Daily News Clips for June 11, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Scott should stand with workers
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Bill to preempt local labor laws reaches gov's desk
If Gov. Rick Scott is positioning himself as pro-family and pro-women by supporting expanded Medicaid and vetoing a bill to eliminate permanent alimony, he should listen to Orlando-area mothers urging him to veto a bill that harms working families.

Gov. Scott's interest in university system crosses line, some say
By Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Seeking to offset an automatic 1.7 percent tuition increase, Gov. Rick Scott is meeting with university leaders one by one and lobbying them to cut tuition rates by an equal amount next year.

Scott touts 500 new jobs, uses incentive deal inked months before trip to justify trade missions
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott highlighted the expansion of GardaWorld, a Canadian financial security services firm, in Boca Raton on Monday, using the 500 new jobs reported by the company to claim success in his trade missions abroad.

Immigration boiling up in Florida again
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Immigration — a tough issue for state Republican leaders to navigate — is surging to the forefront in Florida again.

The Two Faces of Marco Rubio
By Rebecca Kaplan
National Journal
In a radio interview Tuesday with conservative talk-show host Hugh Hewitt, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., drew a line in the sand.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Rick Scott is right. We Floridians have tons to brag about
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
In his campaign to snatch jobs from other states, Scott has become Florida's cheerleader-in-chief.

Readers Poll: Scott's sidekick pick likely with eye to re-election
Staff Report
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott's desire for another term as Florida's chief executive will likely be the determining factor when he picks a new lieutenant governor, most participants in The Florida Current's latest poll agreed.

A glimpse of an unguarded Gov. Rick Scott
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
To catch a glimpse of Gov. Rick Scott in an unguarded moment is to see a man liberated from his straitjacket of message-driven politics.

Trooper fired over legislators' traffic tickets may get job back
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A state trooper fired because he "cut breaks" to two speeding legislators got a break of his own Monday when a hearing officer recommended that he get his job back.

A mean-spirited veto
Editorial
Miami Herald
Gov. Scott fails young immigrants on driver’s license bill. Will he outlaw earned sick leave, too?

POLITICAL RACES

As Nan Rich heads to West Palm Beach, GOP offers her some Crist-ory talking points
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Just in case Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Rich lacks material for her speaking gig tonight at a West Palm Beach Democratic Club meeting, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry is offering her some lines of attack she can pursue against potential Democratic primary rival and former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.

Safes with House 2 election ballots stolen
By Eric Heisig
Pensacola News Journal
Two safes containing early-voting and absentee ballots for the House District 2 special election were stolen over the weekend from the South Santa Rosa Service Center, authorities said.

Republican steps up to challenge Alan Grayson
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Rep. Alan Grayson may have returned to Congress in a much safer Central Florida district but Republicans won't give him a pass in 2014.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Backyard drilling may be coming soon to a Naples neighborhood; residents fear fracking
By Janelle Irwin
WMNF Tampa
A Texas-based company has filed an application with the state to drill just outside a residential neighborhood in Naples.

Putnam: Water is state's top issue
Editorial Board Interview
Orlando Sentinel
Republican Adam Putnam was already a political veteran when he was elected Florida's agriculture commissioner in 2010.

2013 Florida law will continue to damage Everglades
By Ray Judah
Ft. Myers News-Press
The most deceptive and egregious action against the public taxpayers during the 2013 Florida Legislative session was passage of HB 7065 and SB 768, which amended the 1994 Everglades Forever Act.

Wildlife officials say 2 butterfly species extinct
By Kelli Kennedy
Associated Press
Two butterfly species historically found in South Florida are likely now extinct, U.S. wildlife officials said Monday.

LGBT

Children’s museum excludes gay families from its membership policy
By Katie Mcdonough
Salon
The Hands on Children’s Museum in Jacksonville, Fl., denied a mother its family membership rate after a museum employee noticed that the names under “Mom and Dad” on the application were both women.

EDUCATION

Student Loan Rates Set to Double
By Matt Horn
Capitol News Service
Interest rates for federal student loans may double if Congress doesn’t act fast to stop it.

Florida Board of Governors approves pre-eminence but ignores tuition for now
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
The Florida Board of Governors approved the designation of the University of Florida and Florida State University as “pre-eminent” universities during a brief telephone meeting Monday afternoon.

FSU, UF win designation as preeminent research universities
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
After years of fierce lobbying, behind-the-scenes battles and even protests, Florida on Monday officially designated two of its public universities as preeminent research universities.

Broward schools working to boost success of black male students
By Michael Vasquez
Miami Herald
In the Broward school district’s quest to improve minority student achievement, Dillard High School’s graduation ceremony last week was more than just another annual event — it was a taste of what success feels like.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Why the Gender Wage Gap Still Exists
The Progress Report
Think Progress
Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, which was signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Rep. Fasano threatens special hearings over Cat Fund condo coverage
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, wants the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, or Cat Fund, to change its policy excluding some condominium developments from its reinsurance coverage sooner rather than later.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Medicaid expansion do-over?
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The national Affordable Care Act provides states with the option of extending Medicaid coverage to people who earn less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $15,000 a year.

DCF mired in controversy over foster care providers
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
A decade ago, amid perhaps the worst foster care debacle in state history, Florida lawmakers transferred all foster care and adoption efforts to private management — hoping local leaders could nurture what the state long could not: a scandal-free child welfare system.

Florida Blue Gets Special Law
Staff Report
Health News Florida
Florida Blue, one of the most generous donors to state political campaigns, usually gets what it wants.

Former WellCare executives convicted in Medicaid fraud case
By Jodie Tillman
Tampa Bay Times
On a morning in 2007, law enforcement agents burst into the headquarters of WellCare, seizing computers and documents in a massive fraud investigation.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Scott's veto of 'Dream Act' driver's license bill draws fire
By Troy Kinsey
Bay News 9 Tampa
A veto from Gov. Rick Scott could mean another uphill battle in his re-election bid.

Immigration Legislation Draws Many Amendments as It Heads to Floor
By Ashley Parker
New York Times
The Senate Judiciary Committee considered more than 300 amendments to immigration legislation last month before sending it to the full Senate, which is expected to begin debate on the bill on Tuesday.

Stand Your Ground on Trial
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
The trial of a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford will be a test of the states “Stand Your Ground” law.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Attorneys file likely final appeal to U.S. Supreme Court seeking stay of execution for condemned killer
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
In what is expected to be his last chance to avoid death by lethal injection, condemned prison guard killer William Van Poyck on Monday turned to the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes it will stay his execution scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Florida State Prison.