Instead of rounding up the week’s news, which again was in short supply this week – we look forward to next year with a roundup of the stories we think may be the biggest next year in state government and politics. Happy New Year.
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Florida Appeals Court Rules In Defense Of Web Comments Defaming to Business
Xcentric, a website that allows Internet users to post opinions about businesses without regard to whether the “reviews” are true may be “appalling” in its invitation to slander businesses, but it doesn’t have to take the post down, a Florida appeals court ruled.
Garage Sale: NYT Sells 16 Papers To News- Journal For Less Than $10 Million Apiece
Each title went for barely $9 million, less than half the $20 million Halifax Media paid for the Daytona Beach News-Journal alone when it acquired that paper in April 2010–at discount from the $300 million price originally set by a federal judge in 2006.
Your Police State At Work: Spy Drones Entering Local Cop Arsenals, Including Florida’s
Forget Iran and Afghanistan. Americans have unmanned drones flying over their own heads, and more are coming as local police agencies, including the Miami-Dade Police Department, are acquiring spy drones and using them for surveillance of citizens.
For a Happy Saturnalian Christmas:
How To have A Good Time
Fulton J. Sheen was that rarity of Catholic sermonizers: he was witty, earthy and unfriendly to religion’s two heels : dogma and doctrine. “How to Have a Good Time” is one of his most celebrated sermons from his “Life Is Worth Living” series, from 1957.
Florida GOP’s Agenda, Once Emboldened, Facing Broad-Based Backlash in Courts
Republicans’ sweeping changes to elections law, welfare drug-testing and state workers’ pension contributions have bogged down in court challenges and judges’ injunctions as Gov. Rick Scott chafes at the push-back.
More Candidates for Jobs Council’s Top Post Drop Out, Citing Expectation of Creating Jobs
Some candidates were worried that they’d be expected to create 200 jobs in their first year, though candidates have also been raising concerns over the checkered political history of economic development in Flagler County.
Two Hammock Teens Faked Their Abduction, Triggering an Amber Alert Overnight
Danielle Annis, 17, and Amanda Hunt, 15, residents of a home on Ocean Crest Drive in the Hammock in Palm Coast, faked their own abduction and stole their parents’ car Wednesday evening. Charges against them may be pending.
Florida Utilities Fume as EPA Tells Dirty Coal Power Plants To Clean Up Or Clam Up
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released controversial new air-pollution standards that could force expensive upgrades at some Florida power plants — but have been long-sought by environmental and health advocates.
Light at the End of the Catacombs: Home Sales Up Significantly in Flagler and Florida
Palm Coast’s and Flagler County’s real estate market can take heart: for the first time in half a decade, the home-buying industry is looking a lot less grim than it’s been, even if prices have yet to catch up to the uptick in sales.