"I think the president has a sensible plan, both short- and- long term, to empower [...]
edited by: Kay Day,
Florida Editor
"I think the president has a sensible plan, both short- and- long term, to empower [...]
Mary Call Collins, wife of one Florida governor and granddaughter of another, was buried Tuesday in a family cemetery at The Grove, the historic ancestral home where her grandfather, Gov. Richard Keith Call, was buried in 1862 and beside her husband, former Gov. LeRoy Collins.
Dozens of mourners lined up to [...]
Gov. Charlie Crist said he is willing to go "as far as possible" to lure the Chicago Cubs to Florida for spring training after meeting Tuesday with the team's leaders in Tallahassee.
"Anything we can do, within the difficulties of our current budget, that we can do," the Republican governor said. [...]
The search for a new president at Florida State University got rocky Tuesday, when some members of the search committee said they aren’t enthused with the pool of applicants and would rather appoint an interim leader while the search is extended.
“There is not one yes vote on this list for me," [...]
House Democrats have responded to Speaker Larry Cretul's digging in on Thursday's start date for the special session on all things rail.
They promise to help roll the bill to a final vote next Tuesday -- meaning they'll vote yes on procedural matters to speed the process up -- if [...]
The House's proposal for the special session on rail has been filed, a mere 49 pages. Happy reading:
[...]With less than $10,000 in his account, it's hard to see former New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith as a serious contender of Florida's Republican nomination, but the guy does have some conservative cred and conceivably could be an obstacle to Marco Rubio's efforts to be the sole credible, conservative alternative to Charlie Crist.
"When this campaign's" [...]
Well, you knew it wouldn't take long before lawmakers started maneuvering to add issues to the special session that starts Thursday, right?
The Times/Herald hears Rep. Carl Domino wants to propose legislation that orders a study to investigate the decisions and dealings behind $20-million in incentives that the state gave to a Port [...]
The Daily Beast reports Anthony Kennedy Shriver will decide whether to run for governor within a couple weeks, and also that Shriver's a real hottie. From Jim Defede: ...Former Florida Senator Bob Graham told The Daily Beast that he has spoken to Shriver about the governor's race and the two [...]
CFO Alex Sink, the Dem running for governor, just issued a statement joining House Dems in their call for a delay in the rail special session so that black caucus members can attend.
House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater have scheduled the special to begin Thursday, but many [...]
For the second time in a month, the Public Service Commission on Tuesday rejected its own staff recommendation and ordered the state's largest electric companies to increase incentives for customers to use less energy.
Under the proposal, Florida Power & Light, Progress Energy and Tampa Electric must establish conservation programs that [...]
Republican prosecutor Pam Bondi of Tampa jumped into the Republican race for attorney general today, saying she has the legal experience needed to be Florida's top attorney. She could be a serious challenger to Republican rivals Jeff Kottkamp and Holly Benson.
"Today, it’s clear to me [...]
Sen. Mike Haridopolos, chair of the Senate committee dealing with redistricting, says representatives of the Fair Districts movement just declined his invitation to them to speak before his committee next week. And he's none too pleased.
During the November committee week, Fair District representatives told committee members -- who clearly have [...]
So the House Democrats have asked for a delay in the special session, slated to start Thursday, because it would step on a national conference of black legislators meeting this week.
Is this the same group of Democrats who urged Nov. 5 Republicans to hurry up on rail? Yup. [...]
House Democratic caucus Leader Franklin Sands and leader Pro Tempore Geraline Thompson are asking House Speaker Larry Cretul to delay the start of the special session on commuter rail until Monday -- when members of the black caucus will have returned from their long-scheduled conference in Fort Lauderdale for the National [...]
The Florida National Organization for Women will protest Saturday against an anti-abortion measure in the House health care bill. The demonstration will be held Saturday morning outside Sen. Bill Nelson's office in West Palm Beach.
The House added the amendment barring funding for abortions as a way to appease reluctant Democrats, [...]
As expected, outgoing St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker has submitted an application to be St. Petersburg College's next president. Applications were due by midnight.
We're waiting to see who else applied ahead of the deadline. The college's board of trustees are now meeting to select an interim president. Former SPC administrator [...]
Despite outside efforts to derail her appointment as the next Public Service Commission chairwoman, Nancy Argenziano today won unanimous approval to the job be for a two-year appointment beginning in January.
"Throughout her adult life, she has answered the call to leadership,'' said Commission Chairman Matthew Carter, who [...]
UPDATE: Crist reacts to Ferre's allegations:"It's absurd."
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Maurice Ferre is calling for federal investigators to look into whether Charlie Crist traded judicial appointments for campaign contributions from alleged Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein.
"State campaign finance records show a troubling pattern of large contributions from Mr. [...]
Former Tallahassee city commissioner Allan Katz, a lawyer and lobbyist who helped run President Barack Obama's Florida campaign, just got nominated by Obama to be ambassador to the Portuguese Republic.
Katz, an Akerman Senterfitt attorney, meets regularly with CFO Alex Sink,and was appointed by her to serve on the Citizens Insurance board. He has [...]
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, is the headliner for a Dec. 5 fundraiser for Charlie Justice in Tampa. The event is being held at the home of Lisa and Mike Trentalange.
Braley picked up an open seat in 2006 that had been held by a Republican and went on [...]
