nation in what's primarily regarded as an Old World, Third World disease.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

The case for ex-felon voting rights restoration
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Hundreds of thousands of Floridians who have completed their sentences for felony convictions are prohibited from exercising their fundamental rights as U.S. citizens to vote under the state’s civil rights restoration scheme.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Former state Sen. Mandy Dawson admits to cocaine abuse while free on tax evasion charges
By Paula McMahon
South Florida Sun Sentinel
When former South Florida lawmaker Mandy Dawson is sentenced Friday for tax crimes related to a pay-to-play political corruption case, she wants a federal judge to give her a lighter punishment because of her depression and ongoing illegal drug abuse problems.

Florida must get smart with prisons
Editorial
Florida Times-Union
Florida has taken "lock 'em up and throw away the key" to an unaffordable extreme, wasting money without providing more security.