Daily News Clips for October 18, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

State House District 62: Two Tampa natives with deep roots in the area are competing to represent this Democrat-leaning district
By Elisabeth Parker
Tampa Bay Times
Excerpt: Janet Cruz: "I was voted a champion of Florida's middle class (by Florida Watch Action, Progress Florida and America Votes) for my voting record in the 2012 session."

FEATURED STORIES

Feisty Senate debate between Bill Nelson, Connie Mack short on substance
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Breaking down Florida's U.S. Senate debate
Related: Politifact: Fact-checking Florida's U.S. Senate debate
Florida's sleepy U.S. Senate race saw a jolt of energy Wednesday night as Connie Mack IV came charging at Democrat Bill Nelson in their first and only televised U.S. Senate debate.

Absentee-ballot war: 500,000 Floridians have voted; Democrats slightly trail Republicans
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
In a sign of the intense interest in the presidential race, about 500,000 Floridians have already cast absentee ballots and that number is growing by the day.

In Conference Call, Romney Urged Businesses To Tell Their Employees How to Vote
By Mike Elk
In These Times
In a June 6, 2012 conference call posted on the anti-union National Federation of Independent Business’s website, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney instructed employers to tell their employees how to vote in the upcoming election.

Taking Women Backwards in Every Way
The Progress Report
Think Progress
The internet is abuzz with send ups of a comment about “binders full of women” that Mitt Romney made at last night’s presidential debate.

Take it from a doctor: Reject Amendment 6
By Nicole Fanarjian
Tampa Tribune
I'm not a politician or a newspaper editor. I am a doctor. I provide care to women — for all kinds of conditions.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Questions raised about legality of Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor’s plan to copy flawed absentee ballots
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
Lawyers for rival presidential candidates Mitt Romney and President Obama descended on the Palm Beach County Elections Office today, trying to find out what procedures would be in place next week to assure an estimated 27,000 absentee ballots that contain printing errors would be copied accurately.

Volusia elections supervisor: Ballot outsourcing 'failed miserably'
By Andrew Gant
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Volusia County tried outsourcing the printing and mailing of its absentee ballots for the first time this year. The results haven't been good.

Judge rejects Florida House primary challenge
By Tia Mitchell
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Both key witnesses at the center of the contested House District 107 race denied collecting fraudulent absentee ballots on behalf of the Miami Gardens Democrat who narrowly won the primary.

Making Fla. Ethics Laws Tougher Could Become A Reality
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
Florida leaders say they want to get tough on the state’s ethics laws for this upcoming legislative Session.

The Florida GOP targets the courts
By Winston P. Nagan
Gainesville Sun
Three justices of the Florida Supreme Court have been the target of the Florida Republican party.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama comes out swinging after debate
By Mark Felsenthal
Reuters
President Barack Obama hit rival Mitt Romney hard on women's issues as he headed back on the campaign trail on Wednesday after a spirited debate performance that re-energized his bid for a second term.

"47 Percent" Host and Get-Rich-Quick Schemers Holding Romney Fundraisers
By Andy Kroll
Mother Jones
In a move that brings the Romney camp precariously close to the location of the candidate's 47 percent blunder, the campaign is scheduled to rake in contributions at three invite-only fundraisers in Boca Raton, Florida.

Another debate, another viral phrase: 'Binders full of women'
Staff Report
Tampa Bay Times
This presidential debate season has spawned many talking points and instant Twitter handles.

Mitt Romney campaign stages 'Victory Town Hall for Seniors' in Leesburg
By Eloísa Ruano González
Orlando Sentinel
Iconic investor Charles "Chuck" Schwab rolled into Towne Square this afternoon to urge seniors to vote for GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Romney to join Ryan at campaign rally in Daytona Beach on Friday
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Mitt Romney‘s campaign announced tonight that the GOP nominee will join running mate Paul Ryan at a rally in Daytona Beach on Friday night.

Lynn prepares for media hordes covering debate
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
The final presidential debate Monday at Lynn University is about electing the next leader of the United States, but with an estimated 3,000 or more reporters, photographers and technicians from around the world coming to town, it’s also a media event.

Nelson, Mack spar in testy Senate debate
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Florida’s low-key U.S. Senate campaign got an hour of drama Wednesday as Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Connie Mack IV sparred in an attack-filled televised debate that will serve as the only face-to-face match-up of the campaign.

