After refusing to meet with all but one editorial board during his campaign, Gov. Rick Scott is putting on a media-charm offensive in an attempt to reverse his 27-29% approval rating.
Florida
Public Employees Retire in Droves as Florida Pension System Narrows Incentives to Work
About 10,100 people chose to enter retirement or exited the state’s deferred retirement plan ahead of new laws kicking in on July 1, an increase of more than 900 people from the same time last year.
The Week Ahead in Tallahassee: Florida Cabinet, School Financing and Nukes
The Florida Cabinet meets for the first time since June 2, the Village Square takes on Florida’s post-Fukushima nuclear energy future, the State Board of Education takes on school financing. The week’s full line-up.
GMAC Mortgage Machination: Don’t Have Document to Foreclose? Make It Up
When GMAC, one of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers, sought to foreclose on a homeowner last year and lacked a crucial document, the company just made one up, pointing to a pattern of deceptive filings to foreclose on homeowners.
Students as Customers, Universities as Businesses: Scott’s Plan To Texify Higher Ed
Gov. Rick Scott is following Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s lead in higher ed: merit pay for professors, tenure reform, and generally a greater emphasis on business-like measurement of whether professors are turning out students that meet certain goals.
Attorney General Bondi’s Motive Questioned in Firing of Mortgage Fraud Investigators
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi fired two assistant attorneys general who were heavily involved in investigating alleged mortgage fraud, including focusing on one firm that had contributed to Bondi’s campaign. Bondi says they had “shortcomings.”
Gov. Rick Scott on Impending Federal Government Shutdown: What, Me, Worry?
Rick Scott is unconcerned about the federal shut-down, saying its impact on Florida will be “minimal.” Much of the evidence says otherwise as millions of Floridians’ including Social Security and food stamps recipients, may be affected.
Florida Supreme Court Stubs Out Big Tobacco Appeals of Multi-Million Dollar Verdicts
The Florida Supreme Court this week rejected four appeals by tobacco companies fighting verdicts ranging from $3.35 million in Escambia t $1575 million in Alachua, each including R.J. Reynolds. The companies plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Unemployment Again Rises in Flagler, To 14.6%, and Stalls in Florida at 10.6%
The number of unemployed people in Flagler County jumped from 4,526 in May to 4,779 in June, a 5.3 percent increase, while the county workforce has decline by 2.3 percent over the year.
End of “Medicaid Tax Gimmick,” a Deficit Drag, Would Cost Florida Nursing Homes Millions
Medicaid payments to nursing homes were cut by $187.5 million this year. The end of the Medicaid “gimmick” would reduce nursing home budgets further, but help balance the federal budget deficit.
“Unsustainable” Florida Retirement System (Says Gov. Scott) Has Best Gains in 25 Years
The Florida Retirement System pension plan gained $19 billion in the fiscal year that ended on June 30. The 22 percent gain is the biggest in 25 years. The total value of the pension plan has soared to $128.4 billion, among the best in the nation.
Dixie Check: Judge Orders Commandments Removed from County Courthouse Steps
A businessman had paid for the 6-ton monument, but a judge said its message was a clear government endorsement of religion, violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
Pass-Through Crock: How Progress Energy May Once Again Nuke Its Customers
Progress Energy is already charging Florida customers $5.53 per month for non-existent nuclear-power plants slated for construction at unknown dates in the future. The Public Service Commission and the Legislature allow the scheme.
Flagler Rep. Bill Proctor: Public University Tuition Should Go Up by More than 15% A Year
Bill proctor, the St. Augustine Republican and private-college president, says tuition increases at public universities should be greater than 15% so Florida’s tuition costs can reach the national average faster.
City Commission Cheers Flagler Beach Turtle Patrol
The Flagler Beach City Commission’s Alice Baker recognized the city’s Turtle Patrol volunteers, whose work from May to September ensures protecting for nesting turtles.
They Feel Your Pain: Florida Legislature Home to 51 Millionaires
Millionaires make up almost half of the 40-member Florida Senate and nearly one-third of the 120-member Florida House. Legislators are paid $29,697 a year, with presiding officers making $41,181 a year.
