Daily News Clips for October 24, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Privacy clause is at center of Amendment 6 debate
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Excerpt: Amendment 6 opponents say consequences could be far-reaching if it passes and these privacy protections evaporate…"Certain people could be targeted, and having certain aspects of their health care taken away," said Damien Filer, who works for Progress Florida, and is serving as a spokesman for the "Vote No on 6" campaign. "Who knows if we're opening a floodgate to just about anything?"

FEATURED STORIES

Florida early voting starts Saturday, with wide variations in hours across the state
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Early voting in Florida begins Saturday, nearly a week later than past years — and with wide variations in hours from county to county.

Obama fires up Delray
By Maria Herrera
South Florida Sun Sentinel
President Barack Obama delivered an incendiary speech at The Delray Beach Tennis Center Tuesday, imploring a throng of supporters to let him finish the job he started four years ago.

Obama Holds Narrow Edge Over Mitt Romney With Presidential Election Two Weeks Away: Poll
By Andy Sullivan
Reuters
President Barack Obama pulled slightly ahead of Republican Mitt Romney in a Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll on Tuesday, but the race remained essentially tied with two weeks to go until the Nov. 6 election.

Bogus letters target Florida Republican voters
By Adam C. Smith and Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Division of Elections and state law enforcement officials are investigating reports from at least 24 counties — including Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas — that eligible voters have received bogus letters saying they have been flagged as suspected noncitizen voters.

Scott to announce education package this week
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
After weeks of meeting with students, teachers, parents and school administrators, Gov. Rick Scott is set to announce his "College and Career First" education plan for the 2013 legislative session.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Gov. Rick Scott isn't calling for investigation into Citizens yet
By Toluse Olorunnipa and Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday that he is open to having an investigation into the recent firings of Citizens Insurance's entire Office of Corporate Integrity, though he stopped short of calling for the immediate inquiry that some good governance groups have asked for.

Bondi, Scott won’t say whether they support the justices
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Two of Florida’s top Republican leaders today refused to take a position on whether they support the retention of three Florida Supreme Court justices who face an up-or-down vote on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Gov. Scott calls for study of texting drivers
By Kathleen Haughney
South Florida Sun Sentinel
A new report that traffic fatalities are up by four percent this year has top state officials taking a closer look at texting while driving.

Is Florida's delegation the wackiest?
By Kate Nocera
Politico
Scandal-plagued politicians, partisan firebrands and sequined hats: The Sunshine State has it all.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama launches 2-day blitz; Romney also ups pace
By Ben Feller
Associated Press
Locked in a stubbornly tight race, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are demonstrating the urgency of the campaign's final stretch, with the incumbent alone set to cover 5,300 miles in the busiest single day of his re-election bid.

Romney looks to Pensacola to help win Florida
By Louis Cooper
Pensacola News Journal
Pensacola is in line for Republican love this weekend, GOP officials confirmed Tuesday.

Former Congressman Wexler says Jewish voters will stick with Obama
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Former South Florida Democratic Congressman Robert Wexler of Boca Raton, now president of the Washington-based S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, disputes GOP claims that many Jews who voted for President Obama will not vote him this time due to rocky relations with Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other missteps.

Romney's shifting stands
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Mitt Romney has reinvented himself in the closing days of the campaign as a measured leader whose steady hand as commander in chief would rebuild America's standing in the world.

Sen. Bill Nelson stumps for votes on Rep. Connie Mack’s turf
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Democrat Bill Nelson visited family grave sites Tuesday and reminisced about his bonds to rural North Florida in campaign stops steeped in the past but designed to assure his future in Washington.

Mack's political philosophy shaped by his father
By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
Related: Mack calls for defunding the United Nations
Almost as soon as Congressman Connie Mack IV started running for Senate, his Republican primary opponents and Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson began attacking his character, pointing at a bar fight, a separate bar arrest and road rage incidents from his 20s.

Pugnacious Grayson seeks to bury little-known foe
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
In Congress or on the campaign trail, it's often not enough for Alan Grayson to win. He has to win big. For proof, look no further than his campaign for Florida's 9th Congressional District.

