Daily Clips for May 25, 2012

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

The BluVu: Week of May 21^st
By Gayle Andrews
The BluVu
The Governor won't take no for an answer, they're checking Marco Rubio's baggage, it's bombs away for the FCAT, and Progress Florida’s Damien Filer brings us the story on sick leave in Orlando as political reality comes your way!

Exclusive Fla Insider Poll: Who's the best VP choice? Not Marco Rubio
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Note: Progress Florida’s Mark Ferrulo and Damien Filer were among those polled.
Mitt Romney's smartest vice presidential choice would come from Florida, say an overwhelming number of more than 100 of Florida’s smartest politicos.

FEATURED STORIES

Voting rights groups ask Scott to stop non-citizen voter purge
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
A coalition of voting rights groups is asking Gov. Rick Scott to stop a statewide effort to purge thousands of potential non-citzens from the voting rolls, and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, also plans to ask the governor to stop the scrub.

Gov. Rick Scott’s ’I’ve never shot an elephant gaffe with Spanish king caught on video
By Marc Caputo and Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
Related AP story: Fla gov talks about faux pas with Spain's King
Gov. Rick Scott became a punchline in Spain this week after a televised gaffe with the King of Spain, who’s reeling from an elephant-shooting scandal.

FCAT: Thousands of third-graders at risk of being held back
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
About 9,000 South Florida third-graders are at risk of being held back because they failed Florida’s reading exam, according to results released Thursday by the state Department of Education.

Groups claim thousands being denied jobless benefits in Florida
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
A national workers’ rights group has filed a federal complaint over Florida’s revamped unemployment compensation system, claiming that the Sunshine State has become the most difficult place in the nation for unemployed people seeking benefits.

Polls show U.S. Senate race a tie in Florida
By Marc Caputo
Miami Herald
In one of the most competitive Senate contests in the nation, Democrat Bill Nelson is in for the tightest race of his U.S. Senate career against Rep. Connie Mack, two new polls show.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

Florida Congressman Demands Gov. Rick Scott ‘Immediately Suspend’ Voter Purge
By Judd Legum and Ian Millhiser
Think Progress
Related: How Governor Rick Scott Is Preventing Eligible U.S. Citizens From Voting In Florida
Florida Congressman Ted Deutch (D) told ThinkProgress today that Gov. Rick Scott was engaging in a “blatant attempt to suppress voter turnout.”

Quick Take on Florida Q Poll
By Steve Schale
Steve Schale
It didn't take long following the release of the Florida Q poll for my phone to blow up this morning.

NAACP's Evolution on Marriage Equality Began Decades ago
By Nadine Smith
Equality Florida
This isn't the first time the NAACP has stepped out on principle for an issue that affects the lives of LGBT people.

Romney’s education vision
By Valerie Strauss
The Answer Sheet
Anybody who thinks President Obama’s education policies have been unfriendly to public education should pay close attention to Mitt Romney’s newly announced school reform vision.

2012 Netroots Awards
By Kenneth Quinnell
Florida Progressive Coalition
It’s that time of year again, the 2012 Netroots Awards are about to begin.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Poll: Scott's ratings improving with Florida voters
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
A voter survey released Thursday suggests Gov. Rick Scott's efforts to improve his image may be swaying some voters who are not closely alligned with either major political party.

Temple Israel cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
By Erika Bolstad
Miami Herald
Miami's Temple Israel on Thursday cancelled a program featuring Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz after a high-profile Republican donor quit the congregation to protest the top Democratic congresswoman's speech.

Poll: Floridians disagree with Tampa's bid to ban guns at RNC
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Floridians disagree with Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn's proposal to ban guns outside the Republican National Convention, a Quinnipiac University poll shows.

Sen. Siplin to admit guilt, pay $3,000 in settlement of campaign violations
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, has reached a tentative agreement with the Florida Elections Commission over alleged campaign finance violations during his 2008 re-election campaign.

Florida Voter Polls: Purges And Politics
Editorial
Lakeland Ledger
When it comes to fair voting, will Florida ever learn to do it right? Once again, the state is courting problems as it seeks to purge supposedly ineligible people from voter rolls.

POLITICAL RACES

Marco Rubio plans to sell books in swing states
Associated Press
Ft. Myers News-Press
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of West Miami is planning a swing-state summer bus tour that will also roll through South Carolina, the early presidential primary battleground.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Environmentalists battle DEP, industries on two fronts
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Environmentalists said Thursday they will ask the Florida Supreme Court to require the governor and Cabinet to decide on a plan for a pollution pipeline into the St. Johns River approved by the state.

