Former Gov. Charlie Crist made it official Friday: He will run for his old job again in 2014, setting up a potential battle with Republican Gov. Rick Scott for the state’s highest office.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Florida Blue Says It Never Dropped 300,000 Customers, Only Their Current Insurance Plans
It’s a distinction that some Florida Blue members have a hard time seeing — especially when the new plan costs more and offers benefits they don’t necessarily want. Older, sicker people who had a harder time finding health insurance in the past because of pre-existing conditions welcome the change.
Liberty County Sheriff Nick Finch Acquitted in Ideology-Fraught Gun Case
The criminal charges and suspension came after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation concluded that the sheriff released a local man, Floyd Eugene Parrish, who had been arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and that Finch destroyed or altered records of the arrest.
Record 769 Manatee Deaths So Far This Year Represent 15% of Endangered Population
With two months to go in the year, 769 manatee deaths have bee recorded in Florida waters, breaking the previous record of 766 set in 2010. Deaths are blamed mostly on a red tide bloom that started in southwest Florida in September 2012 and that only recently dissipated. Four manatees have died in Flagler so far this year.
Marco Rubio’s Slimy Flip-Flop Against Judge William Thomas
Sen. Marco Rubio is blocking President Barack Obama’s nomination of Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge William Thomas to a seat on the federal bench for the Southern District of Florida, even though Rubio himself recommended Thomas to Obama previously.
Too Young for Medicare, Too Old for Medicaid, and Neglected By Affordable Health Act
While most of the uninsured will be able to get subsidized health coverage Jan. 1 under the Affordable Care Act, the poorest adults under 65 will be out of luck in many states, including Florida. Many are women in their 50s and 60s, too old to have children still at home so they can’t qualify for Medicaid. But they’re not yet 65 so they don’t qualify for Medicare, either.
Florida’s Stand Your Ground Deconstructed Before US Senate Panel on Civil and Human Rights
The unusual Senate hearing focused almost exclusively on Florida, featured the mothers of two 17 year olds killed in its name–Trayvon martin and Jordan Russell Davis–and drew a rebuke from Ranking Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, who questioned whether the scrutiny of “stand your ground” was part of a broader “political agenda.”
Sheriff Nick Finch Trial Under Way: He’s Accused of Destroying Documents to Protect a Gun Owner
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found that Nick Finch on March 8 released a local man who had been arrested for carrying a concealed firearm, a third degree felony, and altered or destroyed corresponding documents. Gov. Rick Scott removed Finch.
Don Fleming: Private Dick, Scott’s Millions, California’s Excellent Marijuana Adventure
Ex-Sheriff Don Fleming turns private investigator, Rick Scott Rakes in the re-election millions, California’s medicinal pot legalization is working wonders, a Saudi comic drives Bob Marley through the Saudi ban on women drivers, Suzanne Somers on Obamacare, and West Virginia’s red turn.
Unearned Audacity: On Economic Development, Flagler Tells Voters to Drop Dead
State law requires Flagler County to ask voters permission in a referendum, every 10 years, to give new companies tax subsidies. The Flagler County Commission wants to trash that law and let a supermajority of four commissioners make the decision for voters instead. It’s the latest example of a commission more enamored of its power than in tune with voters.
Kiss Your Tax-Free Amazon Orders Goodbye: Company’s I-4 Warehouses On the Way
The confirmation by Amazon.com that it will build a pair of massive “fulfillment” centers along the Interstate 4 corridor means that sometime in the next two years Floridians will have to start paying sales taxes on purchases from the online retail giant.
Pantry Alert: Cuts in Food Stamps Benefits Will Affect 3.6 Million Floridians Staring Nov. 1
Florida’s food hardship rate is more than 21 percent, meaning that one in five Florida households reported that in the past year they struggled to buy enough food for the family. The state is one of the hardest-hit for food security.
Attorney General Wants Florida Supreme Court To Bump Off Medical Marijuana Referendum
In a filing required because the group pushing the initiative has triggered an automatic review by the high court, Bondi wrote that the ballot language could deceive voters about the extent of marijuana use that would be allowed, a claim the measure’s proponents reject.
