Daily Clips for August 7, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Dems Elated About Scott's RNC Role
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Governor Rick Scott is getting a speaking role at the Republican National Convention in Tampa later this month.

RNC chairman announces Jeb Bush, other new convention speakers
Staff Report
Tampa Bay Tmes
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be among speakers scheduled to address the Republican National Convention, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said Tuesday.

Fla. AG battling with Legislature over settlement
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is quietly feuding with the GOP-controlled Legislature over who should have a say over more than $300 million intended to help homeowners.

Florida: A Bellwether For Medicaid Expansion
By Erin N. Marcus
The Atlantic
He was a "frequent flyer" -- a patient with multiple health problems who gets admitted to the hospital repeatedly.

GOP steers clear of gay marriage issue
By Maggie Haberman and Emily Schultheis
Politico
When Democrats announced that their 2012 platform would include a historic first — gay marriage written in as a plank — the reaction from mainstream Republicans was near silence.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Obama backs Rubio bill to stop taxing Olympians' medals
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The White House says President Barack Obama supports a measure that would exempt U.S. Olympians from taxes on their prizes.

Former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom's legal tab could be taxpayers'
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Ray Sansom's career as speaker of the House was one of the shortest in Florida history.

Ethics Reform: Let Us See How Our Leaders Make Money
By Tom O'Hara
Florida Voices
Kudos to Rep. Larry Metz for this gem on his 2012 financial disclosure form under the gifts category: “My neighbor mowed my grass.” Estimated value: $200.

POLITICAL RACES

Romney trounces Obama in fundraising for 3rd month
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Can President Barack Obama raise the money he needs to hold onto the White House?

Even In Florida Swing County, Minds Seem Made Up
By Steve Inskeep
NPR
We begin in the swing state of Florida, in hotly contested Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa.

Deadline to request absentee ballot for Florida’s Aug. 14 election is Wednesday
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida Voters who want to cast their vote in the Aug. 14 election by mail have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to request an absentee ballot from their local supervisor of elections.

Final Florida primary voter registration numbers released
News Service of Florida
Ft. Myers News-Press
Just under 4.6 million Democrats and about 4.1 million Republicans are registered to vote in Florida's Aug. 14 primary, according to final registration figures from the Division of Elections.

Miami-Dade mayor severs ties with campaign consultant
By Melissa Sánchez and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez abruptly fired a key campaign consultant on Monday after the consultant failed to disclose that one of his contractors is a convicted felon.

State Senate race becomes a rematch between the Bullards and Saunders
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The race for the Democratic nominee for Senate District 39 has come down to a contest between legacies.

Behind the scenes, Jack Latvala guides a string of Pinellas candidates
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The name Jack Latvala will appear only once on a ballot this fall, but the veteran state senator is again a formidable backstage presence in many other races.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Activists press officials to put sick-leave proposal to voters
By Mark Schlueb and David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Workers' advocates pushing for mandatory sick time failed to gather enough signatures to bring their measure to the Orange County Commission today, but they're hoping it's not too late to earn a spot on the November ballot.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

DEP pushes consistency in water-use permitting statewide
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Florida's five water management districts have different names for some of their water-use permits, and they apply to different quantities of water use.

Ratepayers stuck with nuclear plant charges
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Imagine adding a garage to a house that is about to collapse. 

EDUCATION

Florida's education commissioner: Another view on who's next
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times         
Who should Florida's next education commissioner be?

New national learning standards raise the bar for students, teachers
By Lynn Hatter 
WFSU Tallahassee
By 2015 almost all of the nation’s public school students will be learning the same things when it comes to math and language arts.

Classes resume this week for seven Florida school districts
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Thinking that school is approaching too fast here in the Tampa Bay area?

Brogan to FAMU: Cut number of low-performing students
By Denise-Marie Ordway
Orlando Sentinel
State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan said he is pressing Florida A&M University to make bigger cuts to the number of low-performing students allowed to attend the school.

FSCJ: Nearly 1,300 students could be required to repay Pell Grants
By Adam Kealoha Causey and Kate Howard Perry         
Florida Times-Union
At least 500 more students at Florida State College at Jacksonville could be required to repay Pell Grants, which brings the number of affected students to nearly 1,300.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Good jobs are hard to find, studies say
By Marcia Heroux Pounds
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida is poised to become a state of mostly low-wage, low-skilled jobs, some experts say.

Economic forecast predicts tepid growth in coming years
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Florida’s economy will continue to grow in the next three years, but at a pace that will not reach the heights of the previous decade for some time, according to a new economic forecast from the University of Central Florida.

Florida fourth in nation for expensive closing costs
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Home sale prices may be cheaper in Florida today than during the boom years, but loan origination and title fees ranked the state fourth in the nation for pricey closing costs.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Pelosi targets GOP Medicare plan at Frankel event near Boca
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
After senior voters helped boot Nancy Pelosi from her House speakership two years ago, Pelosi tried to win them back during a Palm Beach County visit on Monday by accusing Republicans of trying to dismantle Medicare.

Medicaid plan to challenge state
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Health News Florida
Florida’s effort to steer elderly Medicaid patients into managed care is running into its first significant hurdle.

Study: Nearly A Third Of Doctors Won't See New Medicaid Patients
By Phil Galewitz
Kaiser Health News
If you're on Medicaid and looking for a new doctor, your chances are excellent of finding one … in Wyoming.

How did $14 million in drugs vanish from a UM pharmacy?
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
Olga Hutnik, a pharmacy buyer at the University of Miami, noticed something odd in May 2011 when she looked at the results of a new program to track drugs in the UM medical system: Hundreds of syringes of an expensive cancer drug were apparently missing.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Obama’s ‘Dream’ immigration policy starts next week, costs $465 to apply
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Young illegal immigrants nationwide, including tens of thousands in Florida, can begin to file Aug. 15 for permission to stay in the United States legally for two years and avoid deportation.

Group accuses some districts of discrimination
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A national civil rights group says some Florida school districts discriminate against black students in their disciplinary policies.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Empty Miami courthouse called emblem of US problem
By Curt Anderson
Associated Press
The historic but empty federal courthouse in downtown Miami is a costly symbol of the government's sluggishness at selling or finding new purposes for some 14,000 vacant or underused properties nationwide, Republican lawmakers said at a House panel hearing Monday.

Appeals of manslaughter convictions surge after Florida high court’s ruling
By Daphne Duret
Palm Beach Post
No sentence Gillion Graham received would have ever brought Katherine Reich’s son, Michael, back through her doors for Thanksgiving dinner.