Tropicana gets OK to connect new generator to FPL
By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post
Tropicana's Fort Pierce citrus processing plant has received state approval for a plan to connect a 1.6-megawatt generating facility to Florida Power & Light Co.'s system.

Santa Fe green
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
This week a stretch of the Santa Fe River near Poe Springs began to run green with algae.

LGBT

Tampa domestic partnership registry opens June 25 to both gay and unmarried heterosexual couples
By Dustin Chase
WFTS Tampa
Unmarried couples will soon be able to register as domestic partners with the City of Tampa beginning next month.

ACLU sues Yancey, School Board
By Vishal Persaud
Ocala Star-Banner
On behalf of two Vanguard High School students, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida filed suit against School Superintendent Jim Yancey and the School Board on Thursday.

EDUCATION

FCAT reading, math scores released, but change in standards could lead to more confusion
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Florida students earned about the same results on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests for reading and math, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Education.

Fewer third-graders pass critical FCAT reading test
By Cara Fitzpatrick and Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
Thursday was a rough day at San Jose Elementary School in Dunedin.

Too many answers missing
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Department of Education has opened a new hotline to address confusion about the FCAT, and Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson is holding a series of "Conversations with the Commissioner" – including one tonight at 6 at Boca Raton High School - to explain the test.

Applicants Still Needed for Florida Polytechnic University's Board
By Mary Toothman
Lakeland Ledger
It's no lines, no waiting for those interested in serving on the board of the new Florida Polytechnic University, but applications need to be submitted by the end of the month.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Citizens considering rate hike on new policies, but director voted for cap
By Gray Rohrer
Florida Current
Tom Grady, interim director of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., has said he thinks the state-owned company’s plan to raise rates for new policies above the 10 percent cap put in place by lawmakers in 2009 is legal.

Workforce board picks new CEO
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
Workforce Central Florida board members want a Connecticut workforce development administrator to become agency's new president and CEO.

Facebook, JPMorgan gaffs erode faith in Wall St.
By Christina Rexrode and Pallavi Gogoi
Associated Press
Wall Street appears bent on convincing Main Street that the game is rigged.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Lawsuit Alleges Toxic Exposure at Florida Prison
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
More than 160 current and former employees and family members are suing the federal prison agency over ailments they blame on exposure to toxins at an electronics recycling facility at a penitentiary in the Florida Panhandle.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Zimmerman wants evidence private in Martin case
By Mike Schneider
Associated Press
Both sides in the Trayvon Martin murder case want some evidence kept private until trial.

Daily Clips for June 22, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

In Florida Panhandle, legislators defend political redistricting time line
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
On the home turf of the state Senate's redistricting chairman, Christian radio portends the Second Coming, politicians refer to the "Yellow River Code" of being true to your word, and the age-old tension between city and countryside dominates talk of redrawing political lines.

A 26-meeting farce
Editorial
Tampa Tribune
Our Republican-dominated Legislature wants us to believe that the series of public meetings planned around the state to discuss drawing new legislative and congressional boundaries is for informational purposes only — no politics involved.

Gerard Robinson will be Florida's new education commissioner
By Marlene Sokol
St. Petersburg Times
After a months-long search and a long afternoon of interviews, it took the Florida Board of Education less than ten minutes Tuesday morning to name its next commissioner: Gerard Robinson.

Shake-up of Gov. Rick Scott's top staff continues
By Kathleen Haughney
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott's chief adviser Mary Anne Carter announced her resignation Tuesday, becoming the second top aide to exit the new administration this week and signaling the beginning of a shake-up of Scott's inner circle.

Scott signs scores of bills into law
Staff Report
Florida Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed 46 bills into law including HB 7215, which includes compromise language prohibiting local governments from adopting new fertilizer ordinances.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Legislators hear residents' redistricting advice at local hearing
By Tom McLaughlin
Northwest Florida Daily News
Related: Legislators' promise to hear redistricing concerns is disingenuous, critics say
The question on most everyone’s tongue was answered quickly Tuesday night at what might have been the largest-ever gathering of Florida legislators in Okaloosa County.

