Daily News Clips for May 21, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Florida Gov. Rick Scott signs budget, vetoes more than $368 million in spending
By Toluse Olorunnipa and Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Reaction to Gov. Rick Scott's budget vetoes
Related editorial: Budget lacks long-term vision
Gov. Rick Scott vetoed more than $368 million in spending from the Florida's 2013-14 budget, using his line-item authority to strike out scores of projects ranging from a $50 million coast-to-coast bike trail to tens of millions in college and university tuition.

Fact-checking Rick Scott's jobs math: mostly false
By Katie Sanders
Tampa Bay Times PoitiFact
To hear Gov. Rick Scott tell it, his memorable campaign pledge to create 700,000 jobs in seven years is going right along schedule.

Bean: Medicaid Debate Not Over
By Lottie Watts
Health News Florida
State Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Jacksonville, says the debate over how exactly to implement the Affordable Care Act in Florida is far from over.

Florida No. 1 in barring ex-prisoners from voting
By John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post
Florida leads the nation by a wide margin in the number of felons who have served their sentences but cannot vote.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Scott to Broward GOP: ‘We should not lose…we have the right story’
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Speaking to Republicans in one of Florida’s most heavily Democratic counties, Gov. Rick Scott tonight said the GOP should win every election if Republicans do a better job of telling their story to voters.

POLITICAL RACES

Democrat Nan Rich says she's ready to take on Florida Gov. Rick Scott
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
For 10 years, political pros have taken it almost as gospel that the strongest statewide Democratic candidates are centrists from Florida's top battleground region of Tampa Bay.  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Governor vetoes $50 million for proposed bike trail along with $27.3 million in water projects
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday approved $32 million in water projects in the 2013-14 state budget while vetoing others totaling $27.3 million.

LGBT

Lesbian, 18, faces 15 years in prison for having sex with 14-year-old high school basketball teammate
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
More than 85,000 supporters since Friday have signed an Internet petition demanding felony sex charges be dropped against an 18-year-old lesbian who dated a 14-year-old high-school basketball teammate.

Time for Boy Scouts to accept gays
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
You have to wonder how many more surveys and votes it will take before the Boy Scouts of America decide to officially join the 21st Century.

EDUCATION

The dual-enrollment shuffle: School districts now must pay for popular program
By Denise-Marie Ordway
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday signed a bill requiring Florida school districts to start paying for the classes that teenagers take at local colleges through their high schools' dual-enrollment programs.

Pinellas and Florida see little improvement on FCAT retakes
By Anastasia Dawson
Tampa Tribune
As students across Pinellas County prepare for high school graduation ceremonies, hundreds of others found out last week that they won't be receiving their diplomas.

How much testing is too much?
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
In many schools around the country, once the state testing period ends, teachers and students slow down their pace and relax.

UF fares well in Scott's budget, Machen says
By Jeff Schweers
Gainesville Sun
After years of budget cuts, the University of Florida now will have enough money to fix neglected buildings and give faculty and staff raises.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott vetoes nearly $400 million from budget
Associated Press
Tampa Tribune
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who had a tough time winning cooperation this past year from the Republican-led Legislature, struck back on Monday by vetoing nearly $400 million from the state's new budget.

Fla. Gov. visit to Chile marks 8th overseas trip
By Gary Fineout
Associated Press
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is leaving the country for his eighth overseas trade-related trip in the last two-and-half years.

Florida governor OKs sales tax holiday for August
Associated Press
Ocala Star-Banner
Florida shoppers this August will get to buy computers without having to pay sales taxes.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Obamacare allies eye ballot initiatives
By Kyle Cheney and Jason Millman
Politico
Obamacare backers stymied by conservative legislatures in red states may have a new approach: letting the voters break logjams with state ballot initiatives in 2014.

Long-term care Medicaid patients start enrolling
Staff Report
Florida Current
Phone counselors are now available to help long-term care Medicaid recipients choose their health plans.

6 months before boy’s death, DCF said he was safe
By Carol Marbin Miller
Miami Herald
Catalina Marista Bruno had been arrested three times on charges involving drugs or alcohol. She had been drinking last July when police arrested her husband for beating her in front of her children.

