Daily News Clips for September 25, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Florida justice warns of assault on the courts ‘through partisan politics’
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related column: An independent court is at stake in Florida
Related editorial: A blatant bid to politicize the courts
As the secretive campaign against the three Florida Supreme Court justices up for merit retention took shape Monday, one of the targeted justices warned that the future of the state’s independent judiciary was under threat.

GOP campaign against Florida justices draws fire from inside and outside the party
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Republican Party’s entry into a campaign to unseat three state Supreme Court justices drew fresh outrage Monday from supporters who said it endangers an independent judiciary.

Federal judge refuses to halt Florida early voting plan
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A federal judge refused Monday to halt Florida’s plan to cut the number of early voting days from 14 days to eight days.

Rep. Mike Horner resigns; his name linked to brothel
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Related: State Rep. Mike Horner's name found in documents of accused brothel owner
State Rep. Mike Horner, a Republican from Kissimmee, has abruptly resigned his seat in the Florida House following reports linking his name to a prostitution investigation in Central Florida.

Attorney: Jim Greer out of money; trial delayed until February
By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
An Orlando judge on Monday grudgingly once again delayed the fraud and theft trial of Jim Greer, the former chairman of the Florida GOP, saying a money dispute between Greer and the party he's accused of victimizing has ground the case to a halt.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Fear of voter fraud might trim rolls
By Joe Henderson
Tampa Tribune
Like most things that come out of the Florida Legislature, we were told House Bill 1355 would make things better.

From a shooting to shoplifting, David Rivera’s pal in FBI probe has checkered past
By Marc Caputo, Manny Garcia and Scott Hiaasen
Miami Herald
When Justin Lamar Sternad met Ana Sol Alliegro at a Miller’s Miami Falls Ale House, he didn’t know the political consultant would help lead his campaign into the FBI’s crosshairs or that she had prior legal run-ins — including the time she shot at her ex-husband while naked.

U.S. Rep. Bill Young says he's the victim of burglaries; police disagree
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young has been re-elected to Congress repeatedly since 1970.

Rick Scott's email in-box not for the timid
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott doesn't have time to read all the email he gets, and it's probably just as well.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama stimulus package divides Florida Forum participants
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
President Barack Obama's $787 billion federal stimulus package defines the difference in how Republicans and Democrats see economic recovery strategies, according to panelists in a "Florida Forward" forum Monday morning.

Polls: Obama has an edge over Romney on Medicare
CBS News
WTSP Tampa Bay
A series of polls released today and over the weekend show the presidential contest remains close but suggest President Obama may have an edge over Mitt Romney on the issue of who would best handle Medicare.

Romney bus rolls into town for 'Built by Us' rally
By Josh Cooper
Pensacola News Journal
A red, white and blue Romney for president campaign bus cruised around Pensacola on Monday, making stops meeting and greeting voters.

Why Mitt Romney and the Republican Party don't have support from black Americans
By Darryl E. Owens
Orlando Sentinel
The more you watch America's quadrennial political caucuses, the more it seems we're watching two distinct nations.

Romney’s “Goldwater Moment”
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Voices
Former U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings of South Carolina used to say, "There is no education in the second kick of a mule."

Mack pushes legislation that aids political backers
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Rep. Connie Mack IV cites his position as chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs among his foremost achievements during four terms in the House.

For these Florida Republicans, races are locked up but fundraising is not over
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
A luncheon at the exclusive Governor's Club seemed like a typical fundraiser any candidate would crave in a tight race.

Hukill's son gets $100,000 as campaign's consultant
By Derek Catron
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The District 8 state Senate race between Frank Bruno and Dorothy Hukill is one of the most competitive in the state, with money pouring into the campaigns from both donors and the state political parties.

Frankel attacks Hasner on support of Ryan’s budget plan
By Andrew Abramson
Palm Beach Post
Lois Frankel attacked opponent Adam Hasner’s support of the Ryan budget plan at the congressional candidates’ first joint appearance on Monday, saying the budget plan would cut services for “children of autism, and 90-year-old grannies in the nursing homes.”

BALLOT INITIATIVES

NO on Amendment 3, Which Would Freeze Florida in Failure
By Rich Templin
Sunshine State News
On Nov. 6, Florida voters will be asked to make many critical decisions in the voting booth which will impact all of our residents for generations.

Realtors move another $1.5 million into Amendment 4 pro-property tax campaign committee
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
State and national Realtors associations pumped another $1.5 million into a campaign pushing a constitutional amendment limiting property taxes mainly for nonhomestead property owners, bringing to $3.5 million the groups have raised so far, according to campaign finance records.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Florida Supreme Court sides with PSC, dismisses group's challenge to approval of conservation plans
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an environmental group's legal challenge against energy conservation plans approved for the state's two largest utilities.

Brevard County wetlands proposal offers test of revised state growth management laws
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in 1964 famously wrote of pornography, "I know it when I see it." 

EDUCATION

Pointing fingers in Florida's accountability and testing system
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Board of Education is preparing to pick a new education commissioner, one whom members have said they want to have firm grounding in the national "reform" movement that the state has played a large role in leading.

Florida SAT scores lag U.S. averages
By Michael Vasquez and Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
Florida’s SAT scores are inching upward — and more minority students are taking the exam — but the state continues to lag behind national averages, according to Class of 2012 results released on Monday.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Floridians who lost home to foreclosure to get claims notice
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Tens of thousands of Florida borrowers who have lost their home to foreclosure are about to get a packet in the mail that may mean they are eligible for a piece of the $25 billion national mortgage settlement.

Florida wants NASA land to develop commercial spaceport
By Irene Klotz
Reuters
With an eye toward developing a commercial spaceport, Florida is asking NASA to transfer 150 acres north of the space shuttles' former launch complex at Kennedy Space Center to Space Florida, the state's aerospace-development agency.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Not too late
Editorial
Miami Herald
As the effective date for the next major step in creating a public health insurance program nears, Florida’s residents are once again being left in the lurch by the state’s leaders, led by Gov. Rick Scott.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Jim Greer on RPOF's campaign against justices: 'Floridians should be scared to death'
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Americans for Prosperity to mount a campaign targeting Florida justices
At least one Republican doesn't like the GOP's decision to oppose the merit retention of three Florida Supreme Court judges.

GOP says Scott not involved in party drive to oust justices
News Service of Florida
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Lenny Curry, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said Monday that GOP Gov. Rick Scott had nothing to do with the party’s drive to oust three justices from the state Supreme Court.

Lawyers for murderer ask Gov. Scott to halt execution
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Lawyers for a Florida man say the state should halt his pending execution because he is likely insane.