Attorneys battle for SD 14 seat
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Two trial attorneys are vying for the Senate District 14 seat in Central Florida that snakes from eastern Orlando south through Kissimmee and into Haines City.

Veteran officeholder Gibson faces newcomer in Florida Senate election
By Adam Kealoha Causey        
Florida Times-Union
Getting Northeast Floridians to work is a top priority for the incumbent and a political newcomer in the race for state Senate District 9.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Separation of church and state at the heart of Amendment 8
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In many ways, Amendment 8 boils down to this: When Jerod Powers, 38, left prison in Jacksonville, he had only a change of clothes, his release papers and pocket change.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Putnam urges closer scrutiny of state land management assignments, raises doubts about land-buying
Staff Report
Florida Current
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on Tuesday urged the state to review which agencies are managing particular tracts of state land and he expressed concerns about spending more money on buying conservation land.

BP seeks spill deal for relief from class-action suit
By Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
Oil giant BP has asked a federal judge to disregard objections from a fraction of claimants and give final approval to a proposed multibillion-dollar settlement over economic damages from the Gulf oil spill.

Florida's environmental clock
By Barbara Ferguson
Gainesville Sun
Florida is looking like a clock, a clock of environmental disaster in all directions.

Sandy could bring rain to South Florida by weekend; storm watch issued for waters off Palm
By Sonja Isger, Alexandra Seltzer and Ana M. Valdes
Palm Beach Post
A brush with Tropical Storm Sandy could bring 1 to 3 inches of rain to parts of South Florida on Thursday and Friday, as well as rain squalls and wind gusts of up to 60 mph in some coastal areas, forecasters at the National Weather Service in Miami said.

LGBT

New contract: Boca agrees not to discriminate against gays, lesbians
By Anne Geggis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The Boca Raton City Council Tuesday approved a contract with Palm Beach County with a provision that says the city will not discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual preference, gender identity or gender expression.

EDUCATION

Undo race-based goals, Florida PTA urges State Board of Education
By Jeff Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida PTA has joined the chorus of organizations and leaders calling upon the State Board of Education to rethink its strategic plan that sets achievement goals based on races.

Educators Push for Bully-Free Florida
Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and Florida educators are being asked to take a pledge to stand up for bullied students.

SCF's Hafner appears poised for exit
By Christopher O'Donnell
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
It's not quite the end for State College of Florida President Lars Hafner, but now it is likely just a matter of days.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Why Florida Is Sitting on $300 Million Meant to Help Homeowners
By Cora Currier
ProPublica
Florida has the highest percentage of home loans in foreclosure in the country. So why is more than $300 million that could help homeowners sitting unused?

Florida slams on brakes, delays action on license plate makeover
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau       
Florida hit the brakes Tuesday and delayed a redesign of its license plates, sparing Gov. Rick Scott a clash with county tax collectors.

State debt to decline again this year
News Service of Florida:
Florida Times-Union
Florida will report in December that it has significantly reduced its outstanding debt for the second year in a row, and that continued refinancing of outstanding debt will save more than $1 billion on future interest payments, the state's top bond finance official said Tuesday.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Uninsured kids’ rate dips
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Florida is making great progress in getting children enrolled in health insurance, according to a report released Tuesday.

Another meningitis case confirmed
By James Call
Florida Current
Florida health officials said Tuesday the number of Floridians infected with fungal meningitis continues to rise. 

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

US Supreme Court upholds stay of execution in Fla.
By Tamara Lush and Curt Anderson
Associated Press
Following a slew of conflicting court rulings, a federal appeals court has blocked the scheduled execution of a mass killer convicted of eight killings that jolted South Florida in the 1970s. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the stay.

In fatal shooting, did Stand Your Ground law apply?
By Shannon McFarland
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A man who killed his stepfather by shooting him 14 times in April was in court on Tuesday arguing that it was self-defense, and that he should be protected by Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law.