Daily Clips for July 10, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Many voters may be deterred by tough ID laws
By Mike Baker
Associated Press
When Edward and Mary Weidenbener went to vote in Indiana's primary in May, they didn't realize that state law required them to bring government photo IDs such as a driver's license or passport.

President Barack Obama asks Congress for limited extension of Bush tax cuts
By James Rosen and David Lightman
Miami Herald
President Barack Obama expressed confidence Monday that he can win an election-year fight with Republicans over taxes and the economy despite three straight months of weak job growth.

Miami-Dade School Board members decry Michelle Obama campaign stop at local school
By Laura Isensee
Miami Herald
First lady Michelle Obama will stop in Miami on Tuesday to recruit residents to vote and volunteer to reelect her husband, President Barack Obama.

Rick Scott’s TB scandal
By Alex Seitz-Wald
Salon
On March 26 this year, Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that slashed the state Department of Health’s budget and closed a state hospital where bad cases of tuberculosis were treated.

A battle for power in the Florida House, years in advance
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
What will you be doing in November 2018?

FLORIDA POLITICS

Study: One in 5 black Floridians can’t vote because of felon disenfranchisement
By William March
Tampa Tribune
More than a fifth of black Floridians and a tenth of the state’s total population aren’t allowed to vote because of the state’s prohibition on voting by former felons, the highest rate of disenfranchisement in the nation, according to an advocacy group study.

Florida Republicans don't want to share documents
By Mike Schneider
Associated Press
The Republican Party of Florida doesn't want to share some documents in the upcoming criminal trial of its former chairman.

Q&A with: Don Gaetz
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Having chaired the redistricting committee that drew Florida's political boundaries, Senate President-designate Don Gaetz is spending the summer "hitting every wide spot in the road" to campaign for 32 fellow Republicans, while organizing the chamber for a two-year tenure marked by pressing needs in education, health care and costs of state government.

ACLU to hold online seminar on RNC protest ground rules
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
With the Republican National Convention less than seven weeks away, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is holding a "Know Your Rights" webinar Tuesday night.

Nurses launch first voter registration drive
By James Call
Florida Current
Alisa Snow said nurses and the League of Women Voters teaming up is a "natural fit."

POLITICAL RACES

Obama raises $71 million in June, falling short of Romney's haul
By Melanie Mason
Orlando Sentinel
President Obama raised $71 million for his re-election effort last month, marking his best fundraising month of the cycle but still $35 million short of Mitt Romney’s massive June haul.

Black leaders motivate minority voters
By Mike Salinero
Tampa Tribune
Evoking fiery images from the Civil Rights movement, local black elected officials urged minorities Monday to be aware of changes made to Florida's election laws and to vote in the Aug. 14 primary and Nov. 6 general election.

Political analysts see potholes in Rep. Vern Buchanan’s road to re-election
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The race to represent Sarasota and Manatee counties in Congress is quickly gaining prominence.

Beleaguered Nina Hayden ends congressional campaign and lawsuit
By Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Beleaguered Democratic candidate Nina Hayden dropped out of the race for Congress on Monday, and also said she is dropping her lawsuit against state and local elections officials. 

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Volusia residents angry over state survey of conservation lands
By Dinah Voyles Pulver
Daytona Beach News Journal
More than 100 people filled the Volusia County Council chambers Monday night to protest the regional water management agency's plan to review its publicly owned land to see if any of it should be considered surplus.

Florida still owes tree owners in canker scare
By Fred Grimm
Miami Herald
They came to be known as the “Gestapo lumberjacks,” state agricultural workers on a chainsaw massacre, bent on destroying backyard citrus trees.

Former DEP deputy secretary Ballard lands at Wakulla Environmental Institute
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Former Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary Bob Ballard has been appointed executive director of the Wakulla Environmental Institute at Tallahassee Community College.

EDUCATION

As FCAT protests increase, state softens stance on test
By Christopher O'Donnell
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Complaining has become as much a part of the high-stakes FCAT test in Florida as bubble answer sheets and No. 2 pencils.

Grade formulas have schools on edge, wary of potential impact of student disabilities, language issues
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
One student came to Ellicia Brown’s classroom at Allamanda Elementary School at age 7 in a stroller, having never learned how to walk.

