FEATURED
STORIES
Gov. Rick Scott pressures Florida Keys elections chief on early voting
By Steve Bousquet and Mary Ellen Klas
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott delivered an ultimatum Tuesday to the election supervisor in the Florida Keys, who is refusing to limit early voting to eight days for the November election.
Scott Says FCAT Overemphasized; Critics Say He Is Late to The Party
By David Royse
News Service of Florida
As students return to school in many parts of the state this week, some will no doubt already be thinking about tests.
Medicaid plan would transform health care in Florida
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's fast-growing Medicaid program -- which cares for the state's impoverished children and for most senior citizens in nursing homes -- would lose roughly a third of its federal money under budget plans embraced by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan.
Scott picks ideology over residents' health
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott and his right-wing extremists in the Legislature are putting their hatred of President Barack Obama and health care reform ahead of Florida's poor children.
Campaign vendors say Republican Congressman David Rivera funded Democrat’s failed primary bid
By Manny Garcia and Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Fueled with $43,000 in secret money, Republican Rep. David Rivera helped run a shadow campaign that might have broken federal laws in last week’s Democratic primary against his political nemesis Joe Garcia, according to campaign sources and finance records.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Scott Attempts to Reduce Early Voting in All Counties
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Despite a federal court decision striking down the state’s reduction of early voting days in five counties, Gov. Rick Scott is asking all 67 counties in the state to cut them anyway.
GOP congressman’s apology to women about rape akin to overdue apology from Florida lawmakers
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
The six-term congressman has been apologizing since he told an interviewer Sunday that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant.
Buchanan deposition could come a month before election
Staff Report
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A month before Election Day, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan could be put under oath for a deposition as part of a 4-year-old lawsuit involving a former business partner.
Unfunded email consolidation puts some state agencies in spam folder
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A plan to move all state agencies onto one email system was halted last week, and seven state agencies and more than 5,400 employees are caught in limbo as they transition back to their old systems.
Why is Marco Rubio shutting out the press from West Palm Beach speech?
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who often speaks passionately about government oppression in his parents’ native Cuba, will practice a form of censorship today when he speaks to the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches.
POLITICAL
RACES
Michelle Obama to visit Fort Lauderdale today
Associated Press
South Florida Sun Sentinel
First Lady Michelle Obama will be speaking in Fort Lauderdale later today in an effort to help her husband's re-election bid.
RNC strips VIP passes from Florida GOP delegation, but lets all delegates on floor
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's delegates to the Republican National Convention already knew they were being housed about as far away from the Tampa Bay Times Forum as possible, at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, as punishment for scheduling an early presidential primary in violation of national party rules.
Immigration one of the few sticking points in GOP platform
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
Immigration is one of the toughest issues for the Republican Party to navigate.
RNC windfall questioned by economy experts
By Keith Morelli
Tampa Tribune
Organizers of the Republican National Convention tout the event as a windfall for the city of Tampa, saying tens of thousands of people will shovel cash into the local economy, as much as $200 million, for the benefit of everyone left when the throng leaves.
Tropical Storm Isaac moving westward toward Cuba; threat to Florida, GOP convention unclear
By Julius Whigham II
Palm Beach Post
Tropical Storm Isaac has formed in the Atlantic and could threaten South Florida and the Republican National Convention in Tampa next week, forecasters said Tuesday evening.
Workers will have 20 hours to transform Trop for RNC party
By Mark Puente
Tampa Bay Times
More than 1,000 workers will anxiously await the conclusion of the Tampa Bay Rays game on Saturday.
Akin’s comments reverberate in Florida races
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin’s controversial comments about rape not only hurt his chances of winning in Missouri, but could become a problem for Republicans as far away as Florida.
BALLOT
INITIATIVES
FCIR Project Tracks Funding Behind Florida’s Proposed Constitutional Amendments
Staff Report
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Floridians will vote in November on 11 proposed constitutional amendments. These amendments, if passed, will enact sweeping changes to the Florida Constitution.
Change constitution to protect Florida’s natural resources
By Eric Draper
Palm Beach Post
Florida legislators have cut conservation spending more deeply than any other part of government.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Controversial wetlands permit wins approval despite expert's objections
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
A controversial wetlands project that already has been the focus of two inspector general investigations was granted its permit last week by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
FPL's duty vs. mission under scrutiny at rate hike hearing
By Marcia Heroux Pounds
South Florida Sun Sentinel
FPL president Eric Silagy testified at FPL's rate hike hearing on Tuesday that the utilty's settlement agreement in 2010 provided it with the ability to recover costs for its West County Energy Center and maintain an 11 percent return on equity.
LGBT
Log Cabin Republicans unhappy with 'antigay marriage plank' proposed for GOP convention
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Log Cabin Republicans are unhappy with what Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper calls "an antigay marriage plank" proposed this week for the upcoming national Republican Party convention in Tampa.
Longtime GOP Congressman C.W. Bill Young chided for role in anti-gay Johns Committee
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Democrat Jessica Ehrlich is running for U.S. House in Florida's 10th Congressional District (Pinellas County) against longtime incumbent Republican C.W. Bill Young.
EDUCATION
Governor talks up new school testing system in video; teachers unimpressed
By James Call
Florida Current
Florida public school students are heading back to class this week and with the new school year they will discover a new comprehensive testing system.
Florida Education Association: Test tsunami drowns students
By Mike Lafferty and Paul Owens
Orlando Sentinel
Related column: Meet the new Rick Scott -- FCAT foe
Florida is searching for a new education commissioner with the recent resignation of Gerard Robinson, even as the state moves ahead with reforms that will change the ways students are tested, teachers are paid and schools are held accountable.
Florida's high school graduates improved slightly on the ACT
Associated Press
TC Palm
Florida's high school graduates improved slightly this year on the ACT college entrance test, but the state continues to rank near the bottom nationally.
For-profit excesses
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Escalating costs of attending state universities, and funding state and community colleges, is putting pressure on higher-education students and administrators in Florida.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Getting an unemployment check in Florida is frustrating ordeal for many
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
When 65-year-old Raymond Togyer isn’t polishing his resume or cold calling potential employers, he’s spending hours trying, unsuccessfully, to navigate Florida’s labyrinthine unemployment compensation system.
Report says Florida no-fault rates will drop, but insurers uncertain
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
An independent report on changes to the state's no-fault auto insurance concludes that the price should go down for Florida drivers, but the insurance industry, which called for the changes, isn't so sure.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Medicaid cuts
By Karen M. Clay
Tampa Bay Times
‘Be involved in politics as if your life depends on it … because it does," said the late Justin Dart, who pushed hard for the Americans with Disabilities Act and was a tireless advocate for people with disabilities.
Southwest Florida children's mental health care 'lacking'
By Janine Zeitlin
Ft. Myers News-Press
There is not enough mental health care for the children in Southwest Florida.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Bondi names Osterhaus Fla. solicitor general
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Timothy Osterhaus is Florida's new solicitor general.
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