Despite Shelving Desalination, Palm Coast Clings to “Low Pulse” Plans–for $213,000
The $213,000, left over from $1.7 million budgeted for desalination project’s latest phase, would keep a consultant working through quarterly meetings, and Palm Coast hoping to draft new partners for the now-defunct, $200 million project.
Water Management District Tax Rate Cut 26%, Reducing Revenue and Gutting Services
The tax bill on a $200,000 house will be $50, down from $62, but the district is laying off employees and reducing conservation, management and partnership projects in line with a new law approved by Gov. Rick Scott.
Super-PACs and Dark Money: The New World of Corruption-Ripe Campaign Finance
Super-PACs, anonymous donors, foreign donors, unlimited corporate donations, political fronts masked as non-profit charities: the new world of campaign finance opens the way for scandal and corruption.
BP Calls Gulf Recovered and Looks To Quit Payments to Businesses Over Economic Losses
BP paid more than $4.6 billion to private citizens and businesses since the Deepwater Horizon spill. The Gulf economy is on the mend, the oil company claims, justifying a cut-off, though it still faces billions in civil and criminal penalties.
Space Shuttle Launch Schedule: Atlantis’s Last Voyage
Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:26 Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, July 8. Weather may delay it. Watch video of the countdown.
It’s Not Just Flagler: Across Florida, Schools Contend With $1 Billion Less for Education
From Broward’s elimination of 1,400 teaching positions to Marion’s reduction to a 4-day week to Duval’s cuts in sports programs, school districts have been finding various ways to make shriveled ends meet.
Adagio for Scott: Governor’s Net Worth Drops by Half, to $102 Million
Scott reported 2010 income of $11.5 million, up 46 percent from the $7.9 million he posted in 2009, and almost all investment income. His wealth topped that of all other Cabinet officials combined.
Why Help at Your Nursing Home Will Be More Scarce, and Other Elderly Care Retreats
Florida just rejected a federal grant that would have allowed elderly patients to get care at home instead of in nursing homes, where staffing levels may begin to drop this month, thanks to a new Florida law.
Drawing Widespread Criticism, Rick Scott Discovers the Joys of SunRail, and CSX
Gov. Rick Scott’s approval of SunRail triggered criticism from Republicans and Scott’s tea party base while sharpening a contrast with his earlier rejection of a federally funded high-speed rail initiative.
3% Pension Contributions by Public Employees Begins as Judge Rejects an Injunction
The state’s teachers union is suing over the 3 percent requirement, and was hoping to delay its implementation until the case is settled. That case is still going forward, but 3 percent contributions begin today.
Executive Overreach? Supreme Court
Considers Rick Scott’s Rule-Making Powers
In oral arguments today, justices seemed unconvinced by the case of a blind woman on food stamps. The case speaks to Scott’s rule-making power–and where the Legislature’s power ends.
When Florida, Like New York State, Joins the Ranks of the Civilized on Gay Marriage
New York State is celebrating the legalization of gay marriage. We should celebrate along. Where can such baseless assertions as marriage being the “legal union of only one man and one woman” have so much as a throb of credibility other than in the harebrained fictions of scriptures?
Florida’s Betrayal of College Students: Sticking It to the Young, Pandering to the Old
Between Florida public universities’ tuition increasing almost 140 percent in 10 years and Bright Futures scholarship losing half their value, the state is betraying its future while pandering to older, more selfish voters.
Tuition Increases Another 15% at Florida Universities, Up 130% in 10 Years; Aid Drops
Tuition will approach $6,000 next year. For Flagler County’s 750-some students attending college on Bright Futures scholarships, that aid will cover barely half the bill, after covering it in full just a few years ago.
Florida’s Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional
Judge Jose Martinez, a George W. Bush appointee, relied on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring judges from interpreting “aggravating factors” independent of juries’ explicit findings.
Adding to Mounting Legal Challenges for Scott, Public Employees Sue Over 3% Pension Hit
The class-action lawsuit is filed on behalf of 556,296 public employees, including state workers, teachers and police officers. It echoes frustrations that led the Flagler County School Board to talk lawsuit last week.
Charter, Voucher Advocate Gerard Robinson Is Florida’s New Education Commissioner
Robinson, a Jeb Bush protege, was Virginia’s secretary of education and president of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, a pro-school choice group ideologically aligned with Republican reforms.