Leapfrog health analysts hand out hospital grades
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
Florida's hospitals, like those across the rest of the nation, have received their spring report cards and more than a third earned an A, according to a nonprofit organization that advocates for safer health-care delivery.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Rubio: 'No doubt' immigration bill 'heading in the right direction' but border still issue
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
The Senate Judiciary Committee resumed work today on the immigration bill and adopted several amendments that Sen. Marco Rubio said are critical in gaining support.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Department of Corrections faces $45 million deficit in new year
News Service of Florida
Saint Petersblog
The Florida Department of Corrections will enter the 2013-14 fiscal year with a budget deficit, after lawmakers did not fully cover a shortfall from the current year, Gov. Rick Scott said in a written budget message Monday.

Florida high court refuses to grant stay of execution for condemned killer Van Poyck
By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post
Condemned prison guard killer William Van Poyck should die by lethal injection on June 12 as scheduled, a deeply divided Florida Supreme Court ruled late Monday.

Daily News Clips for May 20, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Scott to veto tuition hike, okay Medicaid transition money
By Steve Bousquet and Tia Mitchell
Times/Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott today will veto a 3 percent increase in Florida college tuition and approve $65 million in extra Medicaid funding to hospitals that provide much of the care to the poor, including Tampa General and Jackson Memorial in Miami.

Gov. Rick Scott speeding up Florida inmate execution process
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott has accelerated the pace of signing death warrants in Florida by lining up three executions over the next few weeks, the most in such a brief period of time in more than two decades.

In Florida, Incentives Only the Beginning for Favored Companies
By Steve Miller
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
It is, by any number of measures, a beautiful building.

Speculation surrounds campaign finance reform
By William March
Tampa Tribune
Some Democrats saw campaign finance reform passed by the Legislature this year as helpful in their bid to defeat Gov. Rick Scott but, in fact, it could help Republicans more, campaign finance experts and Florida political figures say.

Notoriety follows Rivera pal in Nicaragua
By Patricia Mazzei
Miami Herald
In this quaint colonial town, vigilant residents who keep close tabs on their neighbors know the enigmatic woman as Doña Anita, a sometime hairdresser with a mean temper.

EDITORIAL CARTOON OF THE WEEK

By Jim Morin
Miami Herald

FLORIDA POLITICS

Sen. Marco Rubio, in Tampa, says controversies have 'shaken' him
By Adam C. Smith
Tampa Bay Times
Sen. Marco Rubio's efforts to reform immigration may be drawing skepticism from many conservatives.

Pension vote puts some House Republicans in awkward position
By Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Florida House Republicans tried to close the state’s pension system to new employees this year, saying it’s a ticking time bomb that could cripple the state’s budget for years to come.

IRS hearing puts Vern Buchanan on national stage
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan stepped onto the national stage on Friday, sternly questioning the outgoing Internal Revenue Service commissioner and raising concerns about the overall culture at the agency during the first major hearing on Capitol Hill into the growing controversy.

Actually, Tea Party Groups Gave the IRS Lots of Good Reasons to Be Interested
By Stephanie Mencimer
Mother Jones
Virtually everyone in Washington agrees on at least one thing about the IRS scandal: The tax agency's trolling for tea party groups and giving extra scrutiny to their applications for nonprofit status was an egregious violation.

POLITICAL RACES

Last two Florida Democrats to run for governor urge Nelson to run
By George Bennett
Palm Beach Post
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson has said repeatedly that he has no plans to run for governor in 2014.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

In Pinellas 200 alternative energy advocates hold hands to oppose offshore drilling
By Sean Kinane
WMNF Tampa
On Saturday 200 Tampa Bay residents protested against oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil industry eyes South Florida again
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
The oil industry is primed for resurgence in South Florida.

Time running out to address climate change
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The big threat to Florida's future that elected leaders aren't talking about: the average amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Floridians press for Everglades and port money
By William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun Sentinel
The next big phase of Everglades restoration will plug canals, build levees and create giant storage areas to guide fresh clean water through western Broward and Palm Beach counties and into the core of the famed River of Grass.

DEP attorneys seek new hearing in permitting case involving employee who testified against bosses
By Bruce Ritchie
Florida Current
A Florida Department of Environmental Protection attorney is requesting a new hearing on an administrative law judge's recommended order strongly backing a DEP employee who testified against her bosses in a permitting case.

LGBT

Will Boy Scouts accept gay youth? Vote is imminent
By David Crary
Associated Press
With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units.

