Daily News Clips for December 11, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Activist Groups Challenge ALEC's Power in Tallahassee (audio story)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Tampa
We’re joined now by Damien Filer who is with Progress Florida – which in the next few months – will be trying to limit ALEC’s influence in Tallahassee. Both Progress Florida and Florida Watch Action are keeping tabs on ALEC.

FEATURED STORIES

Florida elections chief defends voting laws as he begins listening tour
By Bill Varian
Tampa Bay Times
Hillsborough County election officials articulated some of the same points as voter rights advocates when asked Monday how to solve long lines and improve the democratic process at Florida's polls.

Now a Democrat, Crist weighs run for governor
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Now that he has formalized his switch to the Democratic Party, former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist said Monday he’s weighing a 2014 bid for governor and, if he runs, would leave it “up to the people” to judge the sincerity of his partisan conversion.

Dems plan to tap voter database
By William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Chances are good that President Barack Obama's extensive campaign database knows a lot about you.

Marco Rubio and the Coming Conservative Revolt
By Jonathan Chait
New York Magazine
In the immediate wake of the election, Republicans felt so stunned — in no small part because they had deluded themselves into expecting victory — that it seemed momentarily possible that the party’s long march to the right may halt or even reverse.

Report on Dozier School raises new questions about deaths
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
About100 boys may have died between 1900 and the 1970s at a controversial youth prison in the Florida Panhandle, including seven boys who perished following escape attempts, according to a new report that raises troubling questions about the now-shuttered Dozier School for Boys.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Fierce fight may divide Florida House Democrats
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Republicans choose their Tallahassee leaders years in advance because ambition won't wait and eight-year term limits have sped up the pace.

South Florida pols sticking to party lines on fiscal cliff
By Erika Bolstad
Miami Herald
Don’t expect South Florida’s congressional delegation to stray too far from party lines when it comes to dancing on the edge of the fiscal cliff, the end-of-the-year spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect if Congress and the president don’t address them.

Democrats use robo calls to pressure Florida Republicans on taxes
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Democrats are running robo calls in four Florida congressional districts, trying to pressure Republicans into allowing a vote on extending Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class but not upper income families.

35K Sign Secession Petition
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
More than 35-thousand people have signed a petition calling for Florida to secede from the union.

Gov. Scott wants Citizens Insurance to have inspector general
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Saying the citizens of Florida need assurances that their money is being spent correctly, Gov. Rick Scott wants Citizens Property Insurance to have its own inspector general.

POLITICAL RACES

A Charlie Crist Bid For Gov 2014: What That Could Mean For Dem Candidates
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
Related: Could A Charlie Crist Run Be Florida GOP Secret Weapon?
Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist is officially a Democrat.

5 reasons Charlie Crist should run for governor, 5 reasons he shouldn't
By Adam C. Smith and Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
It was the biggest piece of thoroughly unsurprising news in months: Charlie Crist is becoming a Democrat.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Bill repealing ethanol requirement is back despite law change that passed in 2012 session
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A bill that would repeal a state requirement that gasoline contain ethanol has been filed again.

Finally, precise rules on pollution to protect Florida waters
Editorial
Bradenton Herald
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam delivered a positive message about the future of agriculture last week in Bradenton while pointing out the state must protect water quality -- "the biggest long-term issue facing Florida."

LGBT

Uphold marriage equality
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
By agreeing to hear two cases that challenge legal limits on same-sex marriage, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide whether gays and lesbians are entitled to fair treatment under the law.

EDUCATION

Good scores not enough to stop criticism of new evaluation system from Florida teachers, school districts
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
Justin Katz teaches Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Microeconomics to seniors at Park Vista High School.

Florida students wow the world with 'outstanding' reading-test results
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Florida students posted "outstanding" scores on a fourth-grade international reading test and more average marks on math and science exams, according to data released today.

Help for low-income schools
News Service of Florida
Florida Times-Union
School districts with a higher percentage of low-income students would receive additional funding from the state under a bill filed Monday by Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

9 Investigates Gov. Scott's trip to South America
Staff Report
WFTV Orlando
High in the Andes Mountain range, Colombia is a country that Gov. Rick Scott believes holds a key for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic growth and thousands of new jobs back here in Florida.

Unemployment system changes looming for claimants, employers
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Among the components of the ongoing "fiscal cliff" negotiations in Washington are the federal emergency unemployment benefits, which are set to expire on Dec. 29 for 2 million Americans -- including nearly 119,000 Floridians.

Drop in Florida unemployment masks glut of underemployed workers
By Jeff Harrington
Tampa Bay Times
Dominique Evans is ensnared in what has become a familiar job-market shuffle: trying to trade one part-time job for a slightly better part-time job.

Sink to lead Democratic group urging congressional action on tax cuts
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Just as Charlie Crist joins the Democrats and talk builds about his potential candidacy for governor in 2014, former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is raising her own profile.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Feds Will Likely Do Exchange 1st Year: Sen. Aaron Bean
By Lottie Watts
Health News Florida
The federal government will likely handle Florida’s health exchange the first year, but the second year is an open question, the state senator said.

Senate asks for public input on health care law
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
The Senate has launched a website seeking public input over the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act.

Feds Say 'No' To Partial Medicaid Expansion
By Julie Rovner
NPR
The Affordable Care Act, as passed by Congress in 2010, assumed that every low-income person would have access to health insurance starting in 2014. 

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Fla. ex-cop set for execution in 1986 killing of 9
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
A former Florida police officer was scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the murder of nine people in a 1986 rampage over three months.