FEATURED
STORIES
George Zimmerman found not guilty in Trayvon Martin's death
By Ben Montgomery
Tampa Bay Times
Related: President Obama, Gov. Scott react to Zimmerman trial
Related column: Zimmerman verdict does not mask greater truths
A jury of six women late Saturday found that George Zimmerman shot to death 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to save his own life on a rainy night in February 2012 when the two met in a gated suburban neighborhood.
Stand Your Ground and the Zimmerman Verdict
By Dan Gelber
The Gelber Blog
An unarmed boy is killed by a man armed with a gun, and a jury says that, under the law of Florida, no crime has been committed.
State House Speaker Will Weatherford makes $122K a year, but what does he do?
By Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
For the past six years, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford has reported that his largest source of personal income is from an outfit called "Breckenridge Enterprises."
Republicans ahead in fundraising race
By William March
Tampa Tribune
State Republicans appear to be building a mammoth war chest heading into 2014, when they'll be defending Gov. Rick Scott against a re-election challenge.
Marco Rubio: A funny thing happened on the way to the nomination . . .
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
Poor Marco Rubio. As the prospects for comprehensive immigration reform sink, so goes his hopes of establishing himself as the solid Republican front-runner in the 2016 campaign for the White House.
Florida likely to resume voter purge after Supreme Court decision
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Scott administration seeks dismissal of voter "purge" lawsuit
When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act two weeks ago, it cleared the way for Gov. Rick Scott's administration to resume its controversial effort to remove potential noncitizens from voter rolls.
EDITORIAL
CARTOON OF THE WEEK
By Chan Lowe
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Top political donors get mixed bag of results on their campaign cash
By Mary Ellen Klas and Trevor Aaronson
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Health insurance giant Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida gave more money to Florida campaigns than any other single entity in the 2012 election cycle — $4.8 million — and the company is already the largest contributor in the current cycle, a Herald/Times analysis has found.
Students March for Equality
By Matt Horn
Capitol News Service
Students from three Florida universities rallied today to end voter suppression.
Counties reorganize precincts to help reduce voting lines
By Amy Sherman
Miami Herald
Broward and Miami-Dade elections officials are reorganizing hundreds of voting precincts with the goal of reducing the long lines of voters that plagued last November’s presidential elections and embarrassed the state.
Latvala asks Scott for FDLE probe of lawmakers' residencies
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Sen. Jack Latvala has sent letters to Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders, formally requesting an FDLE investigation of allegations that some lawmakers don't live in the districts they represent.
Tenants saw another side of politically connected 'Hoe' Brown
By Will Hobson and Jamal Thalji
Tampa Bay Times
"Hoe" Brown, 55, chairman of the Tampa Port Authority, appointed by two governors, was a model public servant.
POLITICAL
RACES
Democratic governors, highly critical of Scott's 'anti-middle class' policies, work to defeat governor
By Matt Dixon
St. Augustine Record
With 15 months before election day, a national group that works to elect Democratic governors is already spending big in the Florida.
The Gubernatorial Standoff: Gov. Scott's Running Mate Vs. Fla. Dems Candidates
By Sascha Cordner
WFSU Tallahassee
Florida’s 2014 primary elections are a little more than a year away and there’s a striking lack of people at the top of each party’s ticket.
RPOF: We'll win in 2014 if we tell our story ... to more people
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Republicans can win a clean sweep in the 2014 election cycle if it gets out its message of a positive economic turnaround under Gov. Rick Scott.
BALLOT
INITIATIVES
Medical marijuana forces revamp popular plan, but face hurdles
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
The backers of a Florida medical-marijuana initiative have rewritten their proposed constitutional amendment and now face the toughest of paths to even get on the 2014 ballot.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
Senate move to form Indian River Lagoon panel follows Scott veto of water quality project
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The creation this week of a Senate select committee to study wildlife die-offs at Indian River Lagoon along the Atlantic Coast comes nearly two months after Gov. Rick Scott vetoed funding to study water quality problems there.