House Democrats ask Justice Dept. to reject new elections law
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
House Democratic leaders Tuesday asked the U.S. Justice Department to deny Secretary of State Kurt Browning’s request for approval of the state’s new elections law, which the Legislature’s ruling Republicans said is aimed at blunting the threat of voter fraud but which Democrats say is intended to discourage poor and minority voters from going to the polls.

Scott site wants you to let newspapers know how good he is
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott says he rarely reads newspapers.

Scott signs new "sexting" law easing punishment for minors
By Janet Zink
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
'Sexting' law eases penalties for Fla. minors.

Rick Scott's top policy adviser resigns amid shakeup
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
The shakeup in Gov. Rick Scott's office continued Tuesday when he accepted the resignation of his top policy adviser.

Former State Senator Nancy Argenziano Warns About A Corporate Oligarchy Controlling Our State (audio interview)
By Robert Lorei
WMNF Community Radio Tampa
Our guest, Nancy Argenziano spent 16 years in state government as a house member, a state senator and a Public Service Commissioner. Former Senator Argenziano joins us live.

Is Florida too regulated?
By William Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Governor Rick Scott is blaming federal and state regulations for restraining Florida’s attempt to spur business growth and create new jobs.

Florida Lawmaker Faces Ethics Review
By Gary Fields and Brody Mullins
Wall Street Journal
A congressional ethics panel is investigating allegations that Florida Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings sexually harassed a member of his staff, according to people familiar with the matter.

Playing redistricting games
Editorial
Pensacola News Journal
Legislative leaders are touting the upcoming redistricting process — including a series of public hearings, with one in Pensacola today — as open and transparent.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Archbishop of Miami defends ‘Religious Freedom’ amendment
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Set to appear on Florida’s 2012 ballot: an amendment that would repeal language in the state constitution that bans using public money to fund religious organizations.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

DEP says memo to water districts is part of a larger strategy
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says a memo sent last week directing water management districts to cut regulatory staff and to stop buying land is part of a larger strategy involving the department's oversight of the districts.

Official explains rollback of growth rules
By Zac Anderson
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Soon after taking over Florida's growth management agency in January, Department of Community Affairs Secretary Billy Buzzett met here with Bradenton Sen. Mike Bennett about abolishing many of the agency's responsibilities.

Fla. economists look at oil spill revenue losses
Associated Press
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
State economists are trying to determine how much sales tax and other revenue Florida lost as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year.

Emergency funds okayed to save Glades drinking water plant
By Jennifer Sorentrue
Palm Beach Post
County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved an emergency request for $6.9 million to fix a 3-year-old Glades region water plant that is sucking up well water so salty that without immediate action it could become untreatable.

Feds want permanent manatee refuge, more restrictions in Kings Bay
By Barbara Behrendt and Craig Pittman
St. Petersburg Times
All of Kings Bay, famed as the place in Florida where humans can swim with and even touch the manatees, should be permanently designated as a manatee refuge, federal officials announced Tuesday.

LGBT

Mayor Jacobs: Orange may take up dom. partner registry in 2011
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Gay rights activists pressed Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs again Tuesday to partner with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to quickly create a domestic partner registry, but Jacobs maintained she has other priorities and unanswered questions about the proposal.

EDUCATION

Robinson picked as Florida's next education commissioner
By Kim MacQueen
Florida Current
The State Board of Education has chosen its replacement for outgoing Education Commissioner Eric Smith: he’s Gerard Robinson, Virginia’s current secretary of education.

Educators sue Florida because of unconstitutional pension reform
By Andy Ford
Ft. Myers News-Press
This week, the Florida Education Association joined with other groups to file a lawsuit to challenge the actions of the Legislature in mandating a 3 percent pay cut for the 655,000 teachers, law-enforcement officers, firefighters and other workers who serve the citizens of our state.

Dade teachers will get merit pay, state says; Broward up in the air
By Kathleen McGrory
Miami Herald
State education officials have given Miami-Dade the OK to launch a performance pay plan for teachers, making Dade the first Florida school system to use federal Race to the Top funds for performance pay.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Unemployment rate in Florida's metro areas among the worst in America
News Service of Florida
Florida Courier
Florida metro areas dot the U.S. Conference of Mayors look at the worst large metro area unemployment rates in the first quarter of the year, with four Florida regions in the top 15.