Looming decision on gays in Scouting spurs activism
By Kevin Wiatrowski
Tampa Tribune
Greg Poe wasn’t a Boy Scout growing up. He joined with his son seven years ago, drawn to the program’s religious and moral foundations.

EDUCATION

Gov. Rick Scott asks university presidents for promise not to seek tuition increases
By Tia Mitchell and Toluse Olorunnipa
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott has all but guaranteed a veto of the 3 percent tuition increase in the state budget and he recently reached out to an unlikely group to aid his cause.

Florida mandate will cost school districts
By Ashley A. Smith
Ft. Myers News-Press
School officials are facing a tough decision. Pick up the tuition tab for high school students to take dual enrollment courses or cut their college prep options.

Options lacking for parents of disabled kids at F schools
By Lauren Roth and Leslie Postal,
Orlando Sentinel
The notice in the mail told Carmen Olmeda she could transfer her profoundly disabled daughter out of Orange County's F-rated Magnolia School.

Legislature's intent different from charter school reality
By Kathy Kidder
Gainesville Sun
Many families who live in low-income neighborhoods with struggling schools hope charter schools will be better and some are.

16 Head Start programs to reopen in Jacksonville
By Charles Broward      
Florida Times-Union
A coalition of mostly government officials and agencies announced late Sunday the reopening of 16 of the 24 Head Start programs that were closed Friday.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

Scott touts job numbers, signs tax break in Tampa
Staff Report
Tampa Tribune
Florida’s jobless rate for April dropped to 7.2 percent, numbers touted Friday by Gov. Rick Scott during a visit to a Tampa to sign a bill that creates a tax break for state manufacturers.

If Florida wants more Hertz headquarters, buy more CEOs waterfront condos
By Robert Trigaux
Tampa Bay Times
Forget those pricey state economic incentives used like catnip to persuade companies to expand to Florida.

Gov. Rick Scott heading to Chile for trade mission
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott will lead a state delegation to Chile next week, his eighth overseas trade mission since taking office.

Citizens offers cheaper rate option with no fanfare
By Toluse Olorunnipa
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Last year, the Florida Legislature mandated Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to offer a cheaper, more limited coverage option to homeowners, potentially saving them up to 70 percent on their premiums.

HEALTH AND SENIORS

Paying for benefits, getting none
By Alan Green
Tampa Bay Times
Economists like myself are accustomed to seeing politicians act in ways that don't make economic sense.

House has no shame on insurance
Editorial
South Florida Sun Sentinel
When state House Republicans turned down billions of federal dollars to expand health coverage to a million working poor Floridians, they weren't just heartless. They were hypocrites.

Feds Make It Easier For States To Enroll Poor Under Health Law
By Phil Galewitz
Kaiser Health News
The Obama administration is making it easier for states to sign up the poor for health coverage – and to help those people stay covered.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Cutoff date in immigration bill would leave many in shadows
By Alex Leary
Tampa Bay Times
Huber David Hernandez got a surprising phone call from a friend a few months ago. Congress is working on immigration reform, she said, and it would benefit both of us.

Jeb Bush met with tea party on immigration
By Tarini Parti
Politico
Jeb Bush met with several tea party officials in Florida last month to talk immigration reform as the Gang of Eight bill was nearing completion.

Zero-tolerance policies are needlessly criminalizing kids
By Adora Obi Nweze
Orlando Sentinel
When Kiera Wilmot curiously mixed toilet-bowl cleaner with aluminum foil near her school gazebo last month, she did not imagine the experiment would end in adult felony charges.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Court Rulings Send Legislature Back To The Drawing Board
By Lynn Hatter 
WFSU Tallahassee
Florida’s 2013 lawmaking session is slowly fading into the mists of history.  But although lawmakers may have finished their work, some of what they did or didn’t do could prompt much more work on the part of the state’s courts.

Battle Over Florida Prison Health Privatization Continues...Where Will It Lead?
By Sascha Cordner      
WFSU Tallahassee
It could take weeks before a Florida appeals court decides whether to allow the Florida Department of Corrections to move forward with privatizing the prison health care services in several Florida regions.

Scott should veto ‘Timely Justice Act’ on the death penalty
Editorial
Palm Beach Post
In 2006, the American Bar Association showed Florida how to fix the state’s death penalty system in the best way.

