Daily News Clips for December 19, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Qpoll: Scott’s popularity remains low, faces ‘herculean’ task to change voters’ minds
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
As Gov. Rick Scott prepares for a re-election bid in 2014, more than half of Florida’s voters say he doesn’t deserve a second term and Scott’s job approval rating remains low, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University.

Gov. Scott: Florida needs more early voting days
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Florida Gov. Rick Scott told CNN‘s Soledad O’Brien this morning that the state needs a longer early voting period after some voters, including those in Palm Beach County, waited up to eight hours to cast their ballots.

As nation moves ahead on gun control, Tallahassee in denial
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Nation cries out for reasonable gun laws
It came at an unfathomable cost. But across the nation, long-held political bargains that have pitted individual gun rights against broader public safety concerns are being re-examined after the loss of 20 innocent schoolchildren and six adults in Newtown, Conn.

Rubio, Nelson divided on assault weapons ban
By Ledyard King
Ft. Myers News-Press
Like many other parents still trying to absorb Friday’s mass shooting in Connecticut, Marco Rubio was more anxious than usual when he took his kids to school Monday.

House GOP focusing on fiscal cliff backup plan
By Alan Fram
Associated Press
Still short of a "fiscal cliff" deal with the White House, top House Republicans are laboring to rally their rank-and-file behind an alternative plan that would prevent looming tax increases for everyone but those earning over $1 million a year.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Florida's new license plate design announced
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Unlike presidential races in Florida, the counting of votes for the next state license plate ended on time Friday with — so far, at least — no threat of a recount.

Rick Scott Looks For Other Budget Transparency Options
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Gov. Rick Scott has announced that he will take a look at other possible budget transparency programs in Florida.

Bad return address on Christmas cards from Gov. Rick Scott's political committee
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
It is definitely not the Governor's Mansion. There are no stately white columns on the modest house 3 miles east of the state Capitol.

Sachs targets ECOs with bill to curb libelous political ads
By James Call
Florida Current
A South Florida senator wants tighter regulations on political electioneering communication organizations.

Santa's List for State Politicians: Naughty, Naughtier
By Peter Schorsch
Florida Voices
With Florida's politicians, it's not a question of who has been naughty and who has been nice, it's a matter of who's been naughty and who's been naughtier.

Legislative pay hikes disappoint, yet hope on other issues remains
Editorial
Bradenton Herald
When House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz assumed their new positions of power last month, both talked about a fresh bipartisan approach in their opening speeches.

For transparency in government
Editorial
Miami Herald
It’s disappointing, though not surprising, that Gov. Rick Scott decided last week to allow a budget tracking website that Florida taxpayers have already paid for to remain on the shelf while the state pursues new bidders for the project.

POLITICAL RACES

Fla. poll says Scott's re-election in jeopardy
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's chances for re-election are in jeopardy, a new poll shows.

Instant analysis: Key takeaways from today’s Quinnipiac poll of Rick Scott
By Peter Schorsch
Saint Petersblog
Related: Rick Scott committee now at $5 million raised for 2014 race
A new Quinnipiac poll finds Gov. Rick Scott’s job performance rating upside-down at 45% disapprove to 36% approve.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Wood storks no longer endangered species, say feds; Audubon disagrees
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
The wood stork, on the endangered list for more than 25 years, has bounced back, federal officials announced Tuesday.

UF researchers study manatee population, outlook
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
University of Florida researchers studying manatees say that despite a growth in population, their outlook remains risky.

Source of persistent Gulf sheen remains a mystery
By Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
Underwater inspections at the site of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig disaster have failed to identify the source of a persistent sheen on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, officials said Tuesday.

State gets 2nd Panhandle land deal as part of oil spill settlement
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Trust for Public Land has purchased and donated to the state a conservation easement on 2,336 acres in Walton County that is part of a larger private nature preserve. 

EDUCATION

Brevard legislators: Armed teachers worth considering
By Dave Berman
Florida Today
Should teachers bring guns to school along with their briefcases and lunch bags?

Orange leaders OK $3M for more deputies in elementary schools
By David Damron and Erica Rodriguez
Orlando Sentinel
Orange County commissioners voted 6-0 Tuesday to pay up to $3 million for full-time, armed deputies at elementary schools in its unincorporated areas until the end of the academic year in a move designed to quell campus fears after last week's mass killings in Newtown, Conn.

Legislators told of flaws in new teacher evaluations
By Joey Flechas
Gainesville Sun
Related editorial: The joke’s on us
Three state lawmakers got a chance to listen to Alachua County teachers talk about a controversial new state teacher evaluation system during a forum at Buchholz High School on Tuesday night.

13th Grade: What Florida Colleges Are Doing To Help More Students Complete Remedial Courses
By Lynn Waddell and John O’Connor
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Jamille Cunningham’s primary learning tool in her remedial reading course at St. Petersburg College is a computer program.

The Real Cost of Gov. Rick Scott's Education Proposal
By Pamela Newton
Huffington Post
A chill is running down the spines of English majors everywhere.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Gov. Rick Scott right that Florida economy soured under Charlie Crist but wrong to blame him
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald PolitiFact
Former Gov. Charlie Crist has the Florida political world buzzing about a potential face-off with Republican Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.

Black Business loan fund takes jobs agency to court over certification
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
The Black Business Investment Fund of Central Florida is suing the Department of Economic Opportunity for its refusal to certify the group as a Black Business Investment Corporation for the current fiscal year, denying the fund millions of dollars to loan to minority-owned businesses.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

'Gunshine State' Offers Mixed Reaction
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Don’t expect Friday’s massacre of first graders to nudge Florida in the direction of gun control, not even on assault weapons.

'If I'd Had To Wait Until 67 For Medicare, I'd Be Dead'
By Russ Mitchell
Kaiser Health News
Sam Lewis turned 65 in the nick of time. For a year, he'd been broke.

Dental care is a much needed part of overall health but isn't always affordable
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa
With or without insurance, dental care is often neglected in health care decisions because it’s so expensive. But good dental care is about more than just a pretty smile, it’s a vital part of overall health.

Moffitt To Employees: Flu Shot or Mask
By Lottie Watts
Health News Florida
When H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center asked its employees to get flu shots, only about 60 percent complied.

Miami-Dade owner of mental health chain pleads guilty to stealing millions from Medicare
By Jay Weaver
Miami Herald
Kept behind bars because of fears he might flee to Cuba, Armando “Manny” Gonzalez has pleaded guilty to stealing tens of millions of dollars from Medicare by fraudulently billing the taxpayer-funded program through a mental health chain in Miami-Dade and North Carolina.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Gun-control backers see domino effect on firms after Newtown school shootings
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Retailers, investors and Hollywood are reacting to the massacre of 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., in what gun control advocates are hoping will be a domino effect.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Fla. Attorney General wants reporter to testify
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is jumping into the twisting criminal case against a former aide to Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, asking that an appeals court force a newspaper reporter to testify for the prosecution.