Daily News Clips for March 11, 2013

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

The Blu Vu: Week of March 8, 2013
By Gayle Andrews
The Blu Vu: Florida's Political Reality News Show
The Session is on! The Governor reveals his education epiphany... Are the Republicans hallucinating? Is election reform real? Commentary from Progress Florida’s Damien Filer (13:58) as political reality comes your way!

FEATURED STORIES

Gov. Rick Scott balancing teachers' priorities, Republicans' priorities
By Kathleen McGrory
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott is in a tight spot with teachers.

Over state workers’ objections, lawmakers move toward pension overhaul
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
A House committee Friday approved an overhaul of the Florida Retirement System, despite opposition from public worker unions and less-than-resounding support from a financial analyst advising Republican leaders.

House Committee Passes Wage, Benefits and Paid Sick Time Bill
By Tom Parkinson
WMFE Orlando
A proposed bill in that could lower wages and reduce benefits for many workers in Florida passed a House committee on a straight party-line vote Thursday.

Medicaid expansion pits anecdotes against economists' numbers
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Why do lawmakers legislate by anecdote? It's an old question that plays out every year in state houses and Congress.

In Talk Show Tour, Jeb Bush Promotes Book on Immigration and Replies to Critics
By Jackie Calmes
New York Times
Stoking speculation about his presidential ambitions, Jeb Bush, the Republican former governor of Florida, performed a rare Washington feat on Sunday, appearing on all the morning talk shows as part of a blitz that has become equal parts book promotion and damage control.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Chan Lowe
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Read the artist's commentary here.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Jeb Bush on immigration: ‘A lot of hair on fire — mine isn’t’
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Related: Political reporters act like 'crack addicts,' Jeb Bush says
Immigration is a minefield. Jeb Bush stepped in it.

Marco Rubio: I’ll Vote To Shut Down The Government Unless Obamacare Is Completely Defunded
By Sy Mukherjee
Think Progress
During an interview on conservative host Hugh Hewitt’s talk radio program Thursday night, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined fellow Tea Party favorites Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) in demanding that a continuing resolution to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year must include provisions to defund Obamacare in its entirety.

Will Weatherford's Medicaid snub may benefit Gov. Rick Scott
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, while stiffing Florida Gov. Rick Scott on his call to expand Medicaid coverage in Florida, may be doing the governor a big favor.

Why we all should care about public records
By Rick Hirsch
Miami Herald
This week, Bal Harbour sent its police chief packing.

Textgate shows leaders' contempt for sunshine
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
What's more outrageous than government officials flouting their legal duty to conduct the public's business openly?

Stadium bill survives hostile amendments, wins approval of House panel
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Miami Dolphins’ push for a taxpayer-supported stadium renovations gained steam in the Florida Legislature on Friday, sidestepping a number of toxic amendments aimed at killing the bill.

Ethics Commission throws out Diaz de la Portilla complaint
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
The state ethics commission on Friday dismissed a complaint against Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, saying it was no longer in the public interest to proceed with the case.

Sen. Clemens: Stop with tax cuts and do things that make difference
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Q&A with… Sen. Jeff Clemens (D), District 27, Florida Senate.

Allen West to speak Thursday at prominent conservative conference
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Former Republican Rep. Allen West has ruled out a 2014 rematch against Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter.

Absentee ballots are real threat to voting integrity
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
In hindsight, Gov. Rick Scott's flawed attempt to purge Florida's voter rolls of noncitizens last fall almost appears quaint.

POLITICAL RACES

A shaky start for Jeb! 2016
By Joe Henderson
Tampa Tribune
The Jeb Bush we came to know as Florida's two-term governor could be brusque and dismissive, but he was also supremely confident and the unquestioned champion of his own ideas.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Big Sugar mounts new attack on the Everglades
By Randy Schultz
Palm Beach Post
Florida’s sugar growers say they really, really, really want to save what’s left of the Everglades.

Record-breaking number of manatees killed by Red Tide
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Sometime this weekend, the record for manatee deaths caused by Red Tide will be broken.

Deep trouble: How sea-rise could cause havoc in South Florida
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
The maps were intended to show how rising sea levels threaten some of Miami-Dade County’s most vital facilities.

Quickly spreading fungus killing Fla. redbay trees
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Officials say a tree fungus known as laurel wilt is spreading across parts of central Florida, killing hundreds of redbay trees.

LGBT

UF students rally in Tally for gay rights
By Barbara Dimajo
Independent Alligator
While most college students hit the beach this Spring Break, 12 UF students were preparing to talk to elected officials about equality issues.

Bill Clinton: Court should nix anti-gay marriage law
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Former President Bill Clinton is calling on the Supreme Court to overturn a law he signed that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

EDUCATION

Schools chief warns that plan to give parents power in school turnarounds is flawed
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
A controversial “parent trigger” plan to let parents take over failing schools is on the fast track, but Education Commissioner Tony Bennett cautioned lawmakers this week that the proposal gives the state too much power and creates too much red tape for parents.