Mortgage help reaches few Floridians
By Mary Shanklin
Orlando Sentinel
Most of the thousands of struggling Florida homeowners seeking mortgage assistance from the federal government's Hardest Hit Fund have been rejected by the state's version of the program, a new report shows.

Florida legislators on guest worker program: Give locals dibs on hospitality jobs
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Members of Congress serving Palm Beach County on Tuesday pressed employers in the local hospitality and country club industry to import fewer foreign workers and insisted that unemployed Americans can fill those positions.

N.L.R.B. Rules Would Streamline Unionizing
By Steven Greenhouse
New York Times
In a move that will undoubtedly please labor unions, the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday morning proposed new rules to speed up unionization elections, largely by streamlining various procedures.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Legality of family planning opt-out for Florida Medicaid providers still in question
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (aka AHCA) is finishing proposals for the state’s Medicaid overhaul to send to the federal government for approval.

Rubio introduces ‘Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act’
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has introduced a bill that would outlaw taking a minor outside of her home state to evade its parental consent or notice for abortion laws.

Why has the number of patients on Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list dropped?
By Marcos Restrepo
Florida Independent
The number of people living with HIV/AIDS that are on Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list has dropped slightly through the month of June.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Why doesn't state's attorney general put more effort into reviewing possible wrongful convictions?
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
Belvin Perry may be best known as the even-keeled jurist presiding over the Casey Anthony case, which epitomizes this country's ability to turn most any tragedy into time-killing entertainment.

Fla. Innocence Commission offers recommendations
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
A panel set up by the Florida Supreme Court to find ways to prevent wrongful convictions recommended new lineup standards for police on Tuesday.

Prosecutors: Arrests of more Rothstein defendants coming
By Peter Franceschina
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Federal prosecutors say multiple new defendants will be swept up in the wide-ranging investigation into Scott Rothstein's Ponzi scheme.

Daily Clips for June 21, 2011

FEATURED STORIES

Unions sue Gov. Rick Scott over pension overhaul, employee pay cut
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Before state and local governments take the first dime from the paychecks of teachers, police and state workers to put in the state pension plan, three unions filed suit Monday against Gov. Rick Scott and other trustees of the state retirement plan, alleging the move is an unconstitutional violation and a taking of their personal property.

Florida redistricting meetings start with many questions, few answers
By Mary Ellen Klas
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related column: Silence! Thwarters of democracy at work
Florida legislators were greeted with both hostility and distrust Monday as they opened the first of 26 redistricting hearings in the state's capital, a company town where Republicans control government but Democratic voters are a majority.

Scott begins shakeup of administration
By Gary Fineout
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday began what is likely the first step in a shakeup of his administration.

DEP tells water management districts to cut staff, stop buying land
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is telling the state's five water management districts to cut their regulatory staffs, reduce staff salaries and to stop buying land in a move that one critic describes as a "power grab" by Gov. Rick Scott and DEP.

FLORIDA POLITICS

ACLU, NAACP ask feds to block Florida election law
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
The American Civil Liberties Union and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are among the groups asking the U.S. Justice Department to reject Florida's new election law.

Legislative leaders get earful in first redistricting public hearing
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
The first of 26 public hearings on redistricting got off to a rocky start for Republican legislative leaders this afternoon when a 55-year-old Tallahassee woman, calling herself a "recovering civics teacher," raked them over the coals.

First hearing on Florida redistricting draws complaints about lack of proposed maps
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature's first round of redistricting hearings got off to a rough and at-times partisan start Monday, with voters criticizing current political boundaries and the absence of new maps to review.

Teachers union sues state over new pension law
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The state's largest teachers union joined with other labor organizations Monday in suing Gov. Rick Scott to overturn a new 3 percent payroll contribution demanded of 655,000 government workers who belong to the Florida Retirement System.

Union files lawsuit to block state pension overhaul
By Gary Fineout
Florida Current
A coalition of unions, led by the Florida Education Association, filed a lawsuit looking to block the overhaul of the state pension system passed this spring by legislators.

POLITICAL RACES

2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa prepares for surge of power and press
By Richard Danielson
St. Petersburg Times
The 2012 Republican National Convention is still more than a year away, but even early preparations suggest its sheer scale and complexity.