Democratic hopes fade in Volusia Senate race
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
With less than three weeks left until the Nov. 6 election, the Florida Democratic Party has yet to buy any advertising time on Orlando broadcast networks to promote Frank Bruno, the Volusia County politician once seen as one of the minority party's strongest Senate challengers.

RNC fundraising beats $55 million goal
By Ted Jackovics
Tampa Tribune
The 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee, the nonpartisan group that raised money to stage the Republican National Convention in Tampa, beat its $55 million fundraising goal by more than $880,000, according to documents filed late Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Amendment 5 Could Politicize Florida’s Highest Court
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
If Amendment 5 passes, members of the state Senate will have to confirm any Florida Supreme Court justice the Governor appoints from now on.

In Amendment 6 Campaign, Opponents Winning Fundraising Battle
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
More than two decades ago, Doris Rosen from Pasco County became a women’s rights activist.

Reject Amendment 6, which seeks to take privacy away from women, potentially cost them medical care
By B. J Star
TC Palm
The Florida Constitution grants generous civil rights to its citizens.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Developer pulls end run around St. Johns land use board
By Peter Guinta
Florida Times-Union
A wealthy developer could not get approval for his proposed 607-acre housing project in northwest St. Johns County, so he lobbied Gov. Rick Scott’s office to develop a legislative amendment that would apply only to his project, allowing him to build. And it worked.

FPL rate proposal challenged in state Supreme Court
By Jim Saunders
News Service of Florida
In a highly unusual move, a state consumer advocate asked the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday to block regulators from considering a controversial rate settlement proposed by Florida Power & Light.

EDUCATION

Florida Officials Defend Racial and Ethnic Learning Goals
By Lizette Alvarez
New York Times
When the Florida Board of Education voted this month to set different goals for student achievement in reading and math by race and ethnicity, among other guidelines, the move was widely criticized as discriminatory and harmful to blacks and Hispanics.

Girls and boys: Separate but educated
By Laura Isensee and Michael Vasquez
Miami Herald
Tenth-grader Brian Hollenbeck always gets two questions when he recruits other students to his school.

Ten more apply to become Florida education commissioner
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Another 10 applicants have joined the field seeking to become Florida's next education commissioner.

Proposal would charge lower tuition for majors in demand
By Nathan Crabbe        
Gainesville Sun
State university students in high-demand fields might end up paying lower tuition than their classmates under a plan being considered by the governor’s higher education task force.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Tax collectors fight state plan to outsource license-tag sales
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
County tax collectors in Florida are fighting a proposal by Gov. Rick Scott's highway safety chief to hire a private vendor to distribute millions of new license plates across the state.

Job openings touted, but how to fill them?
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott’s office and jobs agency issued press releases this week promoting an increase in both STEM-related (science, technology, engineering and math) and overall job openings, but one of the top tasks for lawmakers in the coming years is how to fill those jobs with Florida graduates.

Jobs agency offers cuts to workforce boards, development programs but not itself
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
As part of a hypothetical budget exercise requested by Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature, the Department of Economic Opportunity submitted nearly $8.6 million in cuts, mostly to federal workforce grants and economic development entities, but none to its own administration.

Port of Miami and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invite bids to deepen port
By James Call
Florida Current
The dredging project is part of Florida’s efforts to make Miami the first port of call for the larger ships expected to sail through an expanded Panama Canal.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

260 FL sites got suspect drugs
By Carol Gentry and Sarah Pusateri
Health News Florida
A third Floridian has died from contaminated steroid injections, and the number of Florida sites that received products from the now-infamous New England Compounding Center has tripled to 260, the state Department of Health said today.

Meningitis outbreak deaths rise to 3
By James Call
Florida Current
Florida health officials Wednesday reported a third death in a fungal meningitis outbreak associated with contaminated steroids.

Controlled Prescriptions: Rx For Drug Database
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
A recent push to provide state funding for Florida's prescription-drug database has been strong.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida Supreme Court: Schizophrenic Man Mentally Fit To Be Executed
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
Today, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a death-row inmate is mentally fit to be executed.

Politics and the Courts
Editorial
New York Times
The winner of the presidential election will have scores of federal judgeships to fill and the chance to shape the courts — even aside from potential Supreme Court vacancies should one or more of the current justices retire.