Daily News Clips for December 18, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

New gun restrictions proposed in Washington; resisted in Tallahassee
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Related AP story: Fla. lawmaker favors ending ban on guns in schools
Some longtime gun rights supporters in Congress acknowledged Monday that they were willing to discuss new restrictions as a result of the shooting rampage that killed 20 first-graders and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school on Friday.

Gun advocates just change the subject
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
Related: In massacre’s aftermath, will Congress act?
They need to change the subject. Turn the conversation away from questions about assault rifles and high-capacity magazines and 26 first-graders and teachers mutilated by high-velocity bullets on a cold Connecticut morning.

Florida Electors Officially Pick President Obama, VP Biden
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
Just as they did in all U.S. states, Florida’s presidential electors met to cast their official ballots on Monday.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist to testify in U.S. Senate about Florida election law
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will testify about the electoral process in Florida on Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington.

Q and A with: Charlie Crist
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Florida has always produced strange politics, but we've never seen anything like Charlie Crist.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida's political views on gun laws are complex, divergent
By Alex Leary and Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
Underscoring the politics in the debate following the Connecticut school massacre, Florida officials offered divergent views Monday, from stricter gun laws to arming teachers to focusing instead on mental health.

Castor calls for assault weapon ban, closing 'gun show loophole'
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Reacting to the Newtown massacre, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor says Congress should act immediately to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and close the "gun show loophole."

Florida Democratic Party chairman race down to two
News Service of Florida
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The decision by Annette Taddeo to withdraw from the race for Florida Democratic Party chair over the weekend has turned the race into a two-person battle, with Allison Tant of Tallahassee and Alan Clendenin of Tampa left to vie for the position.

Angry Over Gay Mayor's Election, Florida GOP Leader Wants To Stop College Kids From Voting
By Tim Elfrink
Miami New Times
When Craig Lowe won a run-off two years ago to become Gainesville's first openly gay mayor, many hailed it as a landmark of tolerance in conservative Central Florida.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Seafood workers fear more than drought is working against Apalachicola Bay
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Some Franklin County oystermen say Apalachicola Bay has endured droughts before but they've never one with the effects they're seeing now.

Everglades restoration options on table
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun Sentinel
After several restoration projects on the fringes of the Everglades, a state and federal team has begun work on a plan to revive the sawgrass sloughs and tree islands at the heart of the vast marsh.

Texas pumas save Florida panthers from extinction
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
A new study says breeding with Texas pumas has so far saved the Florida panther from extinction.

EDUCATION

Online-only university among Florida's options for more distance education
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida's 12th university became a reality earlier this year, and there is already discussion about whether the state needs a 13th.

Lawmaker to pull bill drastically changing Bright Futures
By Denise-Marie Ordway
Orlando Sentinel
The lawmaker who introduced a bill last week that would have drastically changed the state's popular Bright Futures scholarship program is withdrawing the measure, a legislative aide confirmed Monday.

13th Grade: Older, Returning Students Strain Florida’s Community and State Colleges
By Lynn Waddell and Mc Nelly Torres
StateImpact Florida
Pepper Harth has always loved music. After high school, she studied voice and acting in New York.

Jacobs calls for more officers in Orange elementary schools
By David Damron and Lauren Roth
Orlando Sentinel
Mayor Teresa Jacobs said Monday she wants to put more armed deputies in about 60 unincorporated Orange County elementary schools for the rest of the academic year, in reaction to the massacre in Newtown, Conn., last week.

New chief, old education game plan
By Darryl E. Owens
Orlando Sentinel
Florida last week tapped its fifth top educator in 18 months: former Indiana school chief, Tony Bennett.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

The politics of work
By Joy-Ann Reid
Miami Herald
At the heart of capitalism is a constant struggle between management and labor.

Scott Opening Florida Budget Website to All Bidders
Associated Press
Lakeland Ledger
Gov. Rick Scott is seeking competitive bids for a Florida budget website open to all citizens rather than renewing an existing contract that now excludes the public.

New policy talks continue between Citizens, insurance regulators
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
The deadline for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to respond to state regulators over a new homeowners policy came and went Monday, but little was resolved in the dispute over the rates for the new policy.

Close tax break loophole on for-profit home builders
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
When lawmakers in Tallahassee passed a special tax exemption in 2011 to help nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity build multifamily housing, their good intentions inadvertently created a massive tax break for private, for-profit developers.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Centers Had History of Abuse
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Two Florida centers that housed vulnerable populations -- adults with brain-damage, teen girls accused of delinquency -- had a long history of trouble before problems came to the attention of authorities, according to reports over the weekend.

FL Medicaid Doctors to get 105% Raise
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Florida is one of five states that pay primary-care doctors so little for treating Medicaid patients that those doctors will get a raise of more than 100 percent when a federal subsidy kicks in on Jan. 1, according to a new study.

We must rebuild our mental health system
By Mark J. Yacht
Gainesville Sun
Over the years I have written several published editorials emphasizing the need to reopen and adequately fund our nation’s mental hospitals.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

On second thought, bragging about Fla.’s 1M concealed weapons permits not such a good idea
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
Here’s a news conference I’d like to see this week: Hello, I’m Adam Putnam, Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Pizza-place shooter cites ‘stand your ground’ against complaining customer
By Kameel Stanley and Stephen Nohlgren
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law has been cited in hundreds of cases.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Scott appoints deputy secretary to head Florida Corrections
By David Royse
News Service of Florida
Florida Deputy Secretary of Corrections Michael D. Crews was promoted to secretary Monday by Gov. Rick Scott, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Ken Tucker.