LGBT
States That Don't Recognize Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages Present Complications After
By Nick Evans
WFSU Tallahassee
Marriage equality got a major boost when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down major provisions in the Federal Defense of Marriage Act last month.
FIU law professor: Marriage equality a step to end bigotry toward gays
By Jose Gabilondo
Miami Herald
You’d never accuse the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, of liberal activism.
EDUCATION
Other states eye Florida’s school grading woes
By David Smiley
Miami Herald
Florida’s formula for grading its schools — hailed as a model nationwide — may be rewritten again this year to include a controversial “safety net” that would keep grades from dropping more than one letter.
School grades would drop only 1 letter under state plan
By James L. Rosica
Tampa Tribune
A school's annual report card won't drop by more than one letter grade under a recommendation released Friday by the state's top education official.
Broward schools fall behind in digital education
By Karen Yi
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Students in Broward County's public schools may be graduating without the digital know-how they need to succeed in college and the workforce.
Tight budgets, skimpy stipends plague area high school programs
By Matt Baker
Tampa Bay Times
Gibbs High School’s football players are hungry when they come into coach Rick Kravitz’s office after school.
The Trouble With Testing Mania
Editorial
New York Times
Congress made a sensible decision a decade ago when it required the states to administer yearly tests to public school students in exchange for federal education aid.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida Farmworkers Demand Protection from Pesticides
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
Farm workers from Florida and around the country are on Capitol Hill today, asking Congress to protect them from potentially hazardous pesticides commonly used in agriculture.
Saving the Struggling Oyster Industry
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
An experiment in Franklin county on the Florida Panhandle coast could hold the key for the states struggling oyster industry.
'Candy and nuts'
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
Credit House Speaker John Boehner with having a sense of whimsy, anyway.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Florida Republican divide over Medicaid expansion creates awkward gaps
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
As much as leaders of the Florida Republican Party want to project unity, we keep seeing awkward signs of division between the governor's office and other top Republicans, especially over Medicaid expansion.
Bad politics, bad policy are bad for Floridians' health
By Roslyn M. Brock
Orlando Sentinel
As a child growing up in Fort Pierce, I learned the wise words of Sir Winston Churchill: "We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give."
Malpractice lawyers say new state law violates patient privacy
By Rafael Olmeda
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Anyone looking to sue a doctor for malpractice in Florida could lose their privacy rights under a state law that took effect last week, according to a series of lawsuits filed across the state.
IMMIGRATION,
CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
On immigration, GOP pols torn between business needs and tea party demands
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Florida’s Republican members of the U.S. House are getting lots of visits from the state’s largest agricultural organization these days.
Is Immigration Reform Dead?
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Is immigration reform dead? Yes. Well, probably.
Tension high in Sanford’s historically black neighborhoods on day after Zimmerman verdict
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Related: Rallies, marches follow Zimmerman verdict
Related: Some young people, disappointed by Zimmerman verdict, say prejudice is part of their daily lives
Related editorial: No definition of ‘justice’
An elderly man bleeding profusely from a cut on his head sat on a chair on the side of a street in Goldsboro just two blocks from a new Sanford police station Sunday evening.
As NAACP opens in Orlando, timing of Zimmerman verdict seems fateful
By Kate Santich
Orlando Sentinel
For members of the nation's oldest civil rights group, the timing of the verdict in George Zimmerman's murder trial seemed fateful: Just as the NAACP gathers for its first-ever national convention in Orlando, a white man was being acquitted of killing a black teen 30 miles away in what for many has been a racially charged case.
For 2nd time, Justice Dept. says Miami Police problems ‘are still entrenched’ and must be changed
By Jay Weaver
Miami Herald
The U.S. Justice Department’s long-awaited report finding excessive use of force by Miami police officers might not be a criminal indictment, but it reads like one.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Charlie's court? Crist could pick entire Supreme Court if he wins second term
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
It could be called Charlie’s Court, and it could reign for a decade or more.
Little chance of changing Stand Your Ground law
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Related: Zimmerman verdict leaves key question unanswered
George Zimmerman is not guilty. Trayvon Martin is dead.
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