Jeb Bush: No run in 2012, but I don't rule out 2016
By Katty Kay
BBC News
Jeb Bush is the son who was groomed for the presidency.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

U.S. Nuclear Regulators Weaken Safety Rules, Fail To Enforce Them: AP Investigation
By Jeff Donn
Associated Press
Related: Tritium leaks found at many nuke sites
Federal regulators have been working closely with the nuclear power industry to keep the nation's aging reactors operating within safety standards by repeatedly weakening those standards, or simply failing to enforce them, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.

PSC executive director vacancy attracts 129 applicants
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
The application period for the executive director position at the Florida Public Service Commission closed Monday with 129 applications for the job.

EDUCATION

Finalists for state education post make their pitch
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
St. Petersburg Times
The five finalists to become Florida's next education commissioner pitched themselves to the State Board of Education Monday during a five-hour meeting at the Tampa Airport Marriott.

Florida legislative changes tough on school finances
By Angeline Taylor
Bradenton Herald
Manatee School Board members continued to struggle Monday with the bad news that state funding for education isn’t keeping pace with inflation.

Broward School District could lose $30 million because of fight with union
By Cara Fitzpatrick
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Already grappling with a $171 million budget shortfall, the Broward County School District is poised to lose another $30 million in federal funding because it can’t resolve a labor battle with the teachers union.

Scholarship cut for 1,400 of Florida's top students
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The cost of college just went up by an unexpected $1,500 for some of Florida's top students.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida Gov. Scott says regulations stifle jobs
By William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott told business leaders and fellow governors on Monday that government regulations are choking business expansion in Florida and depriving the state of new jobs.

SunRail funding topic of DOT visit
By Derek Catron
Daytona Beach News Journal
Florida's secretary of transportation will be in Volusia County next week, just days before the governor has promised to rule on a long-proposed commuter rail line through Central Florida.

South Florida water district's management staff to be cut by 61 percent
By Christine Stapleton
Palm Beach Post
In the midst of a record-breaking drought, the agency responsible for South Florida's water supply also was hit last week by threats of deep cuts to its management force and drastic directives from top environmental officials in Tallahassee.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

State asks to extend Medicaid reform experiment for another month
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
The Agency for Health Care Administration signed paperwork for the federal government on Monday asking for a 30-day extension on its five-year Medicaid Reform experiment in five Florida counties.

Feds continue to fight state efforts to cut family planning
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The U.S. Justice Department recently stood behind Planned Parenthood as the state of Indiana attempts to defund them.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Hackers crash web sites to protest Orlando's homeless feeding restrictions
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Computer hackers shut down the Orlando Chamber of Commerce's web site for most of the day Monday and posted a "boycott Orlando" message on a major theme park's Internet page to protest the homeless-feeding policies of Mayor Buddy Dyer.

Daily Clips for June 20, 2011

PROGRESS FLORIDA IN THE NEWS

Report card time: Legislators get graded on special political curve
By Anthony Man
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: From the liberal end of the spectrum, Progress Florida, Florida Watch Action and America Votes recognized 21 members of the Legislature as “Champions of Florida’s Middle Class.” They got the recognition, the groups said, “for their unwavering support on behalf of Florida’s working families.”

FEATURED STORIES

Florida starts lengthy, contested process to redraw state's political maps
By Mary Ellen Klas
Miami Herald/ St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Brave new world of do-it-yourself mapping
Florida legislators begin three months of public hearings Monday to hear what voters have to say about their once-a-decade task of realigning the state's political maps to reflect shifts in population and growth.

Skeptics question Florida's Medicaid plan
By Barbara Peters Smith
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Deep skepticism permeated a series of recent public hearings across Florida on the state's plan to shift 3 million Medicaid recipients, including nursing home residents, into managed care.

Next steps will signal governor's direction
By Gary Fineout
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
In the next few weeks, Gov. Rick Scott will make a series of key decisions that could affect his sometimes tense relationship with the Legislature, his standing with political and business leaders and ultimately his low public approval ratings.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott's most influential staffer is a mom from Tennessee
By Michael C. Bender
St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
With a mind sharpened by political combat and an ability to inspire loyalty as well as fear, the woman behind Gov. Rick Scott's conservative agenda can be as hard-charging as the bold policies she shapes.

Florida unemployment continues to drop, though more government job cuts loom
By Jeff Harrington
St. Petersburg Times
The government has been playing an oversized role in Florida's struggle to harness its double-digit unemployment rate — for better and worse.

