FEATURED
STORIES
Failure to expand Medicaid hits Florida's poor hard
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Legislature’s decision to not expand Medicaid eligibility as proposed in the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, hits Florida’s poor doubly hard, but it also hits businesses and insured people with higher costs, dozens of speakers told area elected officials Monday.
A duty to retreat from a Fla. law as it stands
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Despite backlash, 'stand your ground' laws did not apply to Zimmerman case
Related column: What is wrong with Florida juries?
There is a difference between respecting the jury's verdict clearing George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin and acknowledging the essential injustice of a Florida law that all but encourages reckless behavior.
Bennett proposes safety net for schools' grades
By James Call
Florida Current
The state Board of Education meets Tuesday to consider a proposal by Commissioner Tony Bennett to maintain a “safety net” preventing schools from dropping by more than one letter grade on a state report card.
Millionaires club in Florida House
News Service of Florida
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Republican lawmakers are on average doing better than their Democratic counterparts when it comes to financial well being.
Rubio Turns Away From Immigration As Bill’s Prospects Flounder
By Beth Reinhard
National Journal
Related: The Myth of Marco Rubio’s Immigration Problem
After relentlessly defending an ambitious overhaul of the nation's immigration laws for months, Marco Rubio didn't respond when House Republican leaders last week trashed it as a "flawed…massive, Obama-care like bill."
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Want to play in the Legislature? There's a price
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
Have business before the Florida Legislature? There is a price of doing business.
Craig Fugate as Homeland Security secretary?
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Craig Fugate, the former Florida chief of emergency management who now runs FEMA, is among the names of possible being tossed about as a possible replacement for Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.
Buchanan hit with late fees on tax bill
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan was hit with more than $1,000 in penalties and interest charges on a 2012 property tax bill on a home he and his wife maintain near Capitol Hill, records show.
POLITICAL
RACES
EMILY's List hopes to brand Florida Senator Marco Rubio as anti-women ahead of the 2016 elections
By Zeke J Miller
Time Magazine
EMILY’s List has a message coming for women who may be impressed by Marco Rubio‘s recent performance in the Senate: Don’t be fooled by those dreamy eyes and moderate positions on immigration reform.
Rubio rakes in $3 million despite immigration struggle
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
The immigration debate hasn't seemed to hurt Sen. Marco Rubio's fundraising ability.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
It's no surprise Duke Energy likes this advance fee deal
By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
You may already be aware of the nuclear cost recovery fee. This is the hand-us-your-cash law that allows power companies to charge customers (and make a handsome profit) for nuclear power projects that may (or may not) be undertaken.
Study finds high bacteria levels at Pinellas' Gandy Beach
By Kate Bradshaw
Tampa Tribune
Levels of so-called "indicator" bacteria in the water at Gandy Beach are shockingly high, according to a St. Petersburg College professor's studies, but state officials aren't likely to step up monitoring efforts there.
Lionfish beyond reach of divers worry researchers
By Jennifer Kay
Associated Press
The invasive lionfish that crowds coral reefs and preys on native fish in the Atlantic's shallower waters is such a problem that divers in Florida and the Caribbean are encouraged to capture and eat them whenever they can.
LGBT
The Future of Same-Sex Marriage
Editorial
New York Times
As historic and welcome as we found the Supreme Court’s two recent decisions on same-sex marriage, they served to emphasize the lingering inequality for millions of gay and lesbian Americans who do not live in the 13 states that enforce the right of all adult Americans to marry the person of their choosing.
U.S. Reps. Ros-Lehtinen, Frankel, Garcia and Wilson support NOH8 campaign for gay marriage equality
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Four U.S. Congress members from South Florida recently posed for the national NOH8 Campaign: Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, D-Miami; Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach; Joe Garcia, D-Miami; and Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens.
EDUCATION
Explaining Florida’s Choices For Its Next Standardized Test
By John O'Connor
NPR StateImpact Florida
In the next few weeks, the man in charge of kindergarten through twelfth grade education in Florida has to answer a multiple choice question: Which standardized test should the state pick to replace the FCAT?
FAU backs off ban on ‘Jesus’ exercise, affirms support for academic freedom
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Florida Atlantic University officials are no longer promising an outright ban on the infamous “step on Jesus” classroom exercise, but their pledge to review the lesson with faculty and institute changes appears to have satisfied a concerned Gov. Rick Scott.
Miami-Dade Schools budget includes teacher raises, voter-backed tax hike
By David Smiley
Miami Herald
School choice options will be expanded, reserves bolstered and bilingual programming and safety spending preserved under the 2014 budget proposed by Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
Rapper Pitbull a new school-choice voice and 305 charter school booster
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
Armando Christian Pérez, aka the rapper Pitbull aka Mr. 305 aka Mr. Worldwide, is starting to look like Mr. Education as well.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida flunks federal standards on jobless claims
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
The agency running Florida's unemployment program has changed its name and its top leadership but is still failing to meet federal standards in crucial areas.
State says number of homeless dropped in past year
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
A new state survey shows the number of homeless people in Florida is dropping.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
'We are on track' -- Health care act sign-up process gets started
By Skyler Swisher
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Despite a delay in a mandate requiring that employers offer medical insurance, other sweeping aspects of health care reform are moving forward as volunteers and the federal government gear up to enroll as many of the roughly 111,000 uninsured in Volusia and Flagler counties as possible.
DCF Unveila New Child Abuse Prevention Strategy
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
Two years after the high profile death of a child in a pickup truck, the state Department of Children and Families is unveiling an intensive new strategy for keeping kids safe.
Standalone ERs Drive Up Costs
Staff Report
Health News Florida
Florida is one of the states where hospitals are building freestanding emergency departments in upscale suburbs to beef up patient flow to the mother ship and enhance their bottom line.
NAACP conference targets black health issues during Orlando convention
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
Health disparities within the black community held center stage Monday during a sold-out conference at the NAACP National Convention in Orlando.
IMMIGRATION,
CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Voting rights decision highlights NAACP convention
By Cleveland Tinker
Gainesville Sun
Coming up with successful strategies to minimize the impact the recent Supreme Court decision involving the Voting Rights Act of 1965 will have on minority voters will garner a lot of discussion and attention at the 104th annual National Convention of the NAACP.
NAACP speakers urge civil rights ‘movement’ from Trayvon Martin’s death
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous fought back tears as he lamented George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict and said that the issues surrounding the shooting death of Trayvon Martin last year - gun violence and racial profiling - would be the next front on the battle over civil rights.
Despite support, state won't grant permit to dig up Dozier graves
By Ben Montgomery
Tampa Bay Times
The state on Monday denied the University of South Florida's request to exhume the bodies of dead boys from a clandestine, unmarked cemetery at the Dozier School for Boys in the Panhandle town of Marianna, where troubled youths for decades were severely beaten and abused by guards.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Zimmerman juror: Race did not play a role in shooting of unarmed teenager
By Kathleen McGrory
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related column: Blame bizarre self-defense law for verdict
The six-member jury that acquitted George Zimmerman did not believe race played a role in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, the first juror to speak publicly about the trial said Monday night.
Protests, reactions to George Zimmerman verdict spread across country
By Jerriann Sullivan
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Civil rights lawyers' group calls for Justice Department to investigate George Zimmerman
Related: George Zimmerman juror plans to write book, agent says
Reactions to the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial of Trayvon Martin continue to sweep the nation with protests in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C and calmer, planned events in Florida.
Vigilante justice
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
There is some uncertainty about what exactly happened on that now-infamous night in February 2012, but the indisputable fact is that George Zimmerman shot an unarmed teenager to death.
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