FEATURED
STORIES
Early voting limits motivated Democrats, minorities to turn out
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: Feds should investigate Florida’s 2011 election law
Pizza, popsicles and port-a-potties may have helped secure the decisive win for President Barack Obama and other Democrats in Florida.
Full menu of issues awaits Legislature
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Ocala Star-Banner
A new budget, coping with federal health care reform and the cost of a college education in Florida are among the issues Florida lawmakers will be dealing with as they return to Tallahassee this week to begin preparing for their 2013 session.
Fiscal cliff poses hazards for Florida
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
For Florida, falling off the "fiscal cliff" would wipe out more than 130,000 jobs, stifle consumer spending and raise taxes for just about everyone who pays them.
Gov. Rick Scott's panel goes soft on ALF industry, critics say
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott used tough language in the summer of 2011 when he created a panel to help fix the deadly abuse and neglect in Florida assisted living facilities.
Court blocks release of 'salacious' report in Jim Greer case
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Floridians will have to wait a little longer for details of that golf cart full of prostitutes.
To win in 2014, Florida Democrats must build on momentum
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Democrats just concluded their most successful Florida election cycle in more than three decades, not just delivering the state to President Barack Obama and re-electing Sen. Bill Nelson, but also picking up state House, state Senate and congressional seats.
EDITORIAL
CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Dana Summers
Orlando Sentinel
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Who is the real Charlie Crist?
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Now that he seems likely to seek office as a Democrat, former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is being accused by Republicans — and some Democrats — of hypocrisy and political opportunism.
Legislative bipartisanship may not last through the holidays
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Drink up, wayward partisans. Florida lawmakers may be striking a bipartisan tone as of late, but there are too many points of ideological contention for this camaraderie to survive intact beyond the holidays.
Ethics Commission- Tiger or Paper Tiger
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Stiffer ethical standards for elected officials are on the front burner for both new legislative leaders in the state capitol.
New Senate Gaming Committee plays the long game
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
A bill to bring large casinos to South Florida drew the glitzy and glamorous headlines this year, but ultimately went bust under the weight of heavy lobbying by entrenched and competing interests.
POLITICAL
RACES
Rick Scott-Charlie Crist race already under way
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Two years before he’s even on the ballot, Rick Scott is already the $5 million candidate.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Florida water rule a split decision for both sides
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
The federal Environmental Protection Agency's split decision on new water pollution rules for Florida gives both sides in the contentious debate over the issue something to cheer and jeer about.
Mitigation bank seeks to turn tables on environmental group challenging its permit
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A three-day hearing in a legal challenge to a permit for a wetlands mitigation bank in Clay County concluded Friday amid accusations that a statewide environmental group was doing the bidding of a competing wetlands bank in Duval County.
After the latest from Duke Energy, lawmakers need to step up for consumers
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
Let me see if I understand this correctly: Nuclear power plants are so danged expensive that utility companies must charge customers more than a decade in advance to pay for them.
Florida must repair its damaged springs
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's Republican leaders are ignoring threats to public health and the state's economic future with their indifference to the rapid deterioration of the state's natural springs.
EDUCATION
Failed charter school paid principal's husband $460K
By Lauren Roth
Orlando Sentinel
The failed Orange County charter school that gave its principal a payout of $519,000 in taxpayer dollars after closing in June also paid her husband more than $460,000 during a five-year period, audits show.
13th Grade: How Florida Schools Are Failing To Prepare Graduates For College
By Mc Nelly Torres and Lynn Waddell
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Florida’s K-12 public education system has graduated hundreds of thousands of students in the past decade who couldn’t read, write or solve math problems well enough to take some college-level courses.
Florida graduation rate jumps to 74.5 percent, dropout rate steady
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times
The Florida Department of Education announced this afternoon that the four-year high school graduation rate for the class of 2012 is 74.5, and that the 3.9 percentage point jump was the highest in nearly a decade.
Fairness of teacher evaluation system debated
By Christopher O'Donnell and Gabrielle Russon
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Palmetto Elementary School teacher Sarah Winn was rated a highly effective teacher for 2011-12.
Ex-finalist among Fla. education chief applicants
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
A college administrator, professor and businessman who had been a finalist for the job last year was among about 50 applicants for Florida state education commissioner as the deadline approached Friday.
Creativity, flexibility required for Gov. Scott's tuition challenge, SCF officials say
By Katy Bergen
Bradenton Herald
Gov. Rick Scott's challenge to Florida community and state colleges Monday circulated quickly through the education world.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Gov. Rick Scott headed to Colombia with huge delegation to promote Florida business
By Steve Bousquet and Toluse Olorunnipa
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott heads to Colombia today to drum up business with Florida's second-largest trading partner, his seventh overseas trip since taking office.
Gov. Scott visits Airdyne Aerospace to celebrate its success at Hernando County Airport
By Logan Neill
Tampa Bay Times
Three years ago, Ross Neyedly launched Airdyne Aerospace Inc., in a leased, 6,000-square-foot hangar at the Hernando County Airport.
State wants local jobs agencies under one brand
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
State labor officials want to unify Florida's regional jobs agencies under a single brand to reduce confusion and raise the profile of the federally funded system.
Feds deny Sandy disaster aid to Florida
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Federal officials have denied Gov. Rick Scott’s request for financial help to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy, including $9.1 million for eroded beaches in Palm Beach County.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Graham tells state to hop on health act
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
The governor and legislative leaders may be uncertain about whether Florida should embrace the Affordable Care Act and its expanded insurance coverage, but Bob Graham says it's a no-brainer.
Marie: a little girl’s death by bureaucratic callousness, medical neglect
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
Even after Marie Freyre died alone in a nursing home 250 miles from the family that loved her, Marie’s mother had to fight to bring her home.
Hospitals: The cost of admission
By Steve Kroft
60 Minutes
If you want to know why health care costs so much in this country, consider this, it's estimated that $210 billion a year -- about 10 percent of all health expenditures -- goes towards unnecessary tests and treatments and a big chunk of that comes right out of the pockets of American taxpayers in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments.
Not-for-profit hospitals win court fight over trauma centers
Staff Report
Florida Current
Judges with the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled Friday in favor of four urban not-for-profit hospitals that challenged how the state approves new trauma centers.
CIVIL
RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Even with bipartisan support, immigration overhaul won’t be easy
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
U.S. Rep Alcee Hastings, a Democrat, isn’t worried Republicans will reject a comprehensive overhaul of immigration law in the next Congress. In fact, his fear is just the opposite.
More attention, resources focusing on homeless college students as numbers rise
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
Over the summer, Nikki Maclaren sat down at her computer and opened a browser.
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