Bright Futures scholarship cuts squeezing college students as tuition increases
By Brittany Shamas
Naples Daily News
John Corfias was thrilled when his son, Brad, landed a free college education.

Five questions for USF provost on tuition
By Kim Wilmath
Tampa Bay Times
Parents, start saving your pennies.

Conflicting Stories About FAMU Band Meeting
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
There are conflicting stories tonight over what transpired in a meeting of FAMU administrators three days before a drum major was beaten to death in a hazing ritual.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Lobbyists, lawmaker, executives follow Scott to UK
By Steve Bousquet
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott's 85-member entourage in the United Kingdom this week includes business leaders, tourism executives, and even a couple of lobbyists and mayors.

Florida remains stuck at the station
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
Not to beat a dead train, but Floridians who want to ride high-speed rail built with federal money that had been earmarked for them will get to do it one day.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida Governor Scott wants “competitive environment” for cancer treatment, including at UM’s Sylvester
By John Dorschner
Miami Herald
In a move that could have large implications for the state’s scientific research centers, Gov. Rick Scott has sent strongly worded letters to the University of Miami and two other cancer research facilities warning them they can’t make money from expanding their brands if they want to continue to receive state funds.

WellPoint to vie for FL Medicaid patients
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
WellPoint Inc., the nation's second-largest health insurer, will soon have a major presence in Florida with its purchase of Amerigroup Corp., one of the significant Medicaid contractors in the state.

10 more FL medical groups win ACO designation
By Carol Gentry
Health News Florida
Ten Florida medical groups totaling almost 1,300 doctors have gained federal designation as "Accountable Care Organizations," which means they are responsible for making sure Medicare patients have easy access to the services they need without duplication and waste.

After Holley
Editorial
Gainesville Sun
For decades seriously ill tuberculosis patients have been treated at the state's A.G. Holley Hospital in Lantana.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Florida loses another ridiculous legal battle
By Carl Hiaasen
Miami Herald
A Miami federal judge has struck down the new law prohibiting Florida doctors from discussing gun ownership with their patients.

Florida’s Gun Law Morass
Editorial
New York Times
A federal court has struck down one of the more nonsensical of Florida’s many risky gun laws — one that banned the state’s thousands of doctors from ever discussing firearms with their patients.

Fla. takes lead in congressional hearing on crimes against homeless
News Service of Florida
Ft. Myers News-Press
Florida is both a model and a cautionary tale for other states grappling with violent crimes against homeless people, and on Tuesday it will play a lead role at a congressional hearing on the subject.

Daily Clips for July 9, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Scott on health care: Give this man a truth tonic
By Robyn E. Blumner
Tampa Bay Times
Related: Gov. Rick Scott repeats that Florida will not implement health care exchanges
Throughout Rick Scott's governorship he has had a tenuous relationship with the truth.

Why the Health Care Law Ruling Might Shortchange Florida’s Poor
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Overall, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is good news for most Americans without health insurance.

Gov. Rick Scott appears to give support to chorus of criticism about too much emphasis on FCAT
By Allison Ross
Palm Beach Post
This spring’s uproar over the FCAT has apparently reached Gov. Rick Scott’s ears.

Does Romney Have a Florida Problem?
By Nate Cohn
The New Republic
The decisive state in the 2000 presidential election has received less and less attention over the last twelve years.

Obama, super PAC target Romney's business career
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Remember when top Democrats such as Bill Clinton were questioning President Barack Obama's attacks on Mitt Romney's business career?

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott Continues Call for Database
By Whitney Ray
Capitol News Service
Governor Rick Scott is not letting up on efforts to prevent non-citizens from voting in Florida.

Scott hoping Hollingsworth boosts image
By Abel Harding           
Florida Times-Union
It's no secret Gov. Rick Scott could use a little help.

U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young's comments about minimum wage create Internet buzz
By Mark Puente
Tampa Bay Times
U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young created an Internet buzz this week by the way he answered a question about raising the minimum wage.

New website, SunshineStatutes.com, makes Florida laws accessible, understandable
By Tia Mitchell
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A more user-friendly way to read and understand Florida's complicated law books just launched online.

