PROGRESS
FLORIDA IN THE NEWS
FEATURED
STORIES
President Barack Obama headed to Florida with study showing Mitt Romney's tax plan hurts middle class
By Toluse Olorunnipa and Marc Caputo
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Poll shows President Obama ahead in swing states
President Obama travels Thursday to Orlando where he’ll challenge Mitt Romney on what’s normally considered Republican ideological turf: debt and taxes.
Feds seek voter-purge records
By Jerome R. Stockfisch and William March
Tampa Tribune
The U.S. Department of Justice is demanding that Hillsborough turn over voter-purge records, pulling the county into a growing legal fracas over Gov. Rick Scott's push to clean out the state's voter registry.
ACLU: More Than 13,000 Floridians Are Eligible to Vote and May Not Know It
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
More than 13,000 felons in Florida may not know their voting rights have been restored. That’s because the state hasn’t notified them.
Former Gov. Charlie Crist backs Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Former Gov. Charlie Crist has taken one more step away from the Republican Party and toward Democrats, confirming he'll support Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's re-election bid against Republican Rep. Connie Mack IV.
School Officials Say Fla. Education Chief's Resignation Triggered by Year-Long FCAT Drama
By Lynn Hatter
WFSU Tallahassee
Gerard Robinson’s decision to step down at the end of August comes after a series of changes to the state FCAT test which led to a drop in scores, school grades and a public outcry.
Governor’s openness is all illusion
By Fabiola Santiago
Miami Herald
The Huffington Post wants Gov. Rick Scott to share his ideas on what’s working in Florida as a guest blogger. (Good luck with that).
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Scott’s popularity sags in new Q-poll
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
It’s no wonder that Mitt Romney is keeping his distance from Gov. Rick Scott.
Emergency managers rip Gov. Rick Scott’s rankings of counties
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott’s office has finalized the grading of county emergency management offices, giving all but two of the state’s 67 counties “exemplary” scores.
Democrats 'serve' Eric Cantor with 'wanted' poster for Rep. Vern Buchanan
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Democrats today had a gift for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: A wanted sign for Rep. Vern Buchanan.
19 relief bills filed as first Senate bills for 2013 session
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The first Senate bill filed in the 2013 session would approve the city of Tallahassee's payment of $900,000 to Mark Sawicki, a Florida State University engineer who was struck while on his bicycle by a city trash collection truck in 2009.
POLITICAL
RACES
Marco Rubio says number of tax returns Mitt Romney releases not 'relevant issue'
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
A number of Republicans (and, of course, Democrats) are calling on Mitt Romney to release more tax returns than the two years he has agreed to, but U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio says it's a non-issue.
Romney Florida campaign reacts aggressively to Obama’s visit, improving poll numbers
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
On the eve of his fourth campaign trip to Florida in the last six weeks, President Obama on Wednesday said Mitt Romney would increase taxes on the middle class while Romney’s campaign reminded Orlando-area voters of Obama’s recent “you didn’t build that” remark about businesses.
Celebrity lawyer John Morgan will host Bill Clinton and raise big bucks
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Celebrity lawyer John Morgan's Heathrow neighbors include some of the most understanding -- or annoyed -- residents in Central Florida for putting up with Secret Service visits, traffic jams and parking crunches associated with his multiple campaign fundraisers every year.
Will changes to voting laws in Florida have major impact on election?
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Florida Legislature passed a sweeping elections law in 2011 that Democrats and other critics say could hinder voter turnout this year.
Early voting: It's not just rides to the polls any more
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Generating voter turnout used to be a labor-intensive chore of setting up telephone banks and finding enough volunteers with big cars or vans to ferry people to the polls on Election Day.
BALLOT
INITIATIVES
Business groups sue to stop Orange sick-time ballot initiative
By Mark Schlueb and David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Several Orange County business groups late Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging a sick-time ballot initiative, and — according to a confidential email obtained by the Orlando Sentinel — the region's main business organization could spend as much as $2.2 million on an opposition campaign.
LGBT
Crowds support Chick-fil-A in gay-marriage dispute
By Sandra Pedicini
Orlando Sentinel
Scores of Central Floridians and other Americans flocked to Chick-fil-A restaurants Wednesday in a show of support for the chain and its president's stance against gay marriage.
Couples take the plunge as St. Pete opens its domestic partnership registry
By Samuel Johnson
WMNF Tampa
Today St. Pete residents were able to register as domestic partners for the first time. A narrow foyer in City Hall was teeming with excited couples this morning.
EDUCATION
Florida Education Commissioner Robinson says he wasn't forced out
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Related editorial: Turning point for public eduction in Florida
Despite his rocky tenure, Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson insisted Wednesday that leaving was his choice.
Florida will search nation for next school chief
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Florida will again search nationally for a new education commissioner, using a search firm to help it find a pool of candidates, the State Board of Education decided this morning.
Parent group urges Scott to find new school leader not wed to testing
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
With Florida’s top education job open, an advocacy organization is urging Gov. Rick Scott to move in a new direction.
Fla.'s Newest University Elects Board Chair, Vice Chair
Staff Report
WFSU Tallahassee
The formation of Florida’s 12th and newest public university, Florida Polytechnic, comes after protests from several lawmakers and many at the University of South Florida, whose polytech program is being phased out with the creation of the new university.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Infographic: Florida's consumer confidence jumps in July
Staff Report
Florida Current
Floridians are feeling better about their pocketbook, according to the consumer confidence index tracked by the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
McCarty's travel defended as bridge-building
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Though Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty’s travel has taken him out of the state at least one out of every four days for the past 19 months, his frequent flyer miles were defended Wednesday as necessary to develop connections in the global insurance marketplace.
Fla. Retirement System narrowly tops benchmark
Associated Press
Miami Herald
State officials say the Florida Retirement System narrowly beat its investment benchmark during the budget year that ended June 30.
IRS steps up probe of Miccosukee Tribe’s payouts of gambling profits to members
By Jay Weaver
Miami Herald
The Internal Revenue Service has escalated its investigation into the Miccosukee Indians’ finances, demanding that the West Miami-Dade tribe hand over a mountain of internal records showing millions in allegedly unreported payments from its gambling profits to tribal members.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Scott promises funding for nursing homes
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott promised adequate funding for nursing homes at a conference for providers of elderly care, but protesters criticized his opposition to President Obama's health care overhaul and his refusal to enforce some of its provisions.
Rep. Deutch: GOP turning a constitutional right into a crime
By Eric W. Dolan
The Raw Story
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) on Tuesday blasted Republicans over legislation that would ban abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Red-Light Cameras Challenged on Several Fronts
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Red-light cameras are under attack on several fronts. Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the devices in one of four red-light camera challenges it will hear.
No comments:
Post a Comment