The summit, which will last from Monday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon in Clearwater, comes after the resignation of former Education Commissioner Tony Bennett and as debates swirl about the state’s school-grading system and a move to “Common Core” standards.
Florida
Lies, Distortions and Delirium: The Flagler Tea Party’s Kaput Take on Common Core
Diane Kepus, a self-styled researcher and common core opponent, was the Flagler County tea party’s speaker this week. Her presentation on common core, mostly inaccurate or outright false, explains to some extent why the school board has been on the defensibve, as have other boards and states, against a misinformation campaign that has not been countered effectively.
Data-Mining Goes Carnivore on Florida’s Public Records to Help Lobbyists and Candidates
“Contributionlink,” the brainchild of lobbyist Brecht Heuchan, gives lobbyists and candidates an edge by mining a myriad of public databases, creating profiles of current and potential donors and showing clients how their money stacks up against the competition.
Rallying Cry at Heckles-Free Tampa Town Hall as Vote Approaches: “Defund Obamacare”
Heritage Action for America, part of the hard-right Heritage Foundation, is hopscotching across the South, firing up the anti-Obamacare troops during Congress’ August recess, with a vote on defunding Obamacare scheduled for immediately after Labor Day.
Florida Cabinet Hypes Identity Thievery of Affordable Health Act “Navigators”
There is no danger that so-called “navigators” will steal people’s identities or feed information into a giant federal database, said Greg Mellowe, policy director for the consumer group Florida CHAIN. The group is one of the non-profits that will get a share of federal grant money for the “navigator” program.
All Quiet On the Hurricane Front Half-Way Through Season, But Don’t Relax Yet
Federal emergency managers held a news conference Wednesday to reinforce the message that Florida is just entering the thick of hurricane season in late August and September even though so far the 2013 hurricane season has been a breeze in Florida.
Yet Another Florida Brutality: Black, 60, Unarmed, and Shot 15 Times By Cops
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan has been defending the bizarre July 27 shooting of Roy Middleton by his deputies, which is currently being investigated by the state and has been the subject of protest by civil rights groups in the area.
Tallahassee For Sale: Six Lobbying Firms Collect More Than $1 Million Each
Bolstered by huge paydays from some clients, at least six lobbying firms, including the Southern Strategy Group, collected $1 million or more in legislative lobbying fees between April 1 and June 30.
Florida Unemployment Stuck at 7.1% For 3d Month, Flagler’s at 10.3% On Low-Pay Jobs
The national economy, Florida’s and Flagler County’s might as well be the three twins of lethargy: all three economies are mirroring each other in fitful but anemic activity, adding some but mostly low-paying jobs as Florida’s unemployment rate remains at 7.1 percent for the third straight month and Flagler’s continues in the low double digits, at 10.3 percent.
After 31 Days, Dream Defenders
End Their Protest at the Florida Capitol
Dream Defender leaders said they’ll carry their campaign against the “stand your ground” self-defense law and what they consider other forms of racial bias to the polls, trying to defeat the elected officials who opposed their demands, including Gov. Rick Scott, who is up for re-election next year.
Not Enough Votes for a Special Session on Stand Your Grounds, But Protest Continues
Republicans have returned enough “no” votes in a poll of legislators to quash the idea of a special session to address the state’s stand your ground law, yet the Dream Defenders, a group of protesters whose around-the-clock sit-in at the Capitol stretched to a 30th day on Wednesday, are not quitting.
Sorry, Teachers: Don’t Yet Bank on Debit Cards for Classroom Supplies Gov. Scott Promised
Gov. Rick Scott touted the $250, tax-free debit cards as he talked about education issues across the state, but as of Tuesday, more than 130,000 teachers out of Florida’s 170,000 are not in line to get one of the Chase debit cards this year.
After Two Stays, Supreme Court Clears Marshall Lee Gore For Year’s Fourth Execution
Rejecting arguments that he should avoid lethal injection because he is insane, the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the execution of Marshall lee Gore, convicted of killing two women in 1988 in Miami-Dade and Columbia counties.
