Daily News Clips for September 18, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

The REAL Rick Scott Education Tour
Florida Watch Action
Pink Slip Rick invited parents and teachers to a "listening tour" around the state. However, not everyone was invited to give their feedback on Rick Scott's education record. "It's got the word 'listening' on it and no listening is going on," said a parent at one of the visited schools.

SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters
By David Corn
Mother Jones
Related: Who Was at Romney's "47 Percent" Fundraiser?
Related: Washington Post: Romney stands by his remarks in leaked video
During a private fundraiser earlier this year, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a small group of wealthy contributors what he truly thinks of all the voters who support President Barack Obama.

First Lady fires up college crowds as campaign appeals to youth vote
By Mary Ellen Klas and Brittany Alana Davis
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Florida became the battleground for the youth vote Monday, as Michelle Obama and the son of former Gov. Jeb Bush arrived within hours of each other on college campuses in Tallahassee and Gainesville hoping to drum up support for their candidates among pivotal young voters.

Records Show Rick Scott Campaign Hired Alleged Boletera, Or Absentee Ballot Broker, In 2010
By Jane Campbell
The Huffington Post
Campaign finance reports show Florida Governor Rick Scott -- who framed recent evidence-defying efforts to purge state voter rolls, limit registration and reduce early voting hours as a protection of "honest" elections -- hired an alleged Miami-Dade absentee ballot broker during his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

Scott has a head start on his rivals
By Joe Henderson
Tampa Tribune
We begin today's discussion with a reminder. It will be two years until Florida voters are asked to choose the next governor.

Judge tells county to act on sick-time. It should
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Judges' ruling likely means no sick time on ballot
Well, news broke tonight that the courts have ordered Orange County to do what it should’ve done in the first place — put the sick-time initiative on the ballot.

FLORIDA POLITICS

U.S. Rep C.W. Bill Young changes course, says U.S. should withdraw from Afghanistan
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Over and over, every time the subject of pulling American troops out of Afghanistan has come up, U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young has voted to stay the course.

Florida Rep. Chris Dorworth's big donors fund lavish political operation
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
State Rep. Chris Dorworth is a study in political contradictions.

POLITICAL RACES

Mrs. Obama says UF crowd her largest yet in 2012 campaign
By Dara Kam and Jason Lieser
Palm Beach Post
First lady Michelle Obama chomped, chopped and rattled her way through North Florida, packing stadiums in Gainesville and Tallahassee to fire up the youth vote that helped boost her husband into the White House four years ago.

Obama in Hillsborough, Romney in Sarasota this week
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Both President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will make appearances at private fundraisers in the Tampa area on Thursday, raising the possibility that both also will have public campaign appearances at the same time.

Republican women tour South Florida to praise Mitt Romney
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A quartet of Republican women toured South Florida on Monday to sing the praises of Mitt Romney.

Romney is way off on middle class
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Just who is a member of America's middle class? It's not who Mitt Romney thinks.

Florida’s packed presidential ballot includes Roseanne Barr
Staff Report
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
When they go to vote for president on Election Day, Florida voters are likely to find something funny about their ballots.

Judge rejects ballots for recount in Bernard-Clemens race; Bernard vows to appeal
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Rep. Mack Bernard plans to appeal a court ruling Monday that upheld the rejection of 40 absentee ballots in his Palm Beach County Senate race which Democrat Jeff Clemens won by only 17 votes.

Mack's 'Penny Plan' could cut trillions from spending
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
It could be said that there's a penny's worth of difference between Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV and incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson when it comes to balancing the federal budget.

Grayson, Long face off in testy downtown Orlando debate
By David Breen
Orlando Sentinel
Congressional candidates Alan Grayson and Todd Long took the gloves off Monday during a District 9 debate in Orlando that quickly became a verbal slugfest. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

In Summer, Toxic Blue-Green Algae Blooms Plague Freshwater
By Jessica Marshall
The Food & Environment Reporting Network
One summer day two years ago, Danny and Laura Jenkins’ black Labrador retriever Casey returned from a swim in Ohio’s Grand Lake St. Marys carpeted in thick green slime and reeking.

Florida DEP's Tampa office faces reorganization, staff cuts
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Three weeks ago, the largest regional division of the state Department of Environmental Protection got a new boss, Mary Yeargan.

Former water district director points upstream for cause of Apalachicola Bay's seafood woes
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been keeping a big federal reservoir on the Chattahoochee River relatively full while Florida has been receiving minimum flows downstream on the Apalachicola River, according to a former Florida state official.

EDUCATION

Education climate reaches new lows as Scott tours state
By Kelly Price
WUFT Gainesville
One week ago, Gov. Rick Scott embarked on a state-wide “listening tour” to talk with Florida’s teachers, parents and students amid state- and nationwide concern about education sparked by the Chicago teachers’ strike.

Scott school funding effort could require juggling
By Jim Saunders and Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
After a weeklong education tour, Gov. Rick Scott put down a marker Friday night: He wants to avoid funding cuts for public schools next year — and would like to boost spending, if possible.

Broward School District wants answers on merit pay
By Karen Yi
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida's merit pay law won't take effect until 2014, but Broward County school leaders are already voicing concern about where the funding will come from.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Buying jobs in dark is costly state policy
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Foul-smelling disaster is not how this Hollywood script was supposed to end, but then this isn't Hollywood.

Food-stamp cut makes no moral or practicel sense
By Jac Versteeg
Palm Beach Post
Too many members of Congress display an ugly eagerness to cut programs that help the poor.

11 counties with military installations receive grants
Associated Press
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott says $850,000 in grants will be awarded to 11 Florida communities with military installations.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Young voters face conflicting visions of Social Security's future
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Today's young adults face a future of higher taxes or lower benefits to keep Social Security afloat by the time they retire.

Paul Ryan's big plan: freedom from help
By Robyn E. Blumner
Tampa Bay Times
The Medicare "death panels" bogeyman is back, reintroduced by, of all people, Rep. Paul Ryan, the man who would transform the Medicare entitlement.

Don’t rear children in nursing homes
Editorial
Miami Herald
The state can be a savior for children whose families face challenges in raising them. But it can be a lousy parent, too.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Jacksonville case raises issue of juvenile defendants
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A decade before he was charged with murder, a 2-year-old Cristian Fernandez was found naked and dirty, wandering a South Florida street.