FEATURED
STORIES
Gov. Rick Scott invisible in GOP primary campaigns
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Someone is conspicuously absent from the campaign brochures produced by Republican candidates in Florida this summer: Gov. Rick Scott.
Fla. lieutenant governor’s GOP convention cachet plummets with office scandal
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
As a black woman and military veteran who emigrated to the U.S. as a child, Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has a story Republicans would love to tell at the GOP’s National Convention next month in Tampa.
The voter ID mess subverts an American birthright
By Charlie Crist
Washington Post
For better or worse, the central principle behind the unlimited contributions to super PACs that will dominate this election cycle is simple: Money is speech, and we cannot limit speech.
State’s economy has GOP sending mixed messages
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Ocala Star-Banner
President Barack Obama warned his supporters in Palm Beach County this week that Mitt Romney will hammer him with a relentless message this fall.
Medicare for you, nothing for me — really?
By Robyn E. Blumner
Tampa Bay Times
It was depressing to pick up my Tampa Bay Times the other morning to read: "Most Floridians still oppose federal Affordable Care Act health reform law."
EDITORIAL
CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Jeff Parker
Florida Today
Read the artist's commentary here.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Is Charlie Crist mulling a comeback?
By Charles Mahtesian
Politico
An eyebrow-raising Washington Post op-ed written by Charlie Crist is renewing speculation that the former Florida GOP governor isn’t quite done with politics.
Casino giant Genting’s political strategy: big checks and many bets
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Genting Group, the Malaysian casino giant, is seeding its bets across Florida’s political spectrum this election year as it continues to secure the foothold it needs to build a Miami casino empire.
Dave Aronberg, millionaire ally behind stealth attacks in state attorney’s race
By Joel Engelhardt and Adam Playford
Palm Beach Post
Related: Aronberg ran anti-McAuliffe effort during work hours
Waving handmade signs and grasping yellow balloons, a small group marched last fall outside State Attorney Michael McAuliffe’s office, angrily calling for him to resign.
POLITICAL
RACES
Florida's a tougher sell than four years ago for Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney has an edge
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Related: President Barack Obama in Fort Myers: 'Such violence, such evil is senseless'
The Colorado shooting cut short President Barack Obama's two-day swing through Florida, but count on him to return repeatedly between now and November.
Poll finds Obama with 5-point lead in Florida
By Justin Sink
Politico
A new poll of Florida shows President Obama with a five-point advantage, encouraging news for his campaign in a crucial swing state.
On Romney’s Wealth, Taxes and Bankers
By Martin Dyckman
Florida Voices
The fact that Mitt Romney is wealthy should not in itself bother anyone.
George W. Bush will skip GOP convention in Tampa, but Jeb will be there
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
George W. Bush won't attend the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Military stands ready if needed at RNC, other conventions
By Ted Jackovics
Tampa Tribune
Former U.S. Army Cmd. Sgt. Maj. Gary Huber was assigned to a Nike missile site defending Chicago against Soviet bombers when he first heard about Operation Garden Plot.
Hispanic rivalries add to mix of hardball Florida politics
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Rep. Ana Rivas Logan’s opponents call her loads of names on the campaign trail.
Business lobby seizes chance to tip scales in state Senate
By Aaron Deslatte and Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Fueled by corporate cash, Capitol grudge matches and personal ambitions, a series of elections across the state for seats in the Florida Senate are turning into political blood sport this summer.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Glades vows kept thanks to the courts
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Politicians in both parties have resumed rhapsodizing about the magnificence of the Everglades, a phenomenon that occurs every four years with varying degrees of sincerity.
Dolphin Deaths: BP Oil Spill May Have Contributed To High Mortality Rate, Study Finds
By Stephanie Pappas
Huffington Post
The 2010 BP oil spill contributed to an unusually high death rate for dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico, a new study suggests.
Conservation group wants Endangered Species Act protection for reptiles and amphibians
By Olivia Kabat
WMNF Tampa
Earlier this month the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition to receive Endangered Species Act protection for rare amphibians and reptiles.
Is anybody listening?
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
Maybe now they will listen. On Tuesday, a contingent from the Florida Conservation Coalition, led by former governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, will deliver more than 13,000 petitions to Gov. Rick Scott.
