FEATURED
STORIES
Protesters crowd governor's office, demand an end to Stand Your Ground law
By Kathleen McGrory
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Juror: Stand Your Ground played role in verdict
More than 60 student activists crammed into Gov. Rick Scott's office Tuesday to demand a repeal of the state's controversial Stand Your Ground law.
Zimmerman verdict puts “stand your ground” on trial
By Naomi Ahsan
Salon
Next New Deal Immediately following George Zimmerman’s acquittal on all charges brought against him for killing Trayvon Martin, mass protest began in the streets and on social media, evoking the great mobilizations for civil rights in American history.
Democrat says Gov. Scott not pursuing voter registration fraud linked to GOP
By Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Is Gov. Rick Scott covering up GOP voter registration fraud?
Poll: Scott “in big trouble”
By William March
Tampa Tribune
A new subscriber-only poll done by the Kitchens Group for paying subscribers shows Gov. Rick Scott “in big trouble,” according to pollster Jim Kitchens.
Florida Board of Education votes 4-3 to pad school grades
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Dry run of Florida school grades shows massive drop in A's, rise in F's
Related editorial: School grading system needs more than a Band-Aid
Florida school grades are due by late July, but their validity will be in serious doubt this year.
FLORIDA
POLITICS
Weatherford finds it pays to be coy
By Daniel Ruth
Tampa Bay Times
It would seem the Florida House speaker, Pasco County's own Will Weatherford, R-Lil' Rascals, might have a bit of a Harry Lee Coe conundrum.
Rubio under fire for holding up black judicial nominees
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Sen. Marco Rubio is holding up the confirmations of two African-American judicial candidates, drawing fire from the Congressional Black Caucus, which plans a Wednesday press conference and blames the lawmaker's "negligence and obstruction."
Bon Voyage, Florida: Lawmakers set sail for Bahamas
By Michael Van Sickler
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Even by Tallahassee’s standards, Steve Crisafulli’s idea for an upcoming fundraiser for House Republicans is pretty showy.
POLITICAL
RACES
Trump a big Scott supporter
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The man known for the catchphrase “You’re Fired” is doing his part to make sure the “Let’s Get to Work” governor keeps his job.
Congressional challengers slow to raise campaign dollars
By Jim Turner
News Service of Florida
Most challengers to the state’s 27 U.S. House members posted light fund-raising quarters, which could require a re-evaluation of the competitiveness of some seats or a need to draw bigger-named candidates off the sidelines.
Teachers line up early behind Graham
By James Call
Florida Current
The union representing public school teachers has endorsed a candidate in the 2nd District U.S. House race more than a year before the primaries for the 2014 election.
ENVIRONMENT
AND ENERGY
BP seeks halt to Gulf oil spill settlement payouts
By Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
BP asked a federal judge on Tuesday to temporarily halt all settlement payments to Gulf Coast businesses and residents who claim they lost money after the company's 2010 oil spill while former FBI Director Louis Freeh investigates alleged misconduct by a lawyer who helped administer the multibillion-dollar settlement program.
Advertisements planned along Pinellas Trail; Florida's parks and trails could follow
By Roberto Roldan
WMNF Tampa
Cyclists frequenting the Pinellas Trail will soon see changes to the scenery -- existing signage are being replaced by newer and larger signs. They will also feature advertisements from businesses.
LGBT
Despite delays, hope on gay rights issues
By Marci Shatzman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
There was no groundswell to grant Boca Raton gay employees domestic partnership benefits or extend the city's policy to cover their civil rights, despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that married same-sex couples could qualify for federal benefits.
EDUCATION
Board approves safety net for school grades
By James Call
Florida Current
The Florida Board of Education on Tuesday voted to continue a grade-drop safety net on a state report card for public schools.
Collier teachers to get bonus, but no raise
By Barbara Corbellini Duarte
Naples Daily News
The Collier County School Board may have had the final vote on teacher raises Tuesday night, but as more than 200 teachers left the room, some wanted the final word.
Florida Newspaper Keeps Fighting For Release Of Teacher Evaluation Data
By Jessica Palombo
WFSU Tallahassee
A Florida appeals court is weighing whether a newspaper should have access to data used in evaluating schoolteachers.
JOBS,
BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
Florida Senator Highlights Difficulty Of Living On Minimum Wage
By Regan McCarthy
WFSU Tallahassee
Florida Senator Dwight Bullard is living on minimum wage this week, and the Miami Democrat has just a little over a dollar left to spend.
Foreclosure backlogs persist, despite efforts to whittle
By Josh Salman
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Courts across Florida are chipping away at massive foreclosure backlogs, and while that pace may accelerate thanks to a new law aimed at further expediting the process, choked court systems remain a reality throughout the state.
Deal could lead to Miami-Orlando train, extended Osceola toll road
By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
Orlando's main road-building agency has reached a tentative agreement with Deseret Ranch that could clear the way both for an Orlando-to-Miami train and a toll road that would open large swaths of rural Osceola County to development.
Hagel: ‘Sequestration’ cuts mean military job losses
Staff Report
Palm Beach Post
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday that a new round of automatic spending cuts next year would force the department to cut personnel and that he already has decided to reduce jobs in the offices of the Pentagon’s top leadership by 20 percent.
Port St. Joe Port Authority pushing for $3.75 million grant for railway upgrades
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Officials from the Port St. Joe Port Authority are seeking a $3.75 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation for upgrades to the nearby AN Railway.
HEALTH
AND SENIORS
Blame States For Not Expanding Medicaid, Obama Administration Will Tell Poor Residents
By Jeffrey Young
Huffington Post
The federal government wants poor residents of states not expanding Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care reform law to know who's denying them health coverage -- and the administration has a plan to make sure they find out.
$54 Million in Rebates in Mail
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Insurers for more than 600,000 Floridians will have to rebate some of the premium from last year because they didn’t comply with the spending rules in the Affordable Care Act, according to federal health officials.
Calling DCF to account
Editorial
Miami Herald
Only the name on the letterhead seems to have changed, unfortunately.
IMMIGRATION,
CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
USF anthropologists renew effort to get okay to dig at Dozier
By Ben Montgomery
Tampa Bay Times
Related editorial: Another indignity at the Dozier School for Boys
The University of South Florida will appeal a ruling by the state that denied anthropologists and archaeologists a permit to exhume human remains on the campus of Florida's oldest reform school.
JUSTICE
AND THE COURTS
Feds to sift through evidence in Zimmerman case
By Curt Anderson
Associated Press
Related: Holder slams Stand Your Ground laws
The Justice Department will sift through trial testimony, interviews and other evidence during what is likely to be a months-long investigation into whether George Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin's civil rights when he shot the black teenager.
Stevie Wonder Says He Won’t Play in Florida Because of Stand Your Ground Law
By James C. McKinley Jr.
New York Times
Protesting the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of the black teenager Trayvon Martin, Stevie Wonder said on Sunday that he will not play a concert in Florida until the state repeals its Stand Your Ground law, which makes it harder to prosecute people who claim they killed someone in self-defense, NBC reported.
History of Stand Your Ground Law in Florida
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Tampa
Before the stand your ground law was enacted in Florida defendants had to use every reasonable effort to avoid danger before using deadly force.
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