Daily News Clips for February 5, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Emails show legislative staff talked with party over redistricting maps
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Florida’s legislative leaders appear to have authorized their staff to use private email accounts, personal “dropboxes” and to engage in “brainstorming meetings” with Republican Party of Florida consultants in attempting to draw favorable political districts, despite a constitutional ban on such coordination.

Feds Give OK; Medicaid's Frail Elderly to Enter HMOs
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Federal health officials have given Florida permission to enroll elderly, sick Medicaid patients into private managed-care plans, Gov. Rick Scott’s office announced on Monday.

Rubio Joins Seven Other Senators To Block Violence Against Women Act
By Annie-Rose Strasser
Think Progress
Eight Senators on Monday voted not to consider the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a bill that protects victims of domestic violence.

Gov. Rick Scott's elections adviser urges voting reforms
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott's elections adviser urged legislators on Monday to return to 14 days of early voting in Florida and to add locations to avoid repeating the chaos that plagued voting in 2012.

Jim Greer trial raises hopes, fears among Republicans
By Lucy Morgan
Tampa Bay Times
Who wins if next week's criminal trial of former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer is a prolonged public affair airing all of the party's dirty laundry?

FLORIDA POLITICS

DEP chief is mum, and that speaks volumes
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
There aren't many jobs that employers are handing out in this economy without anyone asking for them.

Scott's Budget Shows He's Campaigning
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Voices
Gov. Rick Scott's announcement of a record $74.2 billion state budget plan had the unmistakeable air of a re-election campaign rally last week.

Waiting Times at Ballot Boxes Draw Scrutiny
By Jeremy W. Peters
New York Times
With studies suggesting that long lines at the polls cost Democrats hundreds of thousands of votes in November, party leaders are beginning a push to make voting and voter registration easier, setting up a likely new conflict with Republicans over a deeply polarizing issue.

Miami-Dade County Commission considers single-language-only ballots to shorten election lines
By Charles Rabin
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan C. Zapata is proposing a way to make it easier and quicker to vote: Printing ballots in only the single language chosen by a voter, instead of in English, Spanish and Creole.

Lawsuit filed for vote records in Allen West race
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
The St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections is being sued for access to public records related to Rep. Patrick Murphy's win.

Proving 'textgate' crime will be tough, expert says
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Orange-Osceola State Attorney Jeff Ashton announced last week he has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the "textgate" scandal involving a handful of county leaders, but proving that laws were broken might be tough, an open-government expert says.

Tampa accountant sentenced in campaign fraud case
Staff Report
Tampa Bay Times
Timothy Hohl, a Tampa accountant, has been sentenced in federal court in Jacksonville to a year's probation and fined $15,000 for making illegal contributions to U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan's first two campaigns. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Public can review state's plans for 23 Fla species
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
The public has been invited to review the state's conservation plans for roughly two dozen species of native wildlife.

Water district defends Wakulla Springs study delay, pointing finger at previous leadership
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The new leadership at the Northwest Florida Water Management District now is saying that it had become "blatantly obvious" in 2012 that the district never intended to conduct required water flow studies before a leadership change was made.

Close Crystal River nuclear plant for good
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
It's time for Duke Energy to acknowledge that the broken Crystal River nuclear plant is not worth fixing and announce plans to permanently shut it down.

EDUCATION

Some private schools can give FCAT next year, but, so far, they’ve shown little interest in FL’s standardized tests
By Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Thanks to a new state law, private schools that take part in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program — a voucher program for low-income kids — can give their students the FCAT (or state end-of-course exams), if they want.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

More mismanagement issues arise at Citizens Insurance
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee bureau
State regulators knocked Citizens Property Insurance Corp. this month for unnecessary travel costs, failing to negotiate on multimillion-dollar vendor contracts and spending more than $10,000 a month on vacant office space.

State gave tax break to company Bondi was investigating for foreclosure fraud
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald
While attorney general Pam Bondi was investigating Lender Processing Services for foreclosure abuses, the state of Florida was preparing a sweet tax break deal for the Jacksonville-based company.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Fla. lawmakers look for partners in state exchange
By Kelli Kennedy
Associated Press
Florida lawmakers heard Monday from two organizations that could serve as partners in running an insurance exchange under the federal health overhaul.

AARP targets Medicaid expansion, texting while driving and nuclear charges as legislative priorities
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
AARP Florida said Monday that their survey of residents over age 50 showed strong support for a ban on texting while driving, for improved long-term health care and for reconsidering a law allowing utilities to charge for nuclear projects.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Sheriffs edge closer to law interpreting than law enforcing with gun ownership proclamation
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post
I know it’s illegal to impersonate a law-enforcement officer.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Prison system sees sharp decline in recidivism
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
The recidivism rate in Florida prisons -- so costly in tax money and wasted lives -- has fallen a record low in recent years, as state correctional officials and community organizations do a better job of preparing inmates to rejoin society, the Department of Corrections announced Monday.

Florida Bar pursues discipline against foreclosure mill boss David J. Stern
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Bar is seeking disciplinary action against Florida foreclosure baron David J. Stern, whose massive law firm collapsed in 2011 amid allegations that it mishandled the cases of the nation’s largest mortgage holders by filing forged and fraudulent court documents.