Daily Clips for August 6, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

RNC speakers include Rick Scott, John McCain, Condoleezza Rice, Nikki Haley, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich and Susana Martinez
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. John McCain and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are among seven headline speakers announced today for the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Romney's tax plan crunches middle class
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Lower taxes on the rich and higher taxes on the middle class is how a nonpartisan analysis summed up Mitt Romney's tax plan.

Obama embraces health care law after court ruling
By Julie Pace
Associated Press
President Barack Obama, emboldened by the Supreme Court's affirmation of his health care overhaul, is now embracing the law while campaigning for re-election, just as Republican rival Mitt Romney steps back from it.

Adam Hollingsworth: Gov. Rick Scott’s new right-hand man
By Mary Ellen Klas and Steve Bousquet
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
For the third time since taking office, Gov. Rick Scott has a new chief of staff to help shape his agenda, steer him through political minefields and bolster his shaky standing with Floridians.

An uncensored peek at Gov. Scott’s e-mail
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
An absolutely true news item: To erase the perception that it was censoring public records, the office of Gov. Rick Scott has announced it will no longer delete unflattering correspondence from the governor’s official email account.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jeff Parker
Florida Today
Artist's commentary: Politically explosive rodeo

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida Gov. Scott a hit at conservative gathering
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Gov. Rick Scott shot back Saturday at opponents who have sued and criticized his conservative agenda and was cheered by an audience who supports his efforts to drug test welfare recipients, strip teachers of tenure and make Florida more business friendly.

Allen West's Rise From the Florida Fever Swamps
By Tim Murphy
Mother Jones
The bike is immaculately polished and gleaming in the late afternoon South Florida sun.

Florida Democrat wants party to reach out to independents
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's election schedule has never made much sense.

Would Democrats Welcome Crist?
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Lakeland Ledger
Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist endorsed Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson last week, attending a fundraiser for the senator in Orlando.

Fla. Legislative Leaders Ready To Take Up Gambling Again Next Session
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
Gambling in Florida takes many forms, whether it’s the state lottery, dog tracks with poker rooms or full-scale resort-casinos.

Internet cafés join other gambling interests in pouring cash into Florida lawmakers’ campaigns
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
From humble roots in strip shopping centers, Internet cafés are emerging as a major Florida political player this election season, with the controversial storefront casinos looking to cement their place on the gambling landscape.

POLITICAL RACES

Special interests sharply step up political giving
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
They are some of the biggest brand names in Florida politics, and this summer they're pumping millions of dollars into a myriad of stealthy political funds — all with the aim of influencing the outcome of a few key legislative races.

Mack, Weldon lead pack for GOP Senate nod
By William March
Tampa Tribune
U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, boasting the famous name he inherited from his father, is the frontrunner in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate while former Rep. Dave Weldon mounts a conservative insurgency against him.

Nelson faces quiet primary challenge
By William March
Tampa Tribune
When they go to the polls Aug. 14, many Democrats may be surprised to find they have to decide a primary contest in the U.S. Senate race.

Elections to test Tea Party's sway
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Tea Party wing of the Republican Party propelled Rick Scott, Marco Rubio and many other conservatives into office in 2010.

Florida Early Voting Times Out Of Sync
By Regan McCarthy      
WFSU Tallahassee
Early voting kicked off for five Florida Counties on Monday. It starts for the rest of the state Saturday.

Absentee ballot fraud made easy in Miami-Dade
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Psst! Wanna commit absentee-ballot fraud?

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Big Business Tries To Stop Florida Paid Sick Days Initiative Before It Even Reaches Ballot
By Annie-Rose Strasser
Think Progress
Residents of Orange County, Florida, are trying to get an initiative on the November ballot that would require all businesses with more than 15 employees to provide paid sick days to their workers.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Dolphin die-off tied to Gulf oil spill, other factors, study suggests
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
Bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico washed up dead along the shores of four states early last year in one of the worst die-offs on record in the region.

Controversial Florida wetlands project hired lobbyist with DEP connection to push permit
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
To get a wetlands permit from a state water agency, the owners of the Highlands Ranch Mitigation Bank hired engineers and a law firm.

More than half of required counties have opted out of septic tank inspections
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Ten of 19 counties that must act by Jan. 1 under a new septic tank inspection law have voted to opt out of having an inspection program, according to the Florida Department of Health.

