FEATURED STORIES
By Marc Caputo
Related column: Bill McCollum has a healthy interest in our ... votes
Supporters rally for education funding
Tallahassee Democrat
Related column: This is not a great time to be a schoolteacher
Class-size law likely to go back to voters
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's $68.6 billion budget headed for Senate floor vote next week
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Crist releases tax returns, challenges Rubio to follow suit
St. Petersburg Times
For Rubio and Corcoran, 'selfless' service really paid off
St. Petersburg Times
BEST OF THE BLOGS
By Joy Reid
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz just wrapped up a DNC conference call with reporters in which she leveled the charge, now familiar from various editorial boards, that Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's lawsuit to undo healthcare reform is pure political theater and a waste of taxpayer money.
By Daniel Tilson
Beware, Seniors: Medicare and Social Security are in danger of being declared unconstitutional if Florida's Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum, has his way.
By Ray Seaman
Attorney General and Republican candidate for Governor Bill McCollum, panderer:
By Ron Mills
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has launched the first television ad of his now-uphill Senate primary race against former state House speaker Marco Rubio, a direct attack on the legislator that seeks to use his national celebrity against him.
By Gimleteye
Yesterday I responded to "Brickell Avenue" on the futility of citizens being "part of the solution" to a bankrupt, dysfunctional, and ethically corrupt Growth Machine whose components, from Wall Street, to downtown lobbyists, from mortgage pools to local county commissioners feeding at the developers' trough-- in other words, from sea to shining sea-- pushed the US economy into a time release depression.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
By Steve Bousquet
The Senate Ways and Means Committee approved a nearly $70 billion budget Thursday after fortifying it with $880 million more in hoped-for federal stimulus money from Washington.
By Lee Logan
In a year when meals for the elderly, Alzheimer's programs and education funding is facing budget cuts, lawmakers pushing a tax break for yacht buyers had some explaining to do Thursday.
By Mary Ellen Klas
A House committee gave approval Thursday to a sweeping bill to reform the Public Service Commission, but only after revising it in response to a veto threat from the governor and a harsh rebuke from the chairwoman of the utility board.
By Bill Kaczor
Two Senate-passed bills would make it harder to win lawsuits against businesses for "slip-and-fall" accidents and for injuries children suffer in risky activities such as theme park or carnival rides, go-cart racing, bungee jumping and horseback riding.
POLITICAL RACES
By Luisa Yanez
Florida gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink visited a popular Hialeah bargain store on Thursday to pitch her plan to revive Florida's economy by helping small businesses expand and create new jobs.
Staff Report
"It really has been a remarkably fierce contest when you consider the primary isn't until August.
By Kendrick Meek
Reading Pat Rice's column "Could Crist Declare His Independence?" (March 7) I couldn't help but laugh at Pat's characterization that I have positioned myself "somewhere to the left of Obama."
By Larry Hannan
Charlie Crist has been popular for much of his political career.
BALLOT INITIATIVES
By Cristina Silva
Related: Kendrick Meek slams Senate's class-size vote
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
By Renee Schoof
Ten Senate Democrats from coastal states warned in a letter released Thursday that they won't support a climate and energy bill if it permits a big expansion of drilling for offshore oil and natural gas.
By Bob Koslow
Having enough water at reasonable rates and economic development to provide quality jobs emerged as the priorities for the six mayors of west Volusia County gathered Thursday night at Stetson University.
LGBT
By Gregg Zoroya
No longer will anonymous members of the military or public be able to make complaints about the sexuality of gay, lesbian or bisexual servicemembers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
By Michael C. Bender
An Orlando Republican on Thursday backed away from his definition of "family-friendly" in Florida after the proposal was derided as "discriminatory" and faced the glare of a national spotlight.
EDUCATION
By Ron Word
Hundreds of parents, teachers and other educators gathered on the steps of the Florida Capitol Thursday, chanting "No More Cuts" and "We'll Remember in November," as they held their annual Rally in Tally to protest budget cuts to public schools.
By Tiffany Lankes
A new education law headed for passage will fundamentally change Florida high schools by making it more difficult for students to graduate.
By Robert Samuels and Cristina Silva
Raising four kids with college-sized ambitions, truck driver Osse Eugene's financial plan has long relied on the prospects of Bright Futures scholarships.
By Scott Finn
Former Gov. Jeb Bush is praising a controversial bill that would eliminate teacher tenure and base future raises on student performance.
By Sherri Ackerman
Lennard High senior James Wormack has his own ideas about what will boost graduation rates in Hillsborough County schools.
By Ron Littlepage
Here's the major problem with the Republican-controlled Legislature's latest plans for Florida's public schools.
Editorial
The Florida Senate rashly passed a bill Wednesday that threatens to harm education.
JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY
By Jim Stratton
At first, Bonnie Lewis thought her boss was joking.
By Bart Jansen
The last space shuttle flight is expected in January 2011, a few months later than previously announced, NASA's inspector general reported Thursday.
HEALTH AND SENIORS
By Bill Cotterell
A Democratic candidate for attorney general failed today in an attempt to stop Attorney General Bill McCollum from suing the federal government over the new national health-care program.
By Dara Kam
House and Senate Democratic leaders want the state auditor general to investigate Attorney General Bill McCollum after he filed a lawsuit challenging the federal health care reforms approved by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.
By Paul Flemming
Attorney General Bill McCollum filed suit in federal court Tuesday, challenging the constitutionality of health care legislation signed into law by President Obama a couple of minutes before.
By Jim Saunders
Florida Medicaid's fines for fraud and abuse have been so low --- and so often waived --- that they might not be a deterrent to wrongdoing, a new state report says. Also, it warns that officials need to set a limit on how much of state-paid premiums HMOs can keep for themselves.
By Jason Schultz and Michael C. Bender
After running into flak from fellow lawmakers, state Rep. Kevin Rader today halted his plan to give a property tax break to Acreage residents amid the community's pediatric brain cancer cluster investigation.
JUSTICE AND THE COURTS
By Lisa Marzilli
Back in December, Former American Bar Association President and Tallahassee attorney Sandy D'Alemberte filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court asking it to establish a commission to address the numerous cases of wrongful conviction that plague the state.