Senate President Gaetz shoots down Gov. Scott’s across-the-board raise for teachers
By Jennifer Curington
Orlando Sentinel
Senate President Don Gaetz served notice on Gov. Rick Scott Friday that his chamber is not looking favorably on Scott’s proposal to give every public-school teacher a $2,500 raise.

Gaetz 'open' to Bennett's suggestions on trigger bill
By James Call
Florida Current
Reform advocates and school boards are lining up on opposite sides as a parent trigger bill begins to move in the Legislature.

Weatherford says House will restore university cuts
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Last year, Florida's universities were told the $300 million cut from their operating budgets would be restored for 2013-2014.

Arming Teachers Asks for Trouble
By Glenn Marston
Lakeland Ledger
A school safety bill filed by state Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, would allow school principals to assign teachers or other staff members to carry concealed weapons as a way of protecting schools and students.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

More questions than answers, Weatherford's pension bill still passes hurdle
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
For the past 43 years, it’s been the primary retirement plan in Florida for employees of the state and county government agencies, school boards, community colleges and universities.

Fla. Senate president pushes for state worker raise
By Margie Menze and David Royse
News Service of Florida
The Senate president reiterated Friday that lawmakers will try to give state workers their first raise in six years, though he warned about the unpredictable nature of economic circumstances that could derail the plan.

Gaetz: Sequester creating budget uncertainty in Florida
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Senate President Don Gaetz said the federal sequester is causing problems for Florida lawmakers as they try to build a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Tax dollars are paying Florida mortgages for felons, debtors
By Susan Taylor Martin
Tampa Bay Times
While thousands of responsible Floridians struggle to keep their homes, a federal mortgage assistance program is making loan payments for felons, tax scofflaws and people with histories of running up debts they can't repay.

Reinsurers hoping to reinsert Cat Fund provisions on insurance bill
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Legislation overhauling Florida’s property insurance market made it through its first Senate committee Thursday, but some industry groups are hoping to tack on provisions to shrink the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, or Cat Fund.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

It's Senate Panel's Turn on Medicaid Expansion
Staff Report
Health News Florida
On Monday, a panel of state senators who have put months of study into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be asked to vote on the most contentious issue of the session: Should Florida accept federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income adults?

Weatherford hypocritical, hard-hearted on Medicaid expansion
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, wants to deny one million Floridians access to the Medicaid program that bailed out his family.

Gaetz Mum on Medicaid
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
There’s a standoff at the state capitol over the Medicaid expansion.

Florida Chamber endorses Medicaid expansion, kinda
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Calling the Affordable Care Act a flawed law but ultimately one that is here to stay, the Florida Chamber of Commerce says the state should accept federal dollars to expand Medicaid as long as certain conditions are met.

Insurers Build Clinics for Medicaid Patients
Staff Report
Health News Florida
To prepare for a massive influx of new Medicaid patients in Florida and other states, insurers are building clinics in convenient places to help them find care without resorting to a hospital emergency room, Kaiser Health News reports.

State may shrink mental health-care spending
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
The Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre unleashed a debate nationwide about whether enough is done to identify and treat the dangerously mentally ill.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Florida legislators to spend the next two months debating state's gun laws
By Marisa Kendall
Ft. Myers News-Press
After weeks of gun debate prompted by recent mass shootings, Florida legislators will spend the next two months determining what, if anything, will be done to change the state’s gun laws this session.

Florida's shameful sham: A bogus review of Stand Your Ground law
Editorial
Bradenton Herald
The task force commissioned by Gov. Rick Scott to review Florida's Stand Your Ground law has reached a verdict -- one entirely expected since the 19-member board was stacked with advocates of the law, including two of its authors and other lawmakers who voted for it.

Activists Celebrate International Women's Day At Fla. Capitol
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
Friday is the United Nations’ annual International Women’s Day, meant as a time to reflect on injustice against women worldwide.

Farmworkers and members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers march from Fort Myers to Publix's headquarters in Lakeland
Staff Report
WTSP Tampa Bay
Over 150 farmworkers will walk 200 miles in two weeks to get the attention of Publix.

In El Paso, the overlooked faces of immigration
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
The children enter the room in a burst of laughter and smiles.

Community organizers march for immigration reform
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Community organizers are marching from Florida City to Homestead for immigration reform.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Gov. Scott’s pick for 4th DCA judge sparks controversy, raises questions about ‘competence’
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
The appointment of a new judge to the 4th District Court of Appeal has sparked a political firestorm that reaches all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.

Negron bill would speed up appeals process for death row inmates
By Melissa E. Holsman
TC Palm
Condemned inmates could spend fewer years on death row and have less time for appeals under a bill being championed by state Sen. Joe Negron, which aims to speed up the death penalty appellate process.