Stand Your Ground Special Session: Florida Democrats Invoke Unique Tactic in Hunt for Votes
Vastly outnumbered Democrats have a week to convince enough Republicans lawmakers to support a special session of the Legislature on the Stand Your Ground law. The Secretary of State’s office has to find 96 lawmakers to trigger such a session.
Lawmakers Will have $435 Million More to Work With in 2014 as Recovery Continues
The added revenue swells to $2 billion the net increase from this year’s budget in the general revenue, but lawmakers aren’t scheduled to take up the budget again until next spring’s legislative session, and other revenue forecasts are expected in the interim, meaning it will likely take awhile before the full budget picture is known.
Predatory Human Traffickers Luring Teens and the Homeless as Cops Warn of Backyard Crisis
A nationwide crackdown last week by the FBI on child sex trafficking yielded 159 arrests and freed 105 children — nearly all girls between 13 and 17 — but experts say it’s the tip of the iceberg as 450,000 children run away from home each year and that one-third will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.
Cabinet Passes, for Now, on Pardoning Marissa Alexander, Pending Stand Your Ground Appeal
Alexander, a 32-year-old mother of three, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year after firing a shot into a wall during a dispute with her abusive husband, a case that stands in sharp contrast with George Zimmerman’s not-guilty verdict after he shot and killed an unarmed teen.
FPL and Duke Energy Customers Still Saddled With Costs of Failed or Future Nuke Plants
The Florida Public Service Commission on Monday approved an agreement with Juno Beach-based FPL that will charge residential customers 48 cents per 1,000 kilowatt hours of power for nuclear construction at least 10 years away. The PSC backed an increase of 89 cents for the same amount of power that will be added to monthly bills of Duke Energy customers starting in January 2014, for nuclear plants that’ll never be built.
Latest Education Scandal Buoys Critics Of High-Stakes Testing as Scott Scrambles
Critics of the state’s education policies are seizing on serial resignations in the education commissioner’s seat, arguing that the problem is less the person on the job than the state’s accountability system. Tony Bennett was a strong supporter of that system, adding a twist of irony to his resignation in the wake of reports that he tweaked the Indiana school report card formulas to help a school founded by a political contributor.
Hypertown: Jesse Jackson and His Detractors
But by the time Gov. Scott and his ilk were done demanding that Jesse Jackson apologize to all Floridians over hos comparisons of Scott to George Wallace and the Dream Defenders to the Selma march, lo and behold, we were back talking about the Dream Defenders and Stand Your Ground. That was Jackson’s goal.
Duke-Progress Energy Won’t Build Troubled $25 Billion Nuke Reactors in Levy County
Customers will be required to pay as much as $1.466 billion over 20 years to cover continuing costs at the defective and shuttered Crystal River plant, and they will not be refunded the $150 million they’ve paid in up-front costs for the Levy reactors.
Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett Is Resigning Over Favoritism Scandal
Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett is announcing his resignation today a year to the day after his predecessor, Gerard Robinson, resigned amid another controversy over school grades. The two resignations underscore the flammability of school grades resulting from high-stakes testing–a flammability opponents of such testing say belie the credibility of the testing and system.
Jesse Jackson Calls Capitol Sit-In “The Selma of Our Time.” Scott Calls It an “Insult” to Floridians.
Calling Florida “an apartheid state,” Jackson spoke ahead of an overnight visit with the Dream Defenders that has staged a sit-in at Scott’s office to demand a special legislative session to consider changes to the state’s self-defense laws, initiatives to end racial profiling and an end to zero-tolerance discipline policies in schools.
Florida Education Commissioner Defends Grade Inflation as Bush Rallies to His Side
In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Bennett said it was “absurd” to believe he inflated grades to help a donor because of her political contributions to Bennett, but criticism of Florida’s education commissioner persisted.
Again in Flagler, Gov. Scott Headlines Aveo Co.’s 300-Jobs Groundbreaking at Airport
If the 300 promised jobs are produced, landing Aveo Engineering in Flagler County will prove to be the largest single gain of private-employer jobs in memory, and an unqualified success for the county administration’s new economic development department under Helga van Eckert. But the company is getting generous incentives beyond the $150,000 in cash for jobs retained.
