Daily News Clips for June 21, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

FDLE never interviewed GOP voter fraud whistle-blower
By Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Why aren't Republicans going after voter registration fraud now? (Part 2)
Criminal investigators couldn't find a better witness than Jeff Jewett.

Records show Cannon aide gave redistricting maps to GOP operative before the public
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
New records in a court fight over Florida's re-drawn congressional and legislative maps show  an aide to former House Speaker Dean Cannon released congressional maps to a Republican operative two weeks before they were made public.

Democrats looking beyond Scott in 2014
By Brandon Larrabee
News Service of Florida
Even as they aimed most of their fire at Gov. Rick Scott during last weekend’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, Democrats said they weren’t focused exclusively on Scott.

Florida leads nation in vacated foreclosures -- and it's not even close
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Florida has more vacant homes in foreclosure than any other state in the nation, easily beating out other large states with troubled housing markets, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks distressed properties.

Study Confirms Tea Party Was Created by Big Tobacco and Billionaire Koch Brothers
By Brendan DeMelle
Huffington Post
A new academic study confirms that front groups with longstanding ties to the tobacco industry and the billionaire Koch brothers planned the formation of the Tea Party movement more than a decade before it exploded onto the U.S. political scene.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

A Ten Point Loss Is Welcome News for Florida Gov. Rick Scott
By Trish Ponder
Pensito Review
The news was all good for Florida Gov. Rick Scott (Tea/GOP) in a recent Quinnipiac University poll…if you consider losing re-election to any competitor by at least six points to be good news.

Nuclear renaissance in Florida crumbles, meets economic reality
By Sara Barczak and George Cavros
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Has the so-called “nuclear renaissance” finally met economic reality? The nuclear industry recently experienced their “worst week” since the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Medically Needy and Out of Luck in Florida
By FloridaSNMOM
Daily Kos
Florida has so far still refused medicaid expansion. In the meantime, those of us living between the cracks are royally screwed.

Rick Scott Will Have His Revenge On Wildflowers
By Jason Linkins
Huffington Post
Lord knows I should expect no end of perplexing behavior from Florida's fraud-tastic supervillain governor Rick Scott, but I am truly perplexed by one of his recent decisions.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Judge orders delay in trial on congressional redistricting case
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald
A Tallahassee judge agreed Thursday to extend the court date in the already long-running lawsuit challenging the state’s congressional redistricting map to give the parties time to fight over whether or not legislators will be required to testify.

New name surfaces in L.G. guessing game: George LeMieux
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
It doesn't take much to stoke the most popular parlor game in Tallahassee these days: Trying to figure out who Gov. Rick Scott will pick as his lieutenant governor and campaign running mate in 2014.

5 questions for Allison Tant
By Peter Schorsch
Saint Petersblog
When Allison Tant became chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party in January, many thought she’d bring new energy to the organization.

POLITICAL RACES

Has Jeb's Time Come?
By Jon Meacham
Time Magazine
It's one of the more interesting what-ifs of the past few decades  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Sea level rise in South Florida: expect floods, sea wall woes
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun Sentinel
President Obama's top environmental adviser came to Fort Lauderdale Thursday to express the administration's commitment to fighting global warming and protecting the nation from rising sea levels.

Commission easily approves steps involving long-standing controversies
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The state Environmental Regulation Commission on Thursday approved two rule changes without controversy although the topics involved have been controversial for years.

Aquatic die-off
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Three of Floridians' favorite coastal animals are dying at a rate destructive to their populations in the Indian River Lagoon on the state's east coast.

LGBT

Exodus International announces plans to shut down
Staff reports
Orlando Sentinel
Exodus International, an Orlando-based Christian ministry which sought to convert homosexuals through prayer, has announced that it is shutting down after 37 years, according to its Web site.

EDUCATION

University board agrees with Rick Scott, keeps student fees unchanged
By Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The board that oversees the state university system mitigated a slight tuition increase for most schools on Thursday when it rejected a series of proposed fee hikes.

FCAT task force is formed
By Erin Kourkounis
Pensacola News Journal
In just a few weeks, local students, teachers and school leaders will find out letter grades handed out to their schools by the Florida Department of Education.

Board of Governors notes unmet building/maintenance needs
By Jeff Schweers
Gainesville Sun
Florida’s state universities have critical unmet building and maintenance needs that aren’t being financed, the Florida Board of Governors determined this week during its annual meeting in Tampa.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Goodson Receives Award For Championing Wage Theft Bill; Opponents Say He Deserves It
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
A Florida lawmaker has received an award for his work on a wage theft bill that he’s filed for three years in a row on behalf of the Florida Retail Federation.

Communities seek Amazon facility
News Service of Florida
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Hillsborough County Commission has started to fill its shopping cart with a fiscal package to try to attract Internet giant Amazon, an action under consideration in several communities across central and northeast Florida.

Fla. to release May jobless numbers
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Florida is releasing new unemployment numbers that will show if the state's economy continues to improve.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Health insurers to rebate $54 million to Floridians
By William E. Gibson
Orlando Sentinel
Health insurance companies will have to pay $54 million in rebates this summer to 614,245 of their Florida policyholders, federal officials announced on Thursday.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Immigration reform compromise would improve border security
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
A deal to spend tens of billions more on border security was announced by a bipartisan group of senators Thursday, who heralded it as a major breakthrough on a comprehensive immigration bill that has been hung up over the issue.

Disney workers' children urge Rubio: Push immigration plan
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
About 15-20 children of Walt Disney World workers gathered outside Orlando's federal detention center Thursday to show U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio that they are the face of those seeking immigration reform from Washington.

NRA urges Scott to sign gun bill
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
The National Rifle Association is rallying its influential membership to defend the unique proposal it negotiated with urban legislators during the 2013 session to help keep mentally ill people from buying guns in Florida.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Fired Trooper Who Went Easy On Lawmakers Deserves No Punishment, Lawyer Says
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
The lawyer for a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper fired after he went easy on state lawmakers, says the punishment suggested for the officer is too steep.

Attorneys clear issues before opening statements
By Mike Schneider and Kyle Hightower
Associated Press
With six female jurors now seated to consider whether George Zimmerman committed murder when he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, prosecutors and defense attorneys turn Friday to unresolved issues before next week's opening trial statements.