Daily News Clips for September 10, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

President Barack Obama, Mitt Romney fixated on Florida for next two months of presidential campaign
By Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
President Barack Obama — buoyed by higher poll-numbers after his Democratic party’s convention — journeyed to Florida for a two-day swing, bouncing from Tampa Bay to Central Florida on Saturday, and then the Space Coast and West Palm Beach on Sunday.

Obama kicks off Florida tour at fired-up rally in Pinellas
By Adam C. Smith, Anna M. Phillips and Kameel Stanley
Tampa Bay Times
What better way for Barack Obama to kick off a bus tour along Florida's swing voter corridor than with a robust man hug from Charlie Crist?

‘Go forward with me,’ President Obama urges supporters in West Palm Beach, Melbourne
By Andrew Abramson and George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Invoking Bill Clinton and touting a new Medicare study by a Democratic-leaning group, President Obama wrapped up a two-day Florida campaign swing Sunday by urging an energetic crowd of about 6,000 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center to “go forward with me.”

Florida voters facing a long, long ballot in November
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Brace yourselves, Florida voters: The election ballot you'll see this fall is longer than ever.

Voided rule prompts voter-registration rush
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
Tampa Tribune
With a voter-registration restriction lifted by a judge, those who register and educate voters are back on the streets and at their tables in front of supermarkets — and even in buses and on airplanes — trying to increase turnout at the polls.

Scott hurting Floridians by being a sore loser on health care law
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Democrats are defending the Affordable Care Act more effectively.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

A Florida tale of guns ’n’ voters
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
If Josef Sever had just been satisfied with illegally buying guns and obtaining a concealed-weapons permit in Florida, he might never have gotten caught.

Florida Democrats - and maybe Charlie Crist - approaching 2014 governor's race gingerly
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
Even as Florida Democrats gathered here to nominate President Barack Obama for re-election, they were still mindful of a target closer to home: Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Rubio's star could be rising to top
By Kingsley Guy
South Florida Sun Sentinel
If there was any doubt left that Sen. Marco Rubio has what it takes to someday have his name on the GOP's national ticket, he erased it with his bravura performance introducing Mitt Romney at his party's national convention in Tampa.

In FBI probe, Rep. David Rivera’s pal goes on lam, has computer seized
By Manny Garcia and Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A key witness in a federal investigation involving U.S. Rep. David Rivera failed to show up for an interview with prosecutors and the FBI one day after agents raided her Miami apartment and removed her computer, cellphone and other items.

POLITICAL RACES

The fall brawl begins in 10 battleground states
By David Lightman
Miami Herald
Get ready for an all-out brawl in 10 too-close-to-call battleground states as President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney begin a two-month sprint to Election Day.

Obama tells Central Florida crowd: 'Choice between two different paths'
By Jacob Carpenter
Naples Daily News
A laid-back President Barack Obama stopped Saturday in two key Central Florida regions that propelled him to victory in 2008, reiterating his economic plans and championing his health-care overhaul while criticizing Republican opponents for offering too few details on jump-starting the job market.

Former president Bill Clinton to speak at FIU on Tuesday, but you’ll need a ticket
Staff Report
Miami Herald
Fresh from his well-received speech at the Democratic National Convention, former president Bill Clinton will campaign in Miami-Dade on Tuesday for President Barack Obama.

Winners and losers of the 2012 Democratic National Convention
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Winners: Gabby Giffords. The former Arizona congressswoman who was shot in the head last year in a mass shooting took the stage Thursday to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Outlook bleak for voter turnout
By Ledyard King
Tallahassee Democrat
For Florida Democrats, it’s clearly not 2008.

Florida Senate race a tough one to assess
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Some political experts are having a tough time assessing Florida’s U.S. Senate race.

Democratic Senate candidates attacked by a group with a liberal name but Republican links
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
A Republican-linked group operating under a liberal-sounding name is targeting Democratic candidates in competitive state Senate races around Florida.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Studies differ on impact as sick-time debate heads to commission Tuesday
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Dueling sick-time proposals will go to Orange County commissioners Tuesday, and the battle may turn on economic-impact studies that alternately tout the benefits and pitfalls facing businesses and workers.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Fla will get nearly $1M to restore longleaf pines
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Florida Forest Service will receive nearly $1 million to restore thousands of acres of longleaf pines in the Florida Panhandle.

LGBT

Three states oppose federal anti-gay marriage law
Associated Press
Miami Herald
The Vermont attorney general says the state has joined New York and Connecticut in asking a federal appeals court to rule the federal law that fails to recognize gay marriage as unconstitutional.

EDUCATION

Scott to launch listening tour on education
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott, who has adopted a rollercoaster approach to public school funding his first two years, announced Saturday that he’s embarking next week on a listening tour across Florida on education.

High-stakes testing wastes our time, money and talent
By Rick Roach
Orlando Sentinel
Scoring in bowling is pretty easily understood.

Teachers union, district spar over ‘job security’ issue that stems from new merit-pay system
By Jason Schultz
Palm Beach Post
The union representing Palm Beach County public school teachers wants some sort of job security that would prevent the school district from “firing good teachers for no reason” once the merit pay system passed by the state Legislature takes effect.

Board of Education remains in hunt for new state commissioner
By James Call
Florida Current
The search for a new Florida Education Commissioner is on a fast track, but the search firm hired to screen potential candidates may ask for more time.

Stop the erosion
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Following this week's announcement that two Florida community colleges — Santa Fe and Broward — are ranked among the top 10 finalists for the prestigious Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, Gov. Rick Scott said "these two colleges have shown that they are a dynamic part of Florida's efforts to build a solid economy."

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Hiring slows in August, putting pressure on Fed
By Paul Wiseman and Christopher S. Rugaber
Associated Press
American employers cut back sharply on hiring last month, crushing hopes that the job market was improving and putting more pressure on the Federal Reserve to give the sluggish economy another jolt.

Enterprise Florida's secrecy, crony deals
By Dan Krassner
Tampa Bay Times
Enterprise Florida, the state's official economic development organization, claims it has been "creating jobs and economic wealth for Floridians."

State to rein in lavish travel spending at Citizens
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related editorial: Citizens' corporate welfare puts consumers on hook
Looking to repair its battered public image, the board of directors of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. announced Friday that it is clamping down on excessive travel spending by its corporate executives.

In Sugar Price Supports, Sour Tastes for Consumers
By Amy Green
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Behind every candy bar and can of soda is a complex government program of import tariffs and farmer loans establishing the price of sugar.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida’s way: Nursing home profits trump sick kids’ special needs
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
The feds just don’t understand how we do business down here in Florida.

Medicare Vouchers Would Shatter Safety Net
By Pierre Tristam
Florida Voices
When Paul Ryan produced his Medicare reform plan a little over a year ago, he was just a congressman from Wisconsin, but he had what his fellow-Republicans have had trouble formulating: ideas.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

After gaining his freedom, immigrant pushes others to keep fighting
By Anna Edgerton and Veit Medick
Miami Herald
Claudio Rojas was so desperate for his freedom at one point that he felt only God could help.

Tuition double standard deserves to fall
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
When a Florida Senate committee rejected an effort earlier this year to stop charging higher out-of-state tuition to the American-born children of Florida's illegal immigrant residents, it embodied the worst anti-immigrant elements of the Republican Party.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

State Supreme Court hears arguments in controversial state pension fund case
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments Friday in a case that could determine whether state legislators face another $2 billion budget hole next year, or state workers will see their salary cuts retained.