Sparks, Nevada
Today, a DUI not only can earn you prison time, but also can thwart your education options and permanently alter your career aspirations. Drunken drivers are punished by a torrent of national condemnation. Why can we not summon the same collective rage when it comes to guns?
Masking Scott’s Low Approval, Republicans Launch Snide Website Ahead of Democrats’ Convention
In a new twist on rapid response, Florida Republicans today launched a tongue-in-cheek “Florida Dems” website the day before the Florida Democratic Party kicks off its annual convention in Orlando, ridiculing Democrats as the Party of No. Democrats have few answers in kind.
State Rakes In Cash From Seminole Casinos and Rethinks Gambling Landscape
Under the current deal with the Seminoles, which ends in 2015, the tribe makes the payments to the state in exchange for having the exclusive right to offer banked table games, such as blackjack, along with a monopoly on all slot locations outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The Seminoles agreed to pay a minimum of $150 million in each of the first two years, $233 million in the third and fourth years and $234 million in 2015.
Hurricane Marco Rubio: How To Protect Yourself
2012 was the hottest year on record in the United States, and 10 of the past 15 years have been the hottest on record globally. A minority of climate-change deniers nevertheless have a disproportionate hold on Congress, explaining virtual inaction on that score. Here’s a solution next time a hurricane hits.
FDLE Unsure How 2 Escaped Murderers Forged Papers, Duping Prison and Court System
FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey said Tuesday several suspects have been “targeted” for helping two murderers escape from prison with forged court papers mailed to a clerk of court, but the embarrassing incident is still largely unexplained.
Shutdown-Delayed Unemployment Report: Rate Down to 7.2% But Only 148,000 New Jobs
The September unemployment report due on Oct. 4 was released only at 8:30 this morning, delayed by the 16-day government shutdown. But it could have been predicted, as it follows the pattern of most reports of the past three years: anemic job growth, very slow decline in the unemployment rate, and checkered signs of improvement (or retreat, depending on your point of view) ahead.
From Romance to Hassle: For Younger Generations, the Car Runs Out of Rhymes
Love of the automobile seems to be the province of old guys, writes Steve Robinson, as expenses, carbon footprints and other means of staying in touch have made an anachronism of getting behind the wheel of a car simply to feel the wind in one’s hair.
Your Policy Is Cancelled: Insurers End Coverage That Falls Short of Affordable Care Act
The main reason insurers are cancelling policies offer is that they fall short of what the Affordable Care Act requires starting Jan. 1. By all accounts, the new policies will offer consumers better coverage, in some cases, for comparable cost — especially after the inclusion of federal subsidies for those who qualify.
Say Farewell to “Antiquated” Highway Call Boxes: Cell-Flush Florida Junks Them
The state Department of Transportation is removing all but a few of the 2,752 push button call boxes from along its highways as personal cell phones have reduced the need for the roadside phones. The removal, estimated to cost around $200,000, has already started.
Favoring Defense Industry Over Human Rights, Obama Loosens Restrictions on Arms Exports
The United States is loosening controls over military exports, in a shift that former U.S. officials and human rights advocates say could increase the flow of American-made military parts to the world’s conflicts and make it harder to enforce arms sanctions. In 2011, the U.S. concluded $66 billion in arms sales agreements, nearly 80 percent of the global market.
Florida’s U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, Immoderate Only in Longevity, Is Dead at 82
U.S. Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young of Pinellas County, the longest serving Republican in Congress, was a political icon in the Tampa Bay area and a moderate who had only announced earlier this month that he wouldn’t seek a 23rd term in Congress next year.
When Domestic Violence Hits the Workplace: Businesses Contend With Collateral Damage
Gathered in a community where the city and county have approved workplace policies banning domestic and sexual violence, experts said Thursday that all employers should be aware that workplace violence affects not only victims but business profits.
