Daily News Clips for February 20, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

What's It Like to Wake Up From a Tea Party Binge? Just Ask Florida!
By Stephanie Mencimer
Mother Jones
The really desperate come early. George Bishop, 61, a lanky, gray-haired cabinet builder in a tropical shirt, has a red, swollen nose from a boil caused by his third sinus infection in the past five months.

Domestic registry bill stalls in state Senate, odds look long
By Rochelle Koff
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Vowing not to give up, Democratic state Sen. Eleanor Sobel delayed a committee vote of a domestic partnership bill that looked unlikely to pass and still faces long odds.

Senate Democrats concede they can't stop parent trigger this year
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
Senate Democrats conceded Tuesday they don't have the votes to stop one of the most controversial issues of last year's session, the so-called parent trigger bill that will allow parents of a failing school to open the door for a for-profit charter management company to take over.

Fla. Gov. could get more power over picking judges
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Florida House Republicans are bringing back a bill to give Gov. Rick Scott more influence over the state's judicial branch.

Senate readies ethics bill for floor vote after delaying 'revolving door' restrictions
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
A Senate committee unanimously approved an ambitious ethics bill Tuesday and set it up to be the first bill voted out of the Florida Senate but only after it exempted current lawmakers from the "revolving door" limits on lobbying the governor and his agencies.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Rick Scott, Tax-and-Spend Tea Partier?
By Stephanie Mencimer
Mother Jones
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has discovered the hard way that devotion to tea party economics has a significant downside—namely that the voters really hate it.

Lawmakers might block local wage, sick-time rules
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Despite a court order to put a sick-time initiative on the ballot, the 50,000 Orange County voters who signed a petition seeking the referendum may never get a chance to vote on the issue.

House committee bill addresses federal concerns about 2012 permit-streamlining bill
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A House committee voted Tuesday to introduce a committee bill that is intended to address Federal Emergency Management Agency concerns about legislation in 2012.

Upcoming Allen West appearance sparks complaint
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
He's out of office, but former Congressman Allen West is still attracting controversy.

POLITICAL RACES

St. Petersburg poll shows tight race for mayor
By Mark Puente
Tampa Bay Times
With the Aug. 27 primary still six months away, a new poll shows that Mayor Bill Foster has a narrow edge over challenger Rick Kriseman. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Protecting Florida's waterways
Interview with Bob Graham
Orlando Sentinel
Bob Graham has worn many hats in a long, distinguished public-service career. Florida state legislator. Florida's 38th governor. U.S. senator.

Troubling environmental about-face
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The governor's environmental chief's rejection thousands of acres of free land along the Peace River for a new state park reflects skewed priorities.

Ethanol bill clears committee by a single vote
By James Call
Florida Current
A bill that would repeal a state requirement that gasoline contain ethanol passed a House subcommittee on Tuesday by one vote.

USF environmentalists demand climate change action at U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's Tampa office
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa
Two dozen students and environmental activists marched on U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s Tampa office Tuesday demanding he address climate change.

Feds, BP agree oil captured not part of penalties
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
BP and the federal government have agreed that 34 million gallons of oil captured during the massive 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico can't count toward civil penalties the oil giant faces.

LGBT

Time to Dump DOMA
The Progress Report
Think Progress
The Defense of Marriage Act is discrimination, the American people don’t like it, and it’s time for it to go away.

EDUCATION

Gaetz says education bill is 'going to make history'
By James Call
Florida Current
Senate President Don Gaetz gathered about 30 business executives in his conference room Tuesday and urged them to get behind an education bill expected to be filed Wednesday morning.

College Students Seek Tuition Freeze
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
The first of what will likely be hundreds of college students visited the state capitol today.

House Committee Takes Small Steps Toward Higher Ed Performance Pay Makeover
By Lynn Hatter 
WFSU Tallahassee
A 51-page proposal before The House Education and Workforce Committee is aimed at keeping science and technology-inclined students in the state and calls on schools to do more with tracking how well students perform in the job market post-graduation.

Students, immigrants upset with FAU stadium deal
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Students and South Florida pro-immigrant activists are expressing outrage after Florida Atlantic University announced it will change the name of its football stadium to that of a private prison corporation accused of human rights violations.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

To boost economy, Scott wants to spend more money on roads, ports
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
If you think there's too much road construction now, just wait.

Vision Airlines, once hailed as job creator by Rick Scott, charged with theft
By Aaron Sharockman
Tampa Bay Times
It was one of the first big job announcements of Gov. Rick Scott's administration: Vision Airlines was bringing a hub to the Panhandle, promising 4,200 "direct and indirect" jobs to the region.

Dems complaint of Scott’s budget: Too much to be true
By Peter Schorsch
Saint Petersblog
Several Senate Democrats complained Tuesday that Governor Rick Scott’s proposed $74 billion budget includes money the state may not have and said it was a feel-good, but unrealistic suggestion.

Tourism officials say shelve, shove new law requiring foreign tourists get International Driver License
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
The concerned phone calls and emails started a few days ago.

Investment firms buying up Florida foreclosures
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
Hedge funds and investment firms are buying up Florida foreclosures, beating out homebuyers and local flippers, while steering the state into what some fear is another real estate bubble.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Medicaid Expansion Cost? Still a Guess
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
As legislative hearings continue on the cost vs. benefit of Medicaid expansion – a decision Florida must make in the coming session -- only a few things are clear.

Bill sets high standards for 'biosimilar' drugs
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The drugs aren’t even available in the United States yet, but lobbyists representing some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world — as well as pharmacies, physicians and pharmacy benefit managers — packed a small meeting room in the Florida House on Tuesday.

Pill-mill docs often avoid prison, but street-level dealers get locked up
By Amy Pavuk
Orlando Sentinel
In June 2010, Margaret Schoendorf was arrested after she sold an undercover detective 47 painkillers in Orange County.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Dept. of Make Nice: President Obama calls Sens. Rubio, McCain and Graham
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
The (kabuki-like?) tensions between President Obama and Sen. Marco Rubio over immigration reform started to abate Tuesday afternoon when the commander in chief called the Florida Republican as well as Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain.

Grassroots push to revamp immigration grows in Florida
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Belle Glade farmer Rick Roth is preparing to do some planting, although he’s not speaking about seeds.

Study: Hispanics a growing slice of the American pie chart
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
A new national survey shows that the Hispanic population in the U.S. rose 47 percent from 2000 to 2011 and that the rate of growth in Florida was even higher — 62 percent.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Lawmakers offer 'smart justice' package
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Nonviolent prison inmates could spend the final three years of their sentences in specialized re-entry institutions that emphasize rehabilitation and education, under a "smart justice" package introduced Tuesday by two legislators.