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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Daily News Clips for October 25, 2012



FEATURED STORIES

Report from conservative legal group: Florida justices are not activist

By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
A Florida professor commissioned by the conservative Federalist Society to review controversial cases of the three Florida Supreme Court justices up for merit retention concluded Wednesday that some of the most loaded charges used by opponents against the justices are unfounded.

Obama resumes campaign marathon in Florida
By Ben Feller
Associated Press
President Barack Obama has resumed his campaign marathon in Florida, delivering doughnuts to a firehouse less than five hours after he wrapped up the previous day's campaigning in Las Vegas.

Women voters at heart of presidential candidates' fight
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
The stands behind the stage were jammed with women — white, black, Hispanic, Asian, college students, career moms and retirees — a striking visual reminder of President Barack Obama's advantages over Mitt Romney.

FBI launches investigation into fraudulent Florida voter letters
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The FBI confirmed Wednesday it is investigating fraudulent letters that falsely tell eligible Florida voters they may no longer be U.S. citizens and that they could go to prison if they cast a ballot in the Nov. 6 election.

$500,000 payout to charter principal sparks outrage, call for probe
By Lauren Roth
Orlando Sentinel
The principal of a failed Orange County charter school took home a check for more than $500,000 as the school closed down in June and is still being paid thousands of dollars a month to wrap up the school's affairs.

State ethics commission: David Rivera broke 11 ethics laws while serving in Florida Legislature
By Scott Hiaasen and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Already facing FBI probes and a daunting reelection, U.S. Rep. David Rivera was charged Wednesday by state authorities with 11 counts of violating ethics laws for filing bogus financial disclosure forms, misusing campaign funds and concealing a $1 million consulting contract with a Miami gambling business while serving in the state Legislature.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Copying bad Palm Beach County ballots will likely prevent repeat of 2000 election spotlight, experts say

By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach County residents who still remember the post-2000 election sting of being the butt of jokes from late-night comedians and smug out-of-state relatives, can relax.

Dorworth finances are tale of two accounting methods
By Scott Powers and Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
Last January, amid a bitter divorce dispute with his estranged wife, state Rep. Chris Dorworth told the court that he was worth negative $3 million.

POLITICAL RACES

President Obama arrives in Tampa as part of cross-country swing state campaign

By Marissa Lang
Tampa Bay Times
President Barack Obama arrived in Tampa around 7 a.m. Thursday morning, just as doors were scheduled to open for supporters attending a 9 a.m. rally in Tampa as part of his campaign's nonstop, two-day tour of swing states.

Polk County residents make positive, local case for Obama in new ad campaign
By Peter Schorsch
Saint Petersblog
Jack Banton from Lakeland and Shemmer Thomas from Bartow are each sharing their personal stories about why they’re voting for President Obama this election through 60-second, documentary-style commercial airings on cable television and online.

Charts: Women Are Backing Obama by the Binderfull
By Dave Gilson
Mother Jones
Earlier this week, the New York Times' Nate Silver wrote about the gaping "gender gap" at the heart of the presidential race, specifically the degree to which women are breaking for Barack Obama and men are breaking for Mitt Romney.

Ann Romney campaigns at Wright's Gourmet House in Tampa
By Molly Moorhead
Tampa Bay Times
Ann Romney swung through town Wednesday, greeting the lunch crowd at Wright's Gourmet House in South Tampa and chatting with volunteers.

Obama, Clinton to make Monday stop in Orlando
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
President Barack Obama will be coming to Orlando Monday, and he's bringing former President Bill Clinton with him.

Mack teams up with McCain at Tampa campaign stop
By Robbyn Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
In his quest to unseat Florida's Democratic senator, GOP U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV toured the state Tuesday with former presidential candidate John McCain, stopping in Tampa.

Webster touts his bipartisan abilities in Congress in seeking re-election
By Mark K. Matthews
Orlando Sentinel
The first test for U.S. Rep. Dan Webster came early in his rookie term, at a raucous town-hall meeting in south Orlando in 2011.

Val Demings moves from police to politics
By Mark Schlueb
Orlando Sentinel
Val Demings didn't set out to be a congressional candidate any more than she set out to be a police officer.

Campaign Profile: Sachs-Bogdanoff Senate race is No. 1 priority for both parties
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
About the only thing state Sens. Ellyn Bogdanoff and Maria Sachs agree on is that their race is the most expensive and important legislative contest in Florida this year.

Learn the issues and vote early
Editorial
Miami Herald
The 2012 ballot that South Floridians will face at the polls on Nov. 6 is a long one.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Amendment 8 draws reactions

By David A. Schwartz
South Florida Sun Sentinel
It's called the "religious freedom" amendment but opponents say that if Amendment 8 passes on Nov. 6, it would undermine religious freedom.

‘No on 6′ launches third TV ad against abortion-related amendment
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The “No on 6″ political committee, funded largely by Planned Parenthood organizations from around the country, launched a third television ad in Florida urging voters to reject a proposed constitutional amendment dealing with abortion.

Business tax cut amendment draws little attention
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Tucked near the end of a lengthy ballot that features contentious issues like abortion and the Supreme Court is a little-discussed business tax cut amendment hoping to make it into the state Constitution.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Air Force, Florida officials reach agreement on using state forests for military training

By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
State officials and the U.S. Air Force have signed an agreement to use Florida state forests for military training exercises.

EDUCATION

State proposal: Vary cost of college tuition by degree sought

By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
If you want to save money at Florida's universities, you may soon have to choose biology over ballet or engineering over English.

Pinellas schools superintendent wants to revisit controversial system of evaluating teachers
By Curtis Krueger and Cara Fitzpatrick
Tampa Bay Times
Responding to an outcry from teachers over a controversial new rating system, Pinellas school superintendent Mike Grego says it's time to revisit the program and possibly ask state lawmakers for changes.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Perfect storm threatens oysters, way of life in Panhandle county

By Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
Drought, a massive oil spill, a tropical storm and the state's long-running water war with a neighboring state have combined to put the Florida Panhandle seafood industry in crisis, threatening the $6.6 million seafood industry — and for many people here, a way of life.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

GOP Plan Would Cut Medicaid By $1.7 Trillion, Study Says

By Phil Galewitz
Kaiser Health News
The House Republican plan to repeal President Barack Obama’s health law and turn Medicaid into a block grant program would save the federal government $1.7 trillion from 2013 to 2022, a 38-percent spending reduction, according to a report today by the Urban Institute for the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Florida report: deaths from prescription drugs drop but street narcotics killing more
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi are crediting their efforts to crack down on pill mills with an 18 percent decline in accidental deaths from oxycodone overdoses and a 6 percent drop in prescription drug deaths statewide, signaling a reversal of a decade-long trend of rising prescription drug fatalities.

Over 1,000 got bad shots: DOH
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
As three more cases of fungal meningitis were confirmed in Florida on Wednesday, bringing the case count to 22, the state's top health official said the number of patients who were placed at risk by contaminated steroid injections was considerable: 1,038. 

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

'Stand your ground' law doesn't apply in shooting, judge rules

By Shannon McFarland
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A judge Wednesday denied the argument that a man who killed his stepfather by shooting him 14 times in April should get protection under Florida's “stand your ground” law.

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