Disabled But Employed, Or Employable: What Businesses Can Do To Break Down Barriers
Stewart Marchman Act’s Enrichment Program’s 150 participants in Palm Coast and Daytona Beach are a reminder that Americans with disabilities are an underutilized reservoir of ambition, talent and skill ready to make great contributions in the workplace, writes Chet Bell.
Harsh Outlier: Florida’s Sentencing Laws Still Lock Up More Juveniles Than Any Other State
As state legislators have tried and failed to craft a juvenile-sentencing law that conforms to landmark U.S. Supreme Court rulings, a national advocacy group is calling Florida a “clear outlier” among states for its hard-line approach to trying juveniles as adults.
Rebecca Sedwick Suicide: Two Middle School Girls, 12 and 14, Arrested on Aggravated Stalking Charges
12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick’s suicide in Lakeland on Sept. 10 was the latest of a growing list of children taking their own life after being maligned, threatened and taunted online, mostly through a new collection of texting and photo-sharing cellphone applications.
Florida’s Rep. Bill Young’s Exit Spurs Battle for Rare Centrist Republican Swing Seat
Bill Young, 82, announced he will not seek re-election to the Florida seat he’s held for more than 40 years. Independents make up nearly a quarter of the voters in the Pinellas County district, considered the only true toss-up, open seat thus far in next year’s congressional races.
When Pets Are the Overlooked Victims of Domestic-Violence Cases
One of the common features of domestic violence is isolation; often the very circumstances that enable such violence to reach a point where a woman needs shelter are the same that mean there is nowhere for her pets to go.
The Difference Between Name-Calling and Calling Out Yahoos Holding America Hostage
Steve Robinson angered some people with his last column when he compared tea party Republicans to Know-Nothings. But, he argues, likening the narrow-minded nativist sentiments of that short-lived 19th-century party to the ideals of this current group of ideological fringe-dwellers is really not that far off.
Florida GOP Rep. Dennis Baxley Compares Gay Parents to Drunks and Drug Abusers
Florida’s Dennis Baxley, a Republican member of the Florida House representing the Ocala region, made the startling comparison of lesbian moms to abusers and dysfunctional parents during a House subcommittee meeting on middle school reforms this week.
XBox Murders Ringleader Victorino Closer to Execution as He Loses Supreme Court Appeal
Troy Victorino lost his latest appear in a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court Thursday. He was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder and numerous other charges, including the abuse of a dead human body, and sentenced to death for the killings at a Deltona home in 2004.
“Girl Rising”: Karen Barchowski’s Movie Event for Palm Coast, In Education’s Name
Karen Barchowski, the co-owner of Sally’s Ice Cream in Flagler Beach, succeeded through word of mouth and more than a little conviction in organizing one showing of “Girl Rising,” the groundbreaking documentary about the importance of girls’ education, at Epic Theater in Palm Coast on Oct. 13.
Senate Proposal Would Bar “Aggressors” From Using Stand Your Ground; Approval Unlikely
Prompted by a national outcry over George Zimmerman’s acquittal this summer in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a Florida Senate committee gave approval to minor changes in the state’s “stand your ground” law. But whether a Legislature dominated by gun-loving lawmakers will ultimately sign off on a bipartisan compromise remains a long shot.
Kathleen Sebelius to Florida Legislature: That $51 Billion Offer Is Still Good for the Taking
Kathleen Sebelius has visited Florida half a dozen times since June, trying to get the word out to the state’s millions of uninsured to sign up for a health plan., but she hopes the Florida Legislature reverses its opposition to expanding Medicaid and accepting $51 billion over the next 10 years.
Assisted Living Facilities Beware: State Looking to Shut Down Unlicensed Operations
A Florida Senate panel Tuesday instructed the Agency for Health Care Administration to draft legislation — fast — that would allow the state to shut down unlicensed assisted-living facilities as quickly as possible.