Into Their Second Week of Protest, Dream Defenders Plan Their Own Special Session
Scott, who is expected to spend the next couple of days back on the road, didn’t pop out for a chat with those who want him to call a special session on the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law.
Florida Snubs Millions in Federal Health Grants That Could Help Workers and the Poor
in a pattern of politically motivated rejections by Florida itself, the state got the lowest amount of health-care reform act grant funding per capita – behind all 50 states and the District of Columbia – in 2011. While state agencies received the bulk of federal health grants in other states, it was the reverse in Florida.
Harry Belafonte Joins Dream Defenders at Florida Capitol as Protest Enters 2nd Weekend
Backed by the arrival of supporters from throughout Florida and the East Coast, as well as singer and activist Harry Belafonte, protesters led by the Hialeah-based Dream Defenders maintained their request for a special legislative session amid rousing chants that filled an area outside the governor’s office.
Most Flagler Schools’ Grades Drop, Following State Trend, As Tougher Standards Kick In
In Flagler County, not a single school saw its grade improve and five fell back a grade, though two maintained their A rating: Indian Trails Middle School and Belle Terre Elementary. Grades would have been worse had the state Board of Education not agreed to artificially prop them up, limiting grade drops to a maximum of one letter grade.
Back-to-School Tax Holiday Now Includes Computers, Tablets and Electronic Gadgetry
Florida’s back-to-school tax holiday Aug. 2 through Aug. 4 for the first time includes high-tech computer and other electronics as long as each individual item is priced under $750. Retailers are preparing for the demand, in some cases lowering prices to match the benchmark.
Tropical Storm Dorian Graying His Way West But Florida Not Yet in His Picture
Thursday morning Tropical Storm Dorian was closer to its nursery grounds in Africa than to either North or South America, but it was making a beeline west for the northern part of the Antilles, which it is forecast to reach by early next week. It’s too early to speculate about a threat to Florida.
Common Core Here to Stay Despite Heckles by Conservatives, But Testing Questions Remain
The decision by legislative leaders to call for Florida to withdraw from a group of states preparing new tests for student learning has set off a round of battles over the future of Florida’s involvement in the “common core” standards project. And it causes complications for Florida education officials, many of whom support common core.
“Anybody But DCF”: Judge Wants Failing Agency Off Child Investigations After 5th Death
On Monday, the department released information about the weekend death of a Homestead child who had earlier come to the attention of child-welfare officials. The death was the fifth such case since May 16 and followed the resignation last week of DCF Secretary David Wilkins, who left amid controversy about his approach to child safety.
Obama in Jacksonville Thursday in Economy Tour as GOP Ridicules Visit
President Barack Obama plans an appearance Thursday in Jacksonville to talk about economic issues, and the Republican Party of Florida has already launched a counter-attack.
Dream Defenders’ Stand Your Ground Standoff at Scott’s Office Continues Into Second Week
Members of the Dream Defenders, a student-led group that has protested at the Capitol since last Tuesday, said they’re busy making plans for the rest of this week and beyond as Scott reiterated Monday, before leaving Tallahassee for an event in southeast Florida, that there will be no special session to review the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law.
Florida’s Self-Insured Not Likely to See Premiums Drop Much as a Result of Obamacare
New York’s announcement last week that insurance premiums would drop 50 percent next year for individuals buying their own coverage in new online marketplaces made good talking points for proponents of the health law, but consumers in most states are unlikely to see similar savings.
Demonstrating and Reporting Outrage Over Zimmerman’s Acquittal Isn’t Overkill. Shooting Trayvon Was.
Marches and other responses to the George Zimmerman trail are focusing needed attention on a culture at times too comfortable with the the paradox of imagining itself past the sort of racially motivated mindsets that made the killing of Trayvon Martin possible, argues Steve Robinson.
‘The Struggle Continues’: Civil Rights Generation Shows Palm Coast How It’s Done in 100-Voice March
Some 100 people, most old enough to have lived through the civil rights era, walked for almost 4 miles on Palm Coast Parkway Saturday morning, singing and showing their solidarity with Trayvon Martin’s family and their opposition to Florida’s stand your ground law. Several had taken part in marches dating back to the 1963 March on Washington.