Daily News Clips for May 17, 2013

FEATURED STORIES

Gov. Rick Scott holds power with budget veto pen
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott must soon sign the new state budget, and he's getting intense feedback on all sides: from lawmakers protecting hometown projects, hospitals worried about losing money and a business-backed group criticizing pork-barrel spending.

Florida TaxWatch bags 107 budget 'turkeys' worth $107 million
By Steve Bousquet
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Related: Senate President Gaetz slams TaxWatch 'turkey' list in sharp-tongued missive
Florida TaxWatch finds 107 line-item projects in the new state budget totaling $107 million that it says Gov. Rick Scott should veto because they bypassed the Legislature's own standards for transparency and competitiveness.

Florida governor rejects Amazon deal
Associated Press
Gainesville Sun
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who has made job creation his top priority since coming into office, has rejected a proposed deal to bring major Internet retailer Amazon to the state.

Misrepresentations blocked care for a million Floridians
By Greg Mellowe
Orlando Sentinel
Despite the support of Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Senate, the 2013 legislative session ended with the Florida House unilaterally blocking the extension of health coverage to more than a million low-income, uninsured Floridians.

Protesters decry possible sale of Orlando Sentinel to Koch brothers
By Susan Jacobson
Orlando Sentinel
About 40 people gathered in front of the Orlando Sentinel building Thursday evening to protest a rumored sale of the newspaper to billionaire businessmen Charles and David Koch.

Rubio Preparing for Presidential Campaign Even As He's Focused on Immigration
By Beth Reinhard
National Journal
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio hasn’t popped up in an early-primary state in six months, leaving potential Republican rivals like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to make the rounds while he carried the torch for his immigration reform plan.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

If Rick Scott Is Serious About Creating Jobs And Cares About Florida Families, He Should Prove It
By Martha Jackovics
Beach Peanuts
If Rick Scott is truly serious about creating jobs in Florida, he should call for a Special Session on Medicaid expansion.

How The GOP Is Putting America’s Safety Net Hospitals At Risk Of Bankruptcy
By Sy Mukherjee
Think Progress
In light of Republican-led states’ entrenched opposition to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, safety net hospitals around the country have expressed fears that they could go bankrupt as their government funding gets cut.

Koch Brothers proposed Tribune Co newspaper takeover a major problem for Florida progressives
By Kartik Krishnaiyer
The Florida Squeeze
As has been reported for several weeks, the ailing Tribune Company may be the buyer for eight daily newspapers around the country.

Update on Florida teen arrested for doing science while Black
By Terry Pinder
Daily Kos
I’d previously written about Kiera Wilmot, the inquisitive Polk County Florida teenager arrested and expelled for a science experiment gone accidentally wrong.

The EPA and Miami-Dade County fumble on climate change
By Gimleteye
Eye on Miami
On climate change adaptation, the rubber meets the road in the most highly developed areas of Florida that are also flood prone and virtually at sea level.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Lobbying 2013 Legislature cost $34.2M
By Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Insurance carriers, sugar growers pushing to lessen their pollution costs, telecommunications giant AT&T and an Internet-cafe software company dominated spending on lobbyists to influence the Florida Legislature during the first three months of 2013.

Scott reappoints agency heads Senate failed to confirm
By Tia Mitchell
Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Gov. Rick Scott reappointed three agency heads to their posts today, and they'll get another shot at Senate confirmation next year.

Gov. Scott makes quiet visit to Lakewood Ranch
By Jeremy Wallace
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Florida Gov. Rick Scott spent part of his Thursday rubbing elbows with key GOP players at a pair of private events in Lakewood Ranch.

Law Gives Public Four New Ways To Report Suspected Government Corruption
By Jessica Palombo    
WFSU Tallahassee
Floridians have four new ways to lodge ethics complaints against public officials.

Allen West lands job on Fox News
Staff Report
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Former U.S. Rep. Allen West has a new job as a Fox News contributor, the cable channel announced Thursday.  

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Hands Across the Sand: A Movement To Fight Offshore Drilling
By Melissa Ross          
WJCT Jacksonville
Local citizens will be joining hands on Saturday, May 18th, at the St. Augustine Beach Pier to stand in solidarity against offshore drilling – in Florida and throughout the world.