POLITICAL RACES

In Ohio, Obama glosses over health care, stresses economy
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
It came 20 minutes deep into a campaign speech, but President Barack Obama delivered the line emphatically, and the crowd roared back.

Romney, Obama supporters seek edge with outreach
By Howard Altman
Tampa Tribune
In a small white room, with a window view of the Divine Signs Salon & Spa across a parking lot, Meaghan O'Neal sits at a desk and works the phones.

Putting Children on Campaign Radar in FL
By Stephanie Carroll Carson
Public News Service Florida
With just four months to go until the November election, there is one thing missing from the campaigns, some people say, and that is children.

Recent onslaught of political ads in Orlando was just the beginning
By Scott Powers
Orlando Sentinel
The barrage of political TV commercials that inundated Orlando in May and June is growing, and viewers of a certain age may be reminded of the opening lines of the 1960s suspense show "The Outer Limits."

First lady Michelle Obama to speak at UCF
By Susan Jacobson
Orlando Sentinel
First lady Michelle Obama will make a campaign stop at the University of Central Florida on Tuesday.

GOP leadership shaping key Florida Senate races
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Florida state Senate leaders are taking sides in two local Republican primary races, hoping to make sure Tom Lee of Brandon and Pasco County state Rep. John Legg win state Senate seats in districts that border Tampa.

GOP books Hard Rock hotel for entire RNC week
By Richard Mullins
Tampa Tribune
Related: Many county services relocating during RNC
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was never on the official list of hotels where Republican delegations would stay for their convention in August.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Earned Sick Days Likely to Earn Ballot Spot
By Mike Cantone
West Orlando News
As Election season kicks into high gear, there’s one ballot initiative heating up Orange County politics this summer. Citizens for a Greater Orange County, a progressive coalition, has launched an ambitious effort to protect workers’ rights locally through a citizen initiative guaranteeing earned sick days for workers.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

BP oil-spill fines could boost Everglades restoration
By William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Everglades restoration backers are aiming to get a big piece of the billions of dollars of fines that oil giant BP is expected to pay for polluting the Gulf of Mexico and disrupting Florida's delicate ecology during the Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010.

New drilling off Cuba may pose more risk to Florida
By David Goodhue
Miami Herald
New oil drilling expected to begin offshore of Cuba at the end of the summer is at least 50 miles farther away from Key West than a well that came up dry in May.

Broken Crystal River nuclear plant is Duke Energy's problem now
By Ivan Penn
Tampa Bay Times
It was a marriage proposal made in utility heaven: Progress Energy and Duke Energy joining to form the nation's biggest power company.

Florida lacks the vision to encourage solar energy, blames clouds
Editorial
Bradenton Herald
Once hot in pursuit of renewable energy sources, the Sunshine State now lacks the political will and vision to develop solar power.

LGBT

Domestic-partner registry now covers all of Orange County
By David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
Phil Windsor and his partner Gary Ashland have been a committed couple for more than two decades, but that relationship wasn't legally recognized by their town of Edgewood — until Friday.

EDUCATION

Rick Scott says Florida may be testing students too much
By Dan Sullivan
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott said on Friday that schools might be doing too much of a good thing when it comes to student testing and that he is talking with state education officials, school superintendents and teachers about possibly changing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

BOG rejects Gulf Coast University's plea for higher tuition bump
By James Call
Florida Current
Florida Gulf Coast University failed for a second time to persuade the Board of Governors to allow it to raise tuition 14 percent this year.

Rising student-loan debt: What can families do?
By Richard Burnett
Orlando Sentinel
Bill and Susan Fay thought they had played all the right cards to get their children through college debt-free: savings, Bright Futures scholarships, thriftiness and hard work.

FAMU dean proposed long-term suspension of band before Champion's hazing death
By Denise-Marie Balona
Orlando Sentinel
Related: Incoming state Senate president calls for legislative review of FAMU
Three days before the hazing death of FAMU drum major Robert Champion, the university's dean of students urged top administrators to impose a long-term suspension of the school's famous marching band because of concerns about hazing.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Floridians' paychecks are smaller in 2012, Labor Department report shows
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Floridians are earning less and taking more low-wage jobs than they were a year ago, with pay rates dropping more than almost anywhere in the country.