GOP Senate candidates fight their pasts to win conservatives
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Related: Tampa Democrats blast Haridopolos' stances, actions
The Republican U.S. Senate primary is becoming a race to the right as the three leading candidates abandon former moderate policy positions to cater instead to conservative GOP primary voters.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jeff Parker
Florida Today

FLORIDA POLITICS

Democrats could gain power in Florida as state faces redistricting
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
Florida Democrats puzzle and fume over the state's political math, but they see this week's opening round of redistricting public hearings as the start of something they've long awaited.

Florida legislators gird for redistricting battles
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
With a new constitutional mandate to draw fairer legislative and congressional districts, Florida lawmakers this week are launching a 26-stop road show to begin the once-a-decade chore of rejiggering the state's political lines.

Gov. Rick Scott signs more than 40 bills into law
News Service of Florida
St. Petersburg Times
Gov. Rick Scott signed more than 40 bills into law Friday, including a pair of wide-ranging education measures that establish a gift ban on school board members and require school districts to put budget information on their websites.

Blind woman invokes Monty Python in lawsuit against Rick Scott
By Catherine Whittenburg
Tampa Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott faces a blind woman on food stamps this month at the Florida Supreme Court, where the South Florida resident is challenging Scott's handling of rulemaking by state agencies.

Florida ethics panel drops $200,000 in fines owed by 168 officials after time limit passes
By John Kennedy
Palm Beach Post
The Florida Commission on Ethics walked away Friday from almost $200,000 in fines owed by dozens of public officials - acknowledging the scofflaws had outlasted a four-year statutory limit on the penalties.

Gov. Scott says Tallahassee must diversify its economy
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Capital News
Gov. Rick Scott told local Republicans on Friday night that instead of dreading layoffs and cuts in state spending, the capital area needs to diversify its economy as Austin, Texas, has done over the past few decades.

Rick Scott cares! He really does care!
By Scott Maxwell
Orlando Sentinel
For a guy who claims not read newspapers — or care what the polls say or the public thinks — Rick Scott sure is putting a lot of effort into trying to score some good publicity.

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos faces tough questions in Tampa
By Richard Martin
St. Petersburg Times
Senate President Mike Haridopolos says he has been keeping a busy schedule lately, spending as many as six days a week speaking to people across Florida about the Legislature's accomplishments.

Haridopolos Unaware of Kevin White Indictment
By Alex Cook
WUSF Public Radio Tampa
Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos said Friday he knew nothing about the indictment of former Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White, but he said he's open to reforming the agency White once led and allegedly used to solicit bribes.

Thrasher's residence in district, but real home might not be
By Jennifer Edwards
Florida Times-Union
It's clear that state Sen. John Thrasher meets the legal residency requirements for living in his Senate district.

Legislature leaves a trail of destruction
By Abel Harding
Florida Times-Union
A decade ago, Nancy Argenziano made her point with a smug lobbyist by delivering a 25-pound box of steaming cow manure to her office.

POLITICAL RACES

Obama, Republicans prepare for another showdown in Florida
By Niall Stanage
The Hill
In the 17 months between now and Election Day 2012, innumerable theories, some esoteric, will be advanced about how President Obama can get reelected.

For Barack Obama in 2012, a different kind of hope
By Alex Leary
St. Petersburg Times
Immediately inside President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters is a sign counting down days to the election (507 as of today) and a poster that reads, "Respect. Empower. Include. Win."

Will Activist Base Really Sit on Sidelines in ’12?
By Christina Bellantoni
Roll Call
The frustration in the room was palpable.

Puerto Rico trip shows Florida's political sway
Editorial
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Barack Obama's trip to Puerto Rico this week was another sign that the president sees Florida as a key state in his re-election bid next year.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Governor signs 42 bills including measure to exempt farms from permitting
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott signed 42 bills on Friday including HB 421, which exempts agricultural lands from having to receive water management district permits.

Nauseating toxic algae outbreak a grim reminder
By David Guest
Naples Daily News
The nauseating toxic algae outbreak now sliming the Caloosahatchee River is a grim reminder of why we need enforceable water pollution limits in Florida to protect our drinking water and our health.

Form a line in the sand June 25 against oil drilling
By Deborah Wheeler
Ft. Walton Sun
Dave Rauschkolb, founder of Hands Across the Sand, says the organization's work is not done.

