Daily News Clips for June 27, 2013

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

New Report Shows ALEC’s Effects On Florida Education Policy
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Excerpt: The report by Progress Florida, ALEC v Kids, “documents the growing footprint that ALEC has in Florida, and across the country including its unprecedented access to elected officials and the drafting of ‘model’ education policy designed to benefit ALEC’s corporate funders which compliant lawmakers then push into law,” the group wrote in a press release this week.

The BluVu: Week of June 28^th
By Gayle Andrews
The BluVu
A deal’s a deal, right governor? The Heritage Insurance scandal heats up. The Lt. Gov fix is in, Charlie Crist is making Rick crazy "up in here!", and Progress Florida’s Damien Filer tells us who the real Middle Class Champs are as political reality comes your way!

FEATURED STORIES

Court ruling leaves Florida same-sex couples in limbo
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Related: Supreme Court strikes down key part of Defense of Marriage Act, dismisses Prop 8
Related editorial: Bittersweet victory
Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision striking a portion of the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act leaves many uncertainties for same-sex couples in Florida, where marriage is constitutionally defined as between one man and one woman.

U.S. high court rulings encourage Florida same-sex marriage advocates
By James Call
Florida Current
Two U.S. Supreme Court rulings Wednesday boosted the hopes of Florida advocates who want to repeal a 2008 state ban on same-sex marriage.

Group asks for health care special session
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Related: Nelson keeping pressure on Scott to call special session on Medicaid
House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston and a delegation of Broward County Democrats voted Tuesday night to pen another letter to Gov. Rick Scott demanding he call a special session to discuss expanding Medicaid coverage to 1.1 million residents, promising constituents they would not just let the issue quietly die.

Forced to Work Sick? That's Fine With Disney, Red Lobster, and Their Friends at ALEC
By Stephanie Mencimer
Mother Jones
Related: Will Your State's Waiters Give You the Flu?
Before jetting off last week for a trade mission at the Paris Air Show, Florida's Republican Gov. Rick Scott took a moment to sign into law a bill that banned local governments from requiring employers to offer paid sick leave.

Florida Voting Laws No Longer Require Federal Oversight
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
In a 5-4 ruling Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that requires some states and individual counties — including five in Florida — to have their respective voting laws approved by the federal government.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Supreme Court’s voting rights ruling throws fuel on a new fire
By Joy-Ann Reid
Miami Herald
Fifty years ago this month, Medgar Evers arrived at his home near Jackson, Miss., in the early morning hours of June 12.

Rubio to conservatives: I'm right on immigration -- and remain right on spending, Obamacare, same-sex marriage
Staff Report
Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has been taking a hammering lately from tea party folks who supported his insurgent 2010 Senate campaign but are appalled at his support for an immigration reform bill that many consider -- wrongly, says Rubio -- an amnesty for 11 million people who are living here illegally.

Sen. Garcia warns Dolphins owner
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
The chairman of the legislative Hispanic caucus Wednesday warned Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross that he's hurting his team's future dealings with state lawmakers by "recklessly attacking" members who didn't support his $350 million plan for renovating the team's stadium.

Should Dolphins owner's new PAC have registered in Florida?
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Florida Jobs First, the political action committee that sent fliers last week attacking three Miami lawmakers, registered as an organization under the IRS.

5 questions for the Florida GOP’s Lenny Curry
News Service of Florida
Saint Petersblog
Lenny Curry was unanimously elected chairman of the Republican Party of Florida in 2011.  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Obama climate plan pleases environmentalists, worries Central Florida utilities
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
President Barack Obama unveiled his plan Tuesday to clamp down on utilities and the heat-trapping pollution emitted by their power plants, which could lead to higher electric bills in Central Florida and other parts of the U.S. that depend on plants that burn coal.

Water managers weigh putting South Florida lands up for sale
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
The South Florida Water Management District, one of the state’s largest landowners with some 1.5 million acres ranging from wild banks of the restored Kissimmee River to bird-covered marshes at the southern end of Miami-Dade County, is pondering unloading some of its vast holdings.

Federal funding cut-off threat looms over Florida's beach water testing program
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Environmental groups are raising concerns about the continued threat to federal funding provided to states for beach water quality testing.