Attorneys: Budget shortfall not enough justify changes to retirement benefits
By Travis Pillow
Florida Current
The lawyer leading a lawsuit challenging a 2011 retirement law says in court papers that a budget shortfall does not necessarily justify reducing cost-of-living increases for public pensions or requiring employees to contribute a portion of their salaries to their retirement.

Florida's tax break often helps companies do already-planned work
By Jason Garcia
Orlando Sentinel
More than two years ago, Florida lawmakers agreed to pay CSX Corp. more than $400 million to acquire the tracks needed for Central Florida's planned SunRail commuter train.

Next up for Gov. Rick Scott: trade trip to England
Associated Press
Tampa Bay Times
Gov. Rick Scott is jetting off for foreign soil again — this time to the United Kingdom.

A Lifeguard’s Soul, Outsourced to the Bottom Line
By Pierre Tristam
Florida Voices
If you think government is losing its way, privatization is losing its soul.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Florida Lawmakers say the Affordable Care Act Needs Consideration
By Regan McCarthy      
WFSU Tallahassee
Florida has until 2014 to implement some of the provisions in the Federal Affordable Care Act.

Doctors booted from Medicaid for massive oxy doses in Florida
By Pat Beall
Palm Beach Post
The state’s most prolific prescriber of Medicaid-financed oxycodone to the poor in 2010 and 2011 has been barred from participating in the taxpayer supported health care program, one of 76 such high-volume prescribers identified in a Palm Beach Post investigation.

Worst TB outbreak in 20 years kept secret
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post
The CDC officer had a serious warning for Florida health officials in April: A tuberculosis outbreak in Jacksonville was one of the worst his group had investigated in 20 years.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Immigration advocates: Applying for deferred deportation too soon is risky
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Related: Obama’s immigrant order means future for Greenacres family
Immigration activists are warning young, undocumented immigrants who could benefit from the Obama administration’s new policy on deferred deportations that they should watch out for attorneys and notaries eager to take their money and who could harm their chances of staying in the country.

The politics of ‘Stand your ground’ law
By David Donnelly
Miami Herald
When Gov. Rick Scott’s Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection meets on Tuesday, the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law from State Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, will be in the crosshairs of public scrutiny.

Shot down
Editorial
Miami Herald
Gov. Rick Scott’s ideological pursuits in defense of constitutionally questionable laws are costing the rest of us a bundle.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Scott's attempts to remove justices draws rebuke
Associated Press
Gainesville Sun
Gov. Rick Scott is still pushing for an investigation into possible wrongdoing by three Florida Supreme Court justices even after a veteran prosecutor dismissed it as "trifle."

Scott has more strikeouts than hits
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
If Gov. Rick Scott were a ballplayer, he would be a pretty weak hitter.

Daily Clips for July 5, 2012

FEATURED STORIES

Rick Scott overstates cost of health care overhaul
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
When Florida Gov. Rick Scott took to the airwaves this past weekend to criticize President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, he said that it would cost Florida taxpayers $1.9 billion a year.

Scott questioned about accuracy of assertions about Affordable Care Act
By Margie Menzel
News Service of Florida
Continuing a national media blitz Tuesday against last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, Gov. Rick Scott fielded some penetrating questions from radio hosts about statements he’s made since the high court ruled.

Scott's pointless war on health law hurts Florida
Editorial
Orlando Sentinel
Floridians are paying dearly for Gov. Rick Scott's obsessive opposition to "Obamacare."

Two political insiders to survey Florida's big landowners about toll road routes
By Michael Van Sickler
Tampa Bay Times
Two developers who played a role in dismantling growth management laws in Florida are getting paid by the Department of Transportation to consult on what could be the largest state road project in history.

As Florida jobless rate drops, so do benefits for unemployed
By Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
The next three months will determine just how long thousands of unemployed people will receive state jobless benefits next year.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Liberal activists stalk Rubio as book signings
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Several days into his book tour, Sen. Marco Rubio has been greeted with big, enthusiastic crowds across Florida.

Fox in the Henhouse
By Paula Dockery
Florida Voices
Last week I spent almost four hours gathering personal information to properly fill out my financial disclosure form.