LGBT
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll’s Comment Offends Gay Community
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
In an attempt to defend herself against allegations of an improper relationship with a female staff member, Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll made a bizarre, if not insulting, remark.
EDUCATION
Grades miscalculated for more than 200 schools statewide
By Marlene Sokol and Cara Fitzpatrick
Tampa Bay Times
More than 200 schools statewide received incorrect grades, a mistake that comes after months of state education officials' efforts to restore confidence in Florida's testing system.
As funding falls, families carry heavier tuition load
By Lindsay Peterson
Tampa Tribune
For decades, Florida's public universities were clearly public. Taxpayers covered the majority of education costs, and students and families made up the rest through tuition.
Florida college must identify complaining student
Associated Press
Orlando Sentinel
The identity of students who submit complaints about teachers to public schools, including colleges and universities, are public records and must be disclosed to citizens, a Florida appellate court ruled Thursday.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Push by Floridians to Raise Fed'l. Minimum Wage
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Hundreds of people will converge Tuesday on Miami's Bayfront Park to voice their support for a new push in Congress to raise the federal minimum wage.
US poverty on track to rise to highest since 1960s
By Hope Yen
Associated Press
The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.
Florida gains 9,000 jobs in June, but unemployment rate doesn't budge
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Florida added 9,000 nonagricultural jobs in June, but the unemployment rate remains at 8.6 percent, according to figures released Friday by the Department of Economic Opportunity.
Ever more Floridians rely on food stamps
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Never have so many Floridians relied on food stamps: 3.47 million as of June, nearly triple the number since the Great Recession began and still growing even as the economy recovers.
Florida homeowners fall through cracks in nationwide mortgage settlement
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
About 1,000 Floridians have filed complaints in recent months against the top lenders who pledged earlier this year to work with "underwater" homeowners as part of a national legal settlement of unscrupulous lending practices.
Storm Season Revives State-Run Property Insurance Debate
By Jessica Palombo
WFSU Tallahassee
As Floridians continue cleaning up after Tropical Storm Debby, residents all over the state are filing insurance claims to cover the losses of their homes, boats and cars.
Twilight in the Sunshine State: Florida's Vision of Boomer-Land
By Ben Hallman
Huffington Post
Retired submarine captain Don Hahnfeldt wouldn't put it this way, but eight years ago he came to Florida to die.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Not so fast, Gov. Scott
Editorial
Miami Herald
Related: Medicaid expansion spurs debate in Florida
Gov. Rick Scott’s oh-so-quick dismissal of the opportunity to provide healthcare to more Floridians under Medicaid, which came just one day after the Supreme Court decision upholding most of the Affordable Care Act, should not be the last word on the subject.
Center of TB outbreak often cited, rarely punished
By Michael LaForgia
Palm Beach Post
Golden Retreat Shelter Care, the Jacksonville assisted-living home that spawned the largest tuberculosis outbreak in recent American history, packed residents into cramped, dirty rooms and failed to keep adequate track of tenants’ health.
Minimal TB outreach was a bad policy
Editorial
Florida Times-Union
State and local health officials are scrambling in Jacksonville to deal with what may be the largest outbreak of tuberculosis in the U.S. in 20 years.
Contraception lawsuit next step in health care law fight
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
Florida led the challenge against the Affordable Care Act, and now that the U.S. Supreme has upheld the law, a small Catholic university on the state’s southwest coast is picking up the charge.
Rick Scott’s Strange Health Math
By Glenn Marston
Lakeland Ledger
In his endless and too-often-fruitless effort to categorize every aspect of state government and assign it a numerical ranking, Gov. Rick Scott ordered the Florida Department of Health to create a system to score and rank the county health department in each of the state’s 67 counties.
DOH deputy secretary moves to DOC
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Florida's beleaguered Department of Health, beset by an executive exodus in recent months, had more change at the top on Friday -- announcing the departure of its medical chief and the hiring of a new chief of staff.
CIVIL
RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Stand Your Ground law used often by those with previous arrests
By Kameel Stanley and Connie Humburg
Tampa Bay Times
Maurice Moorer is not the kind of person whom lawmakers had in mind when they gave Florida the broadest self-defense law in the nation in 2005.
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