LGBT

|Supporters of gay rights rally in front of Pompano Chick-fil-A
By Melissa Montoya
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A 30-foot rainbow flag graced the sights of drivers on North Federal Highway as they passed the Chick-fil-Ain Pompano Beach on Friday, where more than 50 people gathered on the sidewalk to send a message: Your consumer dollars fund anti-gay groups.

Lakeland Commission Votes Against Extending Benefits for Same-Sex Partners
By Kyle Kennedy
Lakeland Ledger
The city of Lakeland won't be extending benefits to same-sex partners of city employees.

EDUCATION

A weekend interview with Florida education commissioner Gerard Robinson
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
After only a year on the job, Florida education commissioner Gerard Robinson announced this past week that he'd be stepping down at the end of August.

Another ‘F’ for those overseeing Florida’s public schools
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Fortunately, Florida public schools work better than the Florida Board of Education.

Florida report shows fewer dropouts and delinquents; more 4-year-olds in pre-K
By Ana M. Valdes
Palm Beach Post
Although a national study released last week ranked Florida 44th in the nation for the economic well-being of its children, state child welfare officials have released a new progress report showing it’s not all bad news for the state’s youngest residents.

New classroom standards focus on why, how
By Mackenzie Ryan
Florida Today
As new academic expectations are rolled out this year, students will not only be required to know the right answer — they’ll also need to explain how they got it and why it’s correct.

For-profit colleges: raw deal for taxpayers
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The for-profit college industry would barely exist without federal tuition aid, but a new report by U.S. Senate Democrats says that taxpayers are getting a raw deal.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

PIP changes might not lower insurance bills for drivers, report says
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
No-fault auto insurance premiums could indeed dip as Gov. Rick Scott and Republican lawmakers promised, a company hired to evaluate Florida's latest round of auto insurance reforms says.

Attention, shoppers: Sales-tax holiday won't save you as much as you think
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
When they hear gripes about the perceived high levels of taxation in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott and lawmakers have a go-to pressure-relief valve: this weekend's sales-tax holiday.

Time to cut defense spending
By Gene Jones
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
As the slow growth economy grinds on for most Americans, one economic segment is unlikely to feel the pain -- the Department of Defense and defense contractors.

Florida construction industry on verge of a comeback, seers say, thanks to influx of newcomers
By Jeff Harrington
Tampa Bay Times
The next big thing driving Florida's job growth could be the same as the last big thing: construction.

Lt. Gov. Carroll heads to native Trinidad on trade mission
Staff Report
Florida Current
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll will return to Trinidad and Tobago, where she was born, on Saturday as part of a five-day trade mission to the island nation off the coast of Venezuela.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

|Next Phase of Health Care Reform Kicks In
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
For women, the Affordable Care Act may be the greatest advance in health care in a generation.

Numbers on health act debunk GOP claims
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
One of the chief Republican objections to health care reform is that it will add too much to the deficit and the nation can't afford it.

Medicare indispensible for many after 47 years
By Laura Green
Palm Beach Post
Forty-seven years ago, Congress authorized a safety net to ensure seniors could pay for hospital care without going broke.

Did hospital try to block probe?
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
When a sponge gets left in a patient’s body in an operation, the Department of Health files charges against the surgeon, and sometimes the nurse.

Belated tuberculosis plan comes with questions
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
The state has a new program for treating tuberculosis patients. If only the state had announced that new program five months ago, before the Legislature voted to close Florida’s only tuberculosis hospital.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

13,000 Florida felons whose rights restored in 2007 still may not know they can vote
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
As Gov. Rick Scott defends his administration’s effort to remove potentially ineligible voters from the voting rolls, more than 13,000 Floridians who had their voting rights restored may not know that they can cast ballots in November.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

The Trayvon Martin truth squad: a Web phenomenon
By Frances Robles
Miami Herald
While other people watch reality shows, a marketing specialist in Michigan who goes by the name “Bcclist” spends time in his yard, calculating Trayvon Martin’s last steps with a tape measure and smartphone stop watch.

Questions Being Raised in Crotzer Case
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
After spending 24 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Alan Crotzer remains in a Tallahassee Jail tonight without bond on a charge of attempted murder.