Oil spill left shorebirds with no safe place to land
By Travis Griggs
Pensacola News Journal
More than 8,000 birds were collected during the oil spill, including 1,200 birds on Florida shores and waterways, according to a newly released database.

Billboard brouhaha spotlights permit processes
By Jim Ash
Florida Capital News
A district official with the Florida Department of Transportation made a bad decision in 2009 when permits were granted to Bill Salter Advertising of Milton, giving the company permission to clear thousands of trees on state-owned land without having to mitigate the damage, said former department Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos.

LGBT

Gay-straight alliances get support from feds
By Scott Travis
South Florida Sun Sentinel
It just got a bit easier for students to form gay-straight alliances at their schools.

EDUCATION

Cheating suspected on more than 7,000 Fla. exams
By Bill Kaczor
Associated Press
State education officials have asked 14 school districts to investigate possible cheating on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test after a security company found excessive erasures and other anomalies on more than 7,000 of the 4 million exams administered this year.

Florida falls short of high-quality voluntary pre-kindergarten goals
By Mary Kelli Palka
Florida Times-Union
Nine years after Florida voters approved universal pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds, it's impossible to know if voters got the high-quality voluntary program they demanded.

Florida's state colleges look at new revenue streams
By Kim Wilmath
St. Petersburg Times
They've slashed their budgets. Eliminated programs and laid off faculty. Upped tuition. Downright begged.

Students at for-profit colleges are taking on debt they can't handle
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
In an editorial a week ago, we pointed out the dangers from the rising debt load on today's college students.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Florida added more jobs last month than any other state
By Jeff Ostrowski
Palm Beach Post
The region's job market improved in May as Palm Beach County's unemployment rate fell to its lowest point in two years.

Employees brace for post-shuttle layoffs
By Valerie Whitney
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The impending shutdown of the space shuttle program after the final scheduled launch July 8 will put thousands of people out of work, including more than 400 Volusia County residents who commute to jobs at the Kennedy Space Center.

States look to Internet taxes to close budget gaps
By Chris Tomlinson
Associated Press
State governments across the country are laying off teachers, closing public libraries and parks, and reducing health care services, but there is one place they could get $23 billion if they could only agree how to do it: Internet retailers such as Amazon.com.

Funding cuts worry public broadcasters statewide
By Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post
Millions of Floridians willingly open their wallets each year to help keep public television and radio stations — homes to programs like Sesame Street and Car Talk — on the air.

Florida Governor Rick Scott Versus Big Bird
By Les Coleman
Public News Service Florida
Floridians across the state are wondering why their newly elected governor, Rick Scott, wants to clip Big Bird's wings.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Legislature kills move to cut hospital Medicaid rates again
By Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida Current
A projected $82 million surplus in Medicaid this year helped spare hospitals what would have been a 7.7 percent retroactive rate cut for the last six months.

Return rate high at 5 big hospitals
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Five of Florida's major public and non-profit hospitals scored so poorly on return rates for Medicare patients that they will get preference this summer in a grant program to fix the problem, government documents show.

Dosed in juvie jail: Troubled doctors hired to treat kids in state custody
By Michael LaForgia
Palm Beach Post
By the time Florida started paying Dr. Gold Smith Dorval to counsel and medicate jailed children, the Pembroke Pines psychiatrist already had experience with kids in state custody.

Feds continue to fight state efforts to cut family planning
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Independent
The U.S. Justice Department recently stood behind Planned Parenthood as the state of Indiana attempts to defund them.

Abuse finally gets state's attention
Editorial
St. Petersburg Times
After years of ineffective action in the face of abuse and neglect of elderly and disabled Floridians, the Agency for Health Care Administration has finally become more aggressive when confronted with clear evidence of egregious mistreatment.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Cases of U.S. citizens detained over immigration status emerge in Florida
By Alfonso Chardy
Miami Herald
One early morning two weeks ago, Christopher Zambrano was biking home on the 79th Street Causeway near North Bay Village when one of several men in black clothes riding in an SUV ordered him to stop.

Plan to expel illegal immigrants will backfire
By Andres Oppenheimer
Miami Herald
Republicans in Congress have launched a major offensive to force several million undocumented immigrants to leave the United States with a bill that would make it mandatory for U.S. employers to electronically verify workers’ legal status.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

The next judicial logjam: banks being sued over illegal foreclosures
By Jack McCabe
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Not too long ago, Florida protected homebuyers from being tossed out on the street for not making mortgage payments.