Daily News Clips for January 21, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

President Barack Obama starting second term on aggressive pace
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: The second inauguration of President Barack Obama
Gray temples and a strained face revealed old struggles, but when President Barack Obama entered the East Room last week for a news conference closing out his first term, he showed an aggressive streak that could define the second.

48 years after MLK march, voting rights still vulnerable
CNN
By Nicolaus Mills
I carry in my mind a picture of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the beginning of the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march on March 21, 1965.

Analysis: 201,000 in Florida didn't vote because of long lines
By Scott Powers and David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
The long Election Day lines around Florida may have turned away more than 200,000 frustrated would-be voters who gave up and went home before they cast ballots — or else saw the lines and elected not to join them.

Florida Democrats work to invigorate voters for 2014
By William March
Tampa Tribune
"Voter dropoff" – two simple words that scare the Florida Democratic Party.

Gov. Rick Scott appointing fewer black judges than predecessors Jeb Bush, Charlie Crist
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott is on pace to appoint fewer African-Americans to judgeships in Florida than either of his two predecessors, Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

Major ethics bill unveiled in Tallahassee
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Senate leaders filed a sweeping ethics reform package late Friday in an attempt to close dozens of loopholes in state laws.

Florida's clout culture on a collision course with ethics reform
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Related column: Ethics reform in Legislature? Be still, my heart
Want a short primer on why the Florida Legislature is steaming toward ethics reforms this year?

Campaign Finance Should be Local and Transparent
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Florida’s legislature has started its committee meetings in advance of the 2013 legislative session.

Obama inaugural address sets stage for looming policy fights
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
President Barack Obama has prepared a second inaugural address that broadly lays out his vision for the country's future, setting the stage for looming debates over taxes, guns, immigration and other issues while leaving the details for another day.

Crist plans to attend inauguration, White House reception
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: In second term, Obama must demand more of Democrats
Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democratic former Gov. Charlie Crist is heading to Washington for President Barack Obama’s second inaugural.

Crist won't reveal 2010 gubernatorial choice
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
It seemed a fairly basic question for a fellow considering running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination: Back in 2010, when Charlie Crist was running for the U.S. Senate without party affiliation, did he vote for Democratic nominee Alex Sink for governor or for Rick Scott, of the GOP's tea party wing?

POLITICAL RACES

With West forgoing rematch, GOP has no clear early favorite to oppose Patrick Murphy in 2014
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
With former Rep. Allen West focused on his new online TV gig and ruling out a 2014 rematch against U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, there’s no slam-dunk early favorite candidate for the GOP in a swing district that national Republicans say will be a priority next year. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Politics mustn't bog down Everglades progress
By Bill Maxwell
Tampa Bay Times
You cannot overestimate the value of Everglades National Park. Unlike other parks that were created for their scenery, Everglades was established to preserve the 1,542,526-acre ecosystem as a wildlife habitat, with surface water as its most important resource and lifeline.

Science conference focuses on Gulf oil spill
By Janet McConnaughey
Associated Press
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who was in charge of cleaning up BP's 2010 oil spill, will be the keynote speaker at an international scientific conference about the Gulf of Mexico.

EDUCATION

Gov. Rick Scott's involvement in UF president decision under review
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The accrediting organization for colleges and universities is looking into Gov. Rick Scott's involvement in the University of Florida's presidential search.

Obama's funding priorities for K-12 education unclear at start of second term
By Adam Kealoha Causey
Florida Times-Union
President Barack Obama starts his second term as Florida continues to phase in Common Core State Standards.

FAMU Hires Anti-Hazing Czar, Recovers Fumble
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
At FAMU the week started with a botched negotiation with a band director candidate.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Job creation lagged in 2012
By Emily Roach
Palm Beach Post
Florida’s job market lurched to the end of the year with another downturn in hiring offset by an improvement in the unemployment rate.

Tallahassee lawmaker proposes 7 percent pay raises for state workers
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
A Florida House member representing tens of thousands of state employees -- who haven't had a general pay raise in six years -- filed a bill Friday to give all state workers a 7 percent pay hike.

Rep. Mike Fasano calls for Citizens Insurance board to resign
Staff Report
Tampa Bay Times
State Rep. Mike Fasano on Friday called for the immediate resignation of all seven board members of Citizens Property Insurance in the wake of a critical Florida Inspector General's report on excessive travel costs at the state-run insurer.

State wants bad $20M investment in movie company back
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Call it another unfortunate plot twist in an already upsetting script.

Small counties protest loss of work crews
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Faced with a revenue shortage projected at in the tens of millions, the state prison system is limiting the number of labor crews being sent out to do chores for local governments, sparking a protest from cash-strapped small counties across Florida.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

New data analysis will inform lawmakers' Medicaid decision
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Florida policymakers are facing a multibillion-dollar dice-roll over whether to capitulate to President Barack Obama and dramatically swell the size of the Medicaid health-care program.

Abortion Rights Law Turns 40: Most Americans Want to Keep it Legal
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
The Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States, Roe versus Wade, turns 40 this week and a new poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life finds most Americans - 63 percent - want to keep abortions legal.

UnitedHealthcare, BayCare Health System Reach Agreement
By Scott Finn   
Health News Florida
The feud between one of the Tampa Bay region's biggest insurers and one of its largest health care providers is over.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Gun makers feast on Florida tax breaks
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
What do violent video games, gory movies and high-powered assault weapons have in common?

Take a page from King's playbook on gun law changes
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Related column: Pistol-packing poltroons owe Obama family an apology
Today's holiday honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. comes at a critical juncture in the nation's soul searching over nonviolence and civil rights.

On flaky professors and nutty ideas
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
As of this writing, conspiracy flake James Tracy still has a job teaching at Florida Atlantic University, despite having stated the following: “While it sounds like an outrageous claim, one is left to inquire whether the Sandy Hook shooting ever took place — at least in the way law enforcement authorities and the nation’s news media have described.”

Guns and health
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
It's embarrassing that Florida is developing a reputation for ill-conceived laws involving guns.

Felons should have civil rights automatically restored
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The highly restrictive rules limiting felons' voting in Florida that were put in place two years ago at the urging of Attorney General Pam Bondi are having their predictable effect.