Daily News Clips for May 21, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Florida Gov. Rick Scott signs budget, vetoes more than $368 million in spending
By Toluse Olorunnipa and Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Reaction to Gov. Rick Scott's budget vetoes
Related editorial: Budget lacks long-term vision
Gov. Rick Scott vetoed more than $368 million in spending from the Florida's 2013-14 budget, using his line-item authority to strike out scores of projects ranging from a $50 million coast-to-coast bike trail to tens of millions in college and university tuition.

Fact-checking Rick Scott's jobs math: mostly false
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times PoitiFact
To hear Gov. Rick Scott tell it, his memorable campaign pledge to create 700,000 jobs in seven years is going right along schedule.

Bean: Medicaid Debate Not Over
By Lottie Watts
Health News Florida
State Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Jacksonville, says the debate over how exactly to implement the Affordable Care Act in Florida is far from over.

Florida No. 1 in barring ex-prisoners from voting
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Florida leads the nation by a wide margin in the number of felons who have served their sentences but cannot vote.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott to Broward GOP: ‘We should not lose…we have the right story’
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Speaking to Republicans in one of Florida’s most heavily Democratic counties, Gov. Rick Scott tonight said the GOP should win every election if Republicans do a better job of telling their story to voters.

POLITICAL RACES

Democrat Nan Rich says she's ready to take on Florida Gov. Rick Scott
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
For 10 years, political pros have taken it almost as gospel that the strongest statewide Democratic candidates are centrists from Florida's top battleground region of Tampa Bay.  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Governor vetoes $50 million for proposed bike trail along with $27.3 million in water projects
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday approved $32 million in water projects in the 2013-14 state budget while vetoing others totaling $27.3 million.

LGBT

Lesbian, 18, faces 15 years in prison for having sex with 14-year-old high school basketball teammate
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
More than 85,000 supporters since Friday have signed an Internet petition demanding felony sex charges be dropped against an 18-year-old lesbian who dated a 14-year-old high-school basketball teammate.

Time for Boy Scouts to accept gays
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
You have to wonder how many more surveys and votes it will take before the Boy Scouts of America decide to officially join the 21st Century.

EDUCATION

The dual-enrollment shuffle: School districts now must pay for popular program
By Denise-Marie Ordway
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed a bill requiring Florida school districts to start paying for the classes that teenagers take at local colleges through their high schools' dual-enrollment programs.

Pinellas and Florida see little improvement on FCAT retakes
By Anastasia Dawson
Tampa Tribune
As students across Pinellas County prepare for high school graduation ceremonies, hundreds of others found out last week that they won't be receiving their diplomas.

How much testing is too much?
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
In many schools around the country, once the state testing period ends, teachers and students slow down their pace and relax.

UF fares well in Scott's budget, Machen says
By Jeff Schweers
Gainesville Sun
After years of budget cuts, the University of Florida now will have enough money to fix neglected buildings and give faculty and staff raises.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott vetoes nearly $400 million from budget
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who had a tough time winning cooperation this past year from the Republican-led Legislature, struck back on Monday by vetoing nearly $400 million from the state's new budget.

Fla. Gov. visit to Chile marks 8th overseas trip
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is leaving the country for his eighth overseas trade-related trip in the last two-and-half years.

Florida governor OKs sales tax holiday for August
Associated Press
Ocala Star-Banner
Florida shoppers this August will get to buy computers without having to pay sales taxes.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Obamacare allies eye ballot initiatives
By Kyle Cheney and Jason Millman
Politico
Obamacare backers stymied by conservative legislatures in red states may have a new approach: letting the voters break logjams with state ballot initiatives in 2014.

Long-term care Medicaid patients start enrolling
Staff Report
Florida Current
Phone counselors are now available to help long-term care Medicaid recipients choose their health plans.

6 months before boy’s death, DCF said he was safe
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
Catalina Marista Bruno had been arrested three times on charges involving drugs or alcohol. She had been drinking last July when police arrested her husband for beating her in front of her children.

Leapfrog health analysts hand out hospital grades
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's hospitals, like those across the rest of the nation, have received their spring report cards and more than a third earned an A, according to a nonprofit organization that advocates for safer health-care delivery.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Rubio: 'No doubt' immigration bill 'heading in the right direction' but border still issue
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
The Senate Judiciary Committee resumed work today on the immigration bill and adopted several amendments that Sen. Marco Rubio said are critical in gaining support.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Department of Corrections faces $45 million deficit in new year
News Service of Florida
Saint Petersblog
The Florida Department of Corrections will enter the 2013-14 fiscal year with a budget deficit, after lawmakers did not fully cover a shortfall from the current year, Gov. Rick Scott said in a written budget message Monday.

Florida high court refuses to grant stay of execution for condemned killer Van Poyck
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
Condemned prison guard killer William Van Poyck should die by lethal injection on June 12 as scheduled, a deeply divided Florida Supreme Court ruled late Monday.