Bank of America Robber Kevin Cotterman Is Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison, No Parole
Kevin Cotterman, the 42-year-old serial bank robber who stole $805 from the Palm Coast Bank of America branch on Palm Coast Parkway in May 2012, was sentenced today (Oct. 8) to 15 years in prison, with no possibility of parole, by Flagler County Circuit Judge J. David Walsh.
Should Cops Have Power to Track You in Real Time Through Cell Phones? Court Will Decide.
Grappling with privacy rights amid fast-changing technology, the Florida Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a challenge to police using “real-time” cell-phone information to track a suspect in a drug case.
Fast-Tracking Executions Proves Slower than Expected Under “Timely Justice Act”
The new law designed to fast-track executions in Florida, called the Timely Justice Act, will not spark a flurry of executions after all even as 132 convicts have been certified as being partially “warrant ready” to be killed, perhaps dashing some lawmakers’ expectations.
A Confederacy of Choices: Marketplace Plans Vary Widely In Costs, In Counties And Across U.S.
Consumers shopping in the new health insurance marketplaces will face a bewildering array of competing plans in some counties and sparse options in other places, with people in some areas of the country having to pay much more for the identical level of coverage than consumers elsewhere.
Shutdown Geezers: The Medicare
Generation’s Immoral War on Obamacare
Opponents of Obamacare think that by doubling down on hurting Americans through a shut-down, they might stun them into submission. They must be stupider than they let on. The Affordable Care Act has its issues. Lacking for moral high ground isn’t among them.
Florida Voter Purge 2.0: More Complicated and Cautious, Less Brazenly Discriminatory
The complicated new voter-purge process comes after supervisors scrapped last year’s non-citizen purge — the brainchild of Gov. Scott — after learning that many of the voters flagged by matching the state’s voter registration database and driver’s license records were naturalized citizens. More than half of the voters on the list were minorities.
The GOP’s Shutdown Zealotry: What John Boehner and Yasser Arafat Have In Common
Republicans’ reincarnation of Know-Nothings have let their tea party zealots control them at the expense of the nation’s welfare, and of their own party, argues Steve Robinson, consigning themselves to the dustbin of political hacks.
Bill Filed to Give Henry Flagler His Own Bronze Statue near State Capitol in Tallahassee
State Rep. Bill Hager, R-Boca Raton, wants a bronze sculpture of Henry Morrison Flagler, who was integral in the development of Miami and Palm Beach–and gave Flagler County its name–to go up in the courtyard between the state Capitol and the Historic Capitol in Tallahassee.
FPL Customers in Flagler Will Again Pay Nuke Surcharge for Plants at Least 10 Years Off
A residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month will pay about $5.5 extra a year, but the cost is part of a broader controversy over a law that allows utility companies to charge customers for power-plant construction that hasn’t even begun yet, and may never be completed.
Shutdown Hits Home: Castillo de San Marcos and Ft. Matanzas Among Parks Off Limits
Starting Tuesday, the National Park Service closed all 401 national parks, including Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments in St. Augustine, affecting the local tourism economy. Potential foreign visitors’ visas are facing processing delays.
State’s Claim of $40 Million “Potential” Fraud in Early Learning Programs Proves Groundless
A December 2011 report by the state Office of the Auditor General projected that parents with children in school-readiness programs could have used as much as $40 million worth of public-assistance benefits for which they weren’t eligible over a three-year period–a claim that proved wildly inaccurate, but needlessly panicked lawmakers.
Texting-While-Driving Ban Goes in Effect as Do Food Stamps Limits and Other New Laws
An attempt to curb motorists from texting while driving goes into effect Tuesday, along with laws that put limits on funeral protests, late-night massages and the use of tax dollars at strip joints and liquor stores.
In Wake of 9th Death in Florida, Flagler Health Department Cautions Against Seawater Bacteria
Vibrio vulnificus is a cholera-like bacteria that lurks in warm Intracoastal waters and infects people through raw shellfish or oysters or through open lesions, and causes death 50 percent of the time. Henry Konietzky, 59, is the latest victim to die from exposure to the bacteria as he crabbed in Ormond Beach’s section of the Intracoastal this weekend.