BP mounts offensive in spill settlement dispute
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
With an ad blitz and a tersely worded letter, BP is mounting an increasingly aggressive campaign to challenge what could be billions of dollars in settlement payouts to businesses following its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

LGBT

Scott says he'll uphold state law that bans same-sex marriage
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related column: Supreme Court ruling affirms American principles
Related editorial: Victory for marriage equality
Reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Wednesday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he will uphold the voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution in 2008 that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.

Rubio: 'The Supreme Court made a serious mistake today'
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Protest at Marco Rubio's Tampa office leads to 3 arrests
Sen. Marco Rubio statement after Supreme Court decisions on gay marriage:

Gay rights ruling a victory for equality
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Related editorial: Clock ticking on Florida’s discrimination against gays
Twelve states recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry, but since 1996 the federal government has ensured that those couples were treated as second-class citizens, ineligible for the same federal benefits and rights that other married couples received as a matter of course.

EDUCATION

District expects dip in school grades
By Joe Callahan
Ocala Star-Banner
There's a growing fear around the state there will be far more “F” schools this year because of higher achievement levels being implemented for the first time on many FCAT and end-of-course exams.

Lake charter will still get money despite $986,378 attendance dispute
By Erica Rodriguez
Orlando Sentinel
A Lake County charter school for troubled teens will still be getting money to keep its doors open in August despite a $986,378 dispute over faulty attendance keeping.

Florida community college system gets U.S. honors
By Jerome R. Stockfisch
Tampa Tribune
Jordan Lewis is zipping through an associate degree in liberal arts at Hillsborough Community College, where he'll finish at the end of the summer so he can transfer to Florida A&M to play baseball.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Citizens Property Insurance approves 7 percent average rate hike
Wire Reports
Tampa Bay Times
Florida's largest property insurer has approved another round of rate hikes that could affect more than a million policyholders.

Orlando-Miami train needs just 1 more deal before it can roll
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
A $1.5 billion passenger train that would link Orlando with Miami is just one deal from becoming reality.

Scott, Bondi hail new retail theft law
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday a new law increasing retail theft penalties will help protect Florida families from higher store prices.

Union study shows Florida ranks high in workplace safety, Jacksonville had 19 job deaths
By Drew Dixon 
Florida Times-Union
From the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, in April, to the factory collapse in Bangladesh in early June, workplace safety has come under increased scrutiny in recent months, with some pushing for increased regulation or more enforcement of existing laws.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

How The End Of DOMA Will Affect Obamacare, Federal Employees
By Joe Neel     
Health News Florida
The Supreme Court's ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional will not only make a big difference in health benefits for some federal employees, it could also affect people who will be newly eligible for Obamacare beginning next year.

Lawyer for doctor fires back at pill-mill operator, calling her a victim who denied prescriptions to out-of-staters
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
Working to counteract claims that the money stashed in garbage cans, the drug addicts shooting up in the parking lot and the regular visits from police should have tipped off Dr. Cynthia Cadet that she wasn’t working in a normal medical office, her attorney Wednesday went on the attack against pill-mill kingpin Chris George.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Senate amends immigration bill to bolster border security
Wire Reports
Tampa Bay Times
Senators on Wednesday approved a plan to double the number of officers along the U.S.-Mexico border, a key concession to Republicans who plan to join with Democrats in supporting a comprehensive immigration measure this week.

Immigration activists gather at Rubio's office
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Neatly illustrating the political tightrope Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is walking on immigration reform, pro- and anti-immigration reform advocates both held demonstrations outside his office Wednesday.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Lawyer group files suit to stop new law that would speed executions
By Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Lawyers representing death row inmates filed suit with the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday in an attempt to invalidate parts of a law that Gov. Rick Scott signed two weeks ago that would speed executions.

Law school grad, seeking to practice, gets civil rights restored
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A law school graduate and single mother of three, Jessica Chiappone of Boca Raton wants to practice law in Florida.

George Zimmerman trial: Testimony of key witness continues today
By Rene Stutzman and Jeff Weiner
Orlando Sentinel
Jurors this morning will hear more testimony from a crucial state witness in the George Zimmerman murder trial: A young South Florida woman who was on the phone with 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in the moments before his shooting.