Fish and Wildlife Commission Prohibits Campfires on Public Lands
As a result of ongoing wildfires, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued the executive order prohibiting campfires in wildlife management areas, wildlife and environmental areas and all other lands it manages.
Flagler Unemployment at 13.8%,
Florida’s Down to 10.6%
Flagler County’s April unemployment was revised upward to 14 percent, so May’s figure is, officially, another decline. The county’s labor force grew by 64 over the month, but declined by more than 1,000 over the year.
Scott Retreats: No Drug-Testing of State Workers, At least For Now
The ACLU of Florida called it a “a massive and embarrassing retreat,” but Scott says it’s merely a temporary delay, pending a constitutional challenge to his executive order.
Espanola Fire, Now Over 5,000 Acres, Breaks Out Again On Three Sides; Calm Elsewhere
The calm on Flagler’s smaller fires was deceptive as Espanola broke out on three sides, and fires by the dozens are breaking out across the state, further thinning resources. Drought conditions are worsening.
Black Hawks Up: Army National Guard Sends 3 Copters to Aid Flagler Firefighting Crews
The three crews logged eight hours on their first afternoon on the job Wednesday, putting their 780-gallon water buckets to work against the Espanola fire. They’re here on an open-ended mission.
Sprawl-Fighting State Oversight Agency Is Dissolved, To the Delight of Local Developers
The Florida Department of Community Affairs, created in 1969 to manager growth, is being diluted into other agencies, leaving local governments much freer to develop as they choose.
“I Saw The Fires As I Was Flying In.” Rick Scott’s Embarrassing Lay-Over in Flagler
Rick Scott spent four and a half hours today hobnobbing with businessmen and chamber of commerce pals in Orlando, but couldn’t spare a moment for firemen on the line during his lightning visit to Flagler County.
“Saturate Us With Resources,” Fire Commanders Tell Rick Scott in Flagler County
Gov. Rick Scott’s drive-by visit through Flagler County Tuesday afternoon entailed a short briefing and a short press conference, but no visit to an actual fire, and no plans of one.
Number of Fires Up to 22 As Flagler,
Drenched in Smoke, Awaits Governor
Lightning started seven new fires in Flagler in the last two days, one of them in Bunnell’s Grand Reserve area, just west of Palm Coast. Fire officials are concerned about a “fluid” situation and uncooperative weather.
Gov. Scott Touring Flagler Fires at 4 p.m. After Declaring Emergency and Activating Guard
The long-awaited declaration of a state of emergency places state, regional and local resources under the authority of state emergency management and the Division of Forestry.
Black Bear, Brown Pelican and 14 Other Species Off Threatened List in Florida
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously to delist the animals following a review began four years ago. The snowy egret was also removed.
In a Victory for Flagler Boaters, FWC Rejects Its Staff’s Proposed Manatee Speed Zones
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission asked its staff to draw up a new compromise favoring Flagler County’s position on manatee speed zones on the Intracoastal, a significant defeat for manatee advocates.
Coquina Defund: Palm Coast’s Desalination Hopes Dry Up As Last Partners Drop Out
The Coquina Coast Seawater Desalination project unveiled 14 general sites where the plant might be located in Palm Coast, but it may be a moot discussion as the city’s financial partners are quitting, and Palm Coast can’t afford it on its own.
No Lawsuit Against the State Yet, But Flagler School Board Warms Up to Actionable Anger
Ronald Meyer, the attorney who’s been challenging imbalances in Florida’s educational system for years, told the Flagler school board Tuesday that building a case will take more time, analysis–and public awareness.
Florida Board Of Medicine Clears Dr. Mark Seldes, a Convicted Rapist, to Practice Again
Mark Seldes of Tampa was an Air Force major and flight surgeon in South Korea when he raped a civilian coworker after she’d taken a sleeping pill. The Florida Board of Medicine voted 7-3 to let him practice again.
Florida Wants Privatized Camping and RV Sites at 56 State Parks, Including Washington Oaks
The privatization quietly developed plan would bid out the 56 parks to companies that would build and operate the camping and RV sites as a way to generate money and ostensibly help keep the parks running.
Scott Signs Development Bill That Virtually Eliminates State Oversight of Local Planning
Local governments will get to decide how and where to grwo with little or no interference from the state growth-management regulators, whose role is now severely limited.