FEATURED
STORIES
Former Florida GOP chief’s trial threatens to air bales of dirty laundry
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The former chief of the Florida Republican Party is set to face charges this week of grand theft, money laundering and fraud, in a case already bubbling with allegations of sex, lies and ugly party politics.
Gov. Scott: Medicaid expansion is a 'tough choice' for Florida
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
Confronted by one of Congress's most passionate supporters of Obamacare, Gov. Rick Scott Friday refused to say he would be willing to accept the act's Medicaid expansion program yet left the door open that he might drop his previous firm opposition.
Voters support Medicaid expansion
By James Call
Florida Current
Florida policy makers say they don’t have enough information yet to decide whether to expand Medicaid to cover nearly 900,000 uninsured Floridians, but voters appeared to have made up their minds.
Cashing in on state contracts becomes growth industry
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Even for Tallahassee standards, the scene was notable: lobbyist Brian Ballard dining with a nursing home executive, Gov. Rick Scott and a top aide at a pricey restaurant just blocks from the Capitol.
Scott's economic-development efforts more words than deeds
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
One of Gov. Rick Scott's central selling points to economically rattled voters in 2010 was his direct line to Corporate America.
Republicans are cooling toward tea party activists
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
The romance between Florida Republicans and various tea party groups, which reached its zenith when Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his first state budget to a tea party crowd in 2011, has clearly cooled.
EDITORIAL
CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Jim Morin
Miami Herald
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Details of Bahamas frolic could emerge in Jim Greer trial
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
They headed for Marsh Harbour Airport in the Bahamas, most of them on private planes owned by billionaire Harry Sargeant III, then the finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party.
In post-election vacuum, Rubio on rise within GOP
By Ken Thomas
Associated Press
Marco Rubio is taking center stage as Republicans search for a new leader.
In support of campaign finance reform, Rep. Mike Fasano closes fundraising committee
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Rep. Mike Fasano announced Friday that he's disbanding his political committee and will donate the unspent campaign cash to charity in a gesture he hopes will inspire other lawmakers to support campaign finance reform.
The South and "the Great Gerrymander of 2012"
By Chris Kromm
Facing South
In a recent New York Times analysis, Sam Wang looked at an issue which has been grabbing headlines -- at least on political blogs -- since the 2012 elections: how Democrats, despite winning 1.4 million more votes than their GOP counterparts in U.S. House races, found themselves at a 234 to 201 disadvantage in Congress' lower chamber after Election Day.
Republican pioneer Doc Dockery: It's not his party anymore
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
More than four decades ago, a friend pressed C.C. "Doc" Dockery to run for the Polk County School Board, brushing off Dockery's insistence that he didn't particularly want the job.
Traffic tickets, fraud probes deaths — and state Rep. Daphne Campbell
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
A Campbell family minivan has racked up five tickets for running right lights since 2010.
POLITICAL
RACES
Is Alex Sink running for governor? Stay tuned
By Joe Henderson
Tampa Tribune
No one knows better than Alex Sink what an all-consuming commitment it takes to campaign for governor in Florida.
President Obama lost votes in heavily Jewish precincts, analyst says
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
President Barack Obama easily carried Democrat-tilted Palm Beach County in November, but he got 11,555 fewer votes than in 2008.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Legislators show no urgency in dealing with Florida springs' problems
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
The president of the state Senate says Florida should do more for its springs. Thousands of people have petitioned Gov. Rick Scott for more protection and restoration for the springs.
Marco Rubio questions human impact on global warming
By Alex Leary and Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
While much of the Washington news media were fawning over Sen. Marco Rubio's knowledge of rap music (Tupac over Biggie, he says), his remarks questioning global warming at an event Tuesday drew more serious discussion.
Obama’s address: Could it start a sea change for climate issues?
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
Climate change — a topic absent from last year’s presidential campaign — has slipped so far down the nation’s to-do list that stakeholders have taken to counting how often the president even utters the phrase.
The state’s Python Challenge isn’t looking like much of a challenge at all … for the pythons
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
It’s safe to say the Python Challenge has produced many more inches of news copy than inches of snake.
Environmentalists: habitat protection needed for loggerhead sea turtles
By Olivia Kabat
WMNF Tampa
Conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service for not providing Loggerhead sea turtle habitat protection.
LGBT
An Unnoticed Historic Moment
By Terry Buckenmeyer
Historic City News
On February 3rd, the St Augustine Beach City Commission had a second reading and public comment on Resolution 2013-01, which would provide protection against discrimination in housing on the basis of sexual orientation.
EDUCATION
Public schools lose millions to crooks and cheaters
By Michael LaForgia
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Lobbying preserved millions for Florida tutoring companies
When Yolanda Axson wasn't watching, a pot of hot water spilled into a crib at her day care in Orlando, scalding a 4-month-old boy.
Shut-down private schools sometimes leave hundreds of students scrambling for records
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
A lot has happened in the 12 years since Jeffrey “J.T.” Noble graduated high school.
Bright Futures scholarships outpacing revenues
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
Tampa Tribune
It's not a situation college students like to envision: Life without their Bright Futures scholarship.
At FAMU, a jarring turn on journalism
By Frank D. LoMonte
Tampa Bay Times
When a news organization is housed on a college campus, the college's administrators walk a legal and ethical tightrope.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Proposal Closing State Pension Plan Faces Mounting Criticism, Even From GOP
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Tallahassee
A bill that would eliminate the state’s pension plan has cleared its first hurdle in the Florida Legislature.
Don't rush Florida pension decision
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford wants the state to modernize its retirement plan by closing its pension to future public workers and offering them only a 401(k)-style plan.
Shrinking Citizens still leaves ratepayers on the hook
By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Senate is drafting proposals to shrink state-run property insurer Citizens and drive customers to private carriers.
Businesses, turn left if you want mass transit, vibrant cities
By Robyn E. Blumner
Tampa Bay Times
When you're a bigwig of industry, perched up high above the hoi polloi, maybe you really do think that the laws of politics, economics and even gravity are suspended, or are at least twisted, to your benefit.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
State government tries to puzzle through new health care law
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Poll: Floridians favor Medicaid expansion
Florida businesses small, medium and big alike are trying to make sense of the new health care law and what it means for their bottom line.
In a switch, GOP governors back expanding Medicaid
By Thomas Beaumont
Associated Press
Once largely united in resisting the Obama administration's new health care overhaul, a growing number of Republican governors are now buying into parts of the system as the financial realities of their states' medical costs begin to counterbalance the fierce election politics of the issue.
Feds prepare for massive insurance sign-up
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Let the insurance shopping begin.
Obama administration’s effort to reduce health care fraud are paying off
By Kathleen Sebelius and Eric Holder
Palm Beach Post
Today, our departments released a report showing that the Obama administration’s efforts to go after criminals who steal from Medicare and Medicaid are paying off, especially in hot spots like Miami.
The eye doctor and the ‘I’ pol
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Living in the intergalactic capital of Medicare fraud, South Floridians are accustomed to the sight of blue-jacketed federal agents swarming a doctor’s office and marching out with boxes of files.
CIVIL
RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Despite accord on immigration, reform must trump friction
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address Tuesday with Democrats and Republicans already engaged in the first big battle of his second term, over the administration’s pledge to alter the country’s immigration system radically.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Florida developer to enter plea in federal campaign finance case
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Panhandle developer Jay Odom will appear in federal court next week to enter a plea to federal campaign finance violations.
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