Reactor shutdowns prompt inspections at Turkey Point
By Curtis Morgan
Miami Herald
After three unplanned nuclear reactor shutdowns, federal regulators on Thursday said they are stepping up oversight of Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point facility.

DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard Cleared of EPA Violations Thanks to Statute of Limitations
By Kyle Swenson
New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Environmental activists across Florida have been waiting more than two years for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to land a serious body blow against the state's enforcement branch.

For springs restoration, a small step forward
Editorial
Tampa Bay Times
The $10 million for restoration that state lawmakers slipped into next year's budget won't go far toward repairing Florida's natural springs.

LGBT

Many workplaces insure gay, straight domestic partners; some now also pay the tax on benefits
By Steve Rothaus
Miami Herald
Thomas Barker, vice chairman of Miami Beach’s gay Business Enhancement Committee, recently made the case to other committee members for expanding city employees’ domestic partner benefits program.

EDUCATION

Time for annual release of FCAT results to begin
By Jeffrey S. Solochek
Tampa Bay Times
In what has become an annual rite of spring, the Florida Department of Education has scheduled its media briefing on how to translate FCAT results for next week Monday, meaning the actual results won't be far behind.

Five questions for Education Commissioner Tony Bennett
News Service of Florida
Saint Petersblog
Tony Bennett was the unanimous choice of the State Board of Education as Florida’s education commissioner in December, and he started his job in Tallahassee the next month.

Acting President of FAU Pushed Chick-fil-A Stadium Naming Deal, Former A.D. Says
By Fire Ant
New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Hapless Florida Atlantic University president Mary Jane Saunders resigned yesterday, and with their usual talent for due diligence and public relations savvy, the board of trustees filled the still-stinking seat with Dennis Crudele, who reportedly was go-between in the school's effort to sell naming rights to its football stadium to the notoriously homophobic fast-food chain Chick-fil-A.

Gov. Rick Scott Reappoints 6 to Florida Poly Board
By Bill Rufty
Lakeland Ledger
Gov. Rick Scott reappointed six members of the Florida Polytechnic University Board of Trustees on Thursday after the Florida Senate failed to confirm any appointments to the university that is under development in Lakeland.

JOBS, BUDGET, AND ECONOMY

TaxWatch "turkeys" draw fire
By Bill Cotterell
Florida Current
Florida TaxWatch urged Gov. Rick Scott to veto 107 budget items Thursday, but top Florida Senate leaders said the policy-study organization’s annual list of financial “turkeys” is a worn-out publicity gimmick intended more to get publicity for TaxWatch than to safeguard the taxpayers’ money.

Internet cafe law may have unintended targets
By Erin Sullivan
Tampa Bay Times
House Bill 155 was designed to sweep the state of illegal gambling cafes, and it worked. Internet cafes from Jacksonville to Key West have closed.

Fla. to use social media to tout job numbers
Associated Press
Palm Beach Post
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is using social media to tout the latest jobless numbers.

Historic Tourism Numbers Reviving Economy
By Matt Horn
Capitol News Service
An improving economic climate nationwide is good news for Florida.

Bill Nelson calls for federal help for St. Johns County potato farmers
By Matt Dixon
Florida Times-Union
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is pushing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help St. Johns County potato farms after recent severe weather “caused the loss of about two-thirds of the local potato crop.”

HEALTH AND SENIORS

House Speaker Weatherford defends health care votes in Bradenton
By Jim De La
Bradenton Herald
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford sees great things in the state's future.

Another person arrested in alleged fraud at West Palm Beach day care centers that billed Medicaid $526,236
By Alexandra Seltzer
Palm Beach Post
A 46-year-old woman is the second person to be arrested for Medicaid fraud involving two West Palm Beach day care centers, authorities announced today.

IMMIGRATION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

After Democrat brinksmanship, House group finds agreement on immigration bill
By Marc Caputo and Franco Ordoñez
Miami Herald
A bipartisan House group hammered out an immigration-reform deal late Thursday after years of closed-door meetings and last-minute brinksmanship from a top Democrat.

JUSTICE AND THE COURTS

Florida's crime rate dropped 6.5 percent in 2012
Associated Press
Miami Herald
Florida's crime rate dropped 6.5 percent in 2012, including a significant decrease in thefts, robberies and burglaries, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner released Thursday.