POLITICAL RACES

Tampa could learn lessons from 2008 RNC mistakes
By Ted Jackovics
Tampa Tribune
From the beginning, the 2008 Republican National Convention was supposed to be different.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Sick of it
By Billy Manes
Orlando Weekly
On June 28, while all eyes were on the Supreme Court decision on President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act – most notably its effects on small businesses, states' rights and the individual mandate – a ragtag coalition of local activists was keeping its focus on a different side of the health-care discussion: the almost silent majority of low-wage earners, many of whom aren't allowed to take sick time off from work, whether they have health coverage or not.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Bald eagles make impressive recovery in Florida
By David Fleshler
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Bald eagles in Florida continue to expand their range, establishing new nests and securing the future of species that once appeared close to extinction.

LGBT

Obama administration asks Supreme Court for quick review of gay marriage law
Associated Press
Miami Herald
The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to settle the legal fight over a law that denies federal benefits to married gay couples.

EDUCATION

State seeks to boost student knowledge about government
By Cara Fitzpatrick
Tampa Bay Times
A third of Americans can't name any of the three branches of government. Fewer than half understand what separation of powers is, and twice as many can name a judge on American Idol than the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Every student's results count
By Mackenzie Ryan
Florida Today
With a learning disability and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Robert Thomas fell further and further behind at Cambridge Elementary School in Cocoa.

School districts gamble with limited hurricane-insurance coverage
By Dave Weber
Orlando Sentinel
School districts across Central Florida are betting that a hurricane won't hit here and cause more damage than their meager insurance policies cover.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Obama declares 5 Florida counties eligible for aid after Debby
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared that a major disaster exists in Florida after Tropical Storm Debby and ordered financial aid for individuals in five counties, including Pasco.

Veterans face tough obstacles to employment
By Emily Roach
Palm Beach Post
Hector Rivas has been deployed twice since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and one of the top things on his mind during his recent 10 months in Afghanistan was finding a job when he got home.

Fix mortgage flaw that enabled robo-signing in Florida
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
Florida counties are missing out on millions of dollars and homeowners are being kept in the dark about who owns their loans because the state does not require that mortgage assignments be recorded.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Why Rick Scott and other GOP governors are likely to buckle on Medicaid
By Perry Bacon Jr.
The Grio
Florida Republican Rick Scott and other Republican governors and state legislators are threatening to refuse federal Medicaid funds under the Affordable Care Act, as they now have the right to do after last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court on “Obamacare.”

Anti-Medicaid dogma
Editorial
Ocala Star-Banner
If you were governor of a state where almost one-fourth of your residents have no health insurance, compassion might cause you to give thoughtful consideration to a federal program designed to help those residents.

Scott stops using misleading talking points in criticizing 'Obamacare'
By Tia Mitchell
Miami Herald
Gov. Rick Scott is continuing his media blitz, appearing on at least one national radio program Tuesday to criticize the health care law.

Breaking down the debate over the health care law
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The U.S. Supreme Court may have ended its debate over the Affordable Care Act, but the rhetoric over the historic decision is just heating up in Florida.

New law could spur employers to drop role as health-care buyer for workers
By Chad Terhune
Los Angeles Times
The Supreme Court’s endorsement of the federal health care law last week could spur more employers across the nation to relinquish their long-standing role as chief health care buyer for their workers.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Advocates calls for federal action to restore ex-felons' voting rights
News Service of Florida
Tampa Bay Times
Hundreds of thousands of Florida ex-felons who have completed their sentences still can't vote, a prohibition that is hindering their re-entry into society, a group of voting rights advocates said Tuesday as they urged Congress to step in.

New Fight Begins for Immigrant
By Mike Vasilinda
Capitol News Service
On Wednesday, thousands of immigrants across the state and county will be sworn in to become US citizens.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Judge refuses to rule in Florida prison health care dispute
By Brittany Alana Davis
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A state circuit court will not rule on whether legislators broke the law in their push to privatize the state's prison health care system, leaving the yearlong dispute unresolved.

Justice denied in cash-strapped courts
Editorial
Miami Herald
Florida’s court system is overburdened with too many cases and too few dollars.