Obama on Stand Your Ground and Zimmerman Aftermath: “Trayvon Martin Could Have Been Me 35 Years Ago”
As protests have continued and grown, President Obama Friday afternoon spoke on the stand your ground law, the Zimmerman trial aftermath, Trayvon Martin and race more expansively and in more personal terms than he had since his speech on race from Philadelphia as a presidential candidate in 2008. The full text and video are included.
Trayvon Martin Solidarity March in Palm Coast Saturday as Protests Elsewhere Continue
The Saturday morning march in Trayvon Martin’s memory is being organized by Valerie Ottley, a retired Palm Coast resident of 22 years who is herself a neighborhood watch coordinator. The march will start at 8:30 a.m. at Kohl’s on Belle Terre Parkway and follow a course down Palm Coast Parkway to U.S.1 and back.
Flagler’s Unemployment Back in Double Digits While Florida’s Stalls at 7.1%, Mirroring U.S.
Flagler County’s unemployment rate shot back up to 10.2 percent as 830 fewer people had jobs, one of the sharpest drops of the year, though seasonal fluctuations account for much of that drop. Florida added just 2,300 private sector jobs.
Boycott Florida Movement Grows in Protest Of Stand Your Ground and Zimmerman Verdict
The boycott-Florida movement has quickly grown on social media and with such headliners as Stevie Wonder while Gov. Rick Scott and the state’s business groups downplay the effectiveness of the effort, which could nevertheless hurt the state’s tourism and convention business.
Middle School Boy Invokes Stand Your Ground in School Bus Fight With Girl, and Court Agrees
Showing the breadth of Florida’s “stand your ground” law, an appeals court Wednesday said the controversial legal defense can be used by a boy involved in a fight with a girl on a school bus. No weapons were involved. The boy making the stand your ground claim was arrested on a battery charge.
Commissioner to Lobbyist: Milissa Holland Joins Powerful Southern Strategy Group
In a pair of candid interviews, former Flagler County Commissioner Milissa Holland traced her personal and professional trajectories that took her from representing taxpayers in government to representing the special-interest clients of the Southern Strategy Group, one of Florida’s–and the nation’s–most powerful lobbying firms.
Some 600,000 Floridians Getting Rebates from Insurers Not Complying With Health Care Law
Because insurers are overspending on profits and administration instead of medical care, the amount that must be refunded in this state by Aug. 1 tops $54 million. That’s only half of what insurers had to pay in rebates to Floridians last year. Nationally, insurers are refunding $504 million.
Students Stage Sit-In at Gov. Scott’s Office, Demanding Special Session on Florida’s Gun Laws
The students, part of a group called the Dream Defenders, said they’re responding to the “not guilty” verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, want a special legislative session addressing laws such as Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense provision they say unfairly affect minority youth.
Fail-Safe: Education Commissioner Recommends Artificial Prop-Up of School Grades
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett will ask the State Board of Education next week to prevent schools from dropping by more than one letter grade on the state report card in an effort to counter what superintendents say could be an alarming drop in grades.
Anxieties Over Profiling and Vigilantism as Bunnell Marchers Protest Zimmerman Verdict
Fewer than two dozen people gathered on South Bacher Street in Bunnell Sunday afternoon for a protest march following the not-guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. The group turned its gathering march into an impromptu town hall on the trial, its meaning and its implications for blacks, whites and gun laws.
Zimmerman’s Gunshine State: White Man’s Verdict, Black Men’s Burden
Zimmerman is a free man, but his legacy should not be that he was “right” to do what he did. He should be viewed as the sad, angry embodiment of the fear and paranoia that would have us believe that owning a gun and using a gun are equal and inseparable rights.
Sheriff: Violence Not Expected in Flagler Reaction to Trayvon Martin Verdict, But Cops Preparing Anyway
As the jury may begin deliberating Friday in George Zimmerman’s murder trial of Trayvon Martin, state and local law enforcement agencies, including Flagler’s police forces, have been coordinating a response to potentially violent reactions to the verdict.