CFO Alex Sink issued a legal opinion today that amounts to an "I told you so" to Attorney General Bill McCollum, who questioned the constitutionality of her proposal in September to expand the SBA that oversees Florida's $110-billion pension fund.
Sink's press office released the legal analysis from former Florida [...]
Senate President Jeff Atwater just sent senators a memo telling them to be in Tallahassee by 9 a.m. Thursday for a special session on commuter rail in South and Central Florida, though the official call is still being drafted. House Speaker Larry Cretul told his members the House will convene at 10:30 a.m.
The [...]
The list of candidates for FSU's presidential search is now at 25 and includes applicants from Kent State and the University of North Carolina. The search technically remains open until the trustees pick a new president, but the search committee will meet from 2 to 4 p.m. tomorrow at the Alumni [...]
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday denied Gov. Charlie Crist's petition for a statewide grand jury to investigate political corruption in Florida. The 6-1 decision, with Justice Charles Canady dissenting, was issued Monday afternoon in a terse, two-paragraph statement.
"The Court ... hereby finds that the petition does not meet the [...]
AP: Former First Lady Mary Call Darby Collins has died after a long illness. She was 98. Collins was the widow of Gov. LeRoy Collins, who served from 1955 to 1961, and great granddaughter of Richard Keith Call, who served two terms as Florida's territorial [...]
Florida Trend has a good story on the controversial Florida High School Athletic Association, including a nugget that was news to us: State Rep. Debbie Mayfield, a mortgage broker, landed a $122,000 marketing contract with the non-profit athletics regulator with some help from her [...]
The Florida Public Service Commission picked former state senator and Tallahassee lobbyist Curt Kiser to serve as the agency's general counsel Monday, vowing to make a "clean break'' and bring a fresh start to the embattled agency.
Kiser, who served in the legislature from 1972 to 1994 and most recently represented [...]
Democratic U.S. Senate frontrunner Kendrick Meek made a big deal about his campaign's unprecedented push to qualify for the ballot by gathering 112,476 petitions - an ambitious and potentially formidable vehicle for organizing. So it's a little surprising that the Division of Elections so far has verified fewer [...]
Gov. Charlie Crist and top lawmakers think they have a rock solid argument for pursuing the SunRail project: Failing to do so could mean Florida would lose out on billions in federal funding for high speed rail.
Setting aside a critical examination of that claim (a big state like Florida would [...]
The McLaughlin Group this weekend made predictions about the Rubio/Crist Senate race. Their conclusions? Pat Buchanan, Eleanor Clift and Monica Crowley all say the odds are with Marco Rubio. John McLaughlin and Clarence Page say Charlie Crist.
"Rubio has the momentum and he has the time to do it," Buchanan [...]
Top Florida lawmakers are balking at Congress' plans to help more poor people get health care, though they've protected an entitlement of their own for years: free insurance premiums. Taxpayers have been stuck with covering the premiums — at an annual cost of about $45 million — even while lawmakers [...]
Still no official call for a special session on rail, but sources say talks continue even as the union representing rail workers balks at the proposal that they say fails to protect their workers. They're holding a press conference within the next 15 minutes to lay out their opposition, which [...]
Just $50 to have breakfast in Bradenton with the Republican gubernatorial frontrunner:
December 1, 2009, 7:30 - 8:30 am
Country Pancake House, 8205 Natures Way Bradenton, Florida
HOSTED BY: Manatee County Commissioner Donna Hayes; ALONG WITH: John and Pat Colon; David Garofalo; Joe Gruters; Kathy King; [...]
Florida's elder affairs chief has racked up nearly $70,000 in travel bills in less than three years, much of it by driving his car between the capital and Orlando, where Douglas Beach owns a home and where his wife lives.
[...]Winner of the week: Charlie Crist. It’s been a long time since Crist hasn’t had a politically rocky week, so this qualifies as terrific news: The governor showed up at a local Republican party gathering, in Broward, and for a change actually received an enthusiastic welcome. [...]
"(Charlie Crist) was more green than any governor had ever been before," said David Guest of Earthjustice, an environmental law firm.
But since he launched his bid for a U.S. Senate seat this year, Crist has left environmentalists feeling jilted. He canceled his climate summit. [...]
As a special session seems likely on rail issues, opponents of the proposed SunRail commuter system say it's the same old bad deal. The issues: cost, liability for taxpayers and federal protections for railroad workers on the tracks the state wants to buy from CSX for Central Florida [...]
For Florida's 11 universities, the political savvy of their new chancellor could help mend recent tense relations and budget tussles with the Legislature. Two months into the job, Brogan, 56, is focused on thawing the ice. A former education commissioner, he is well-versed enough in Florida politics to know universities [...]
Tampa Bay area political parties are scaling back in these tough times — except the Pinellas County Republican Party. There, under new chairman J.J. Beyrouti, spending is up even as donations are down. The local party spent $103,000 the first nine months of this year, a 59 percent spike over [...]
Our friends at Bay News 9 ran into Gov. Charlie Crist this morning serving meals to the homeless in St. Petersburg. During the conversation, Bay News 9 reporter Josh Rojas asked Crist if he was thankful for the PolitiFact on Marco Rubio's tax record.
Here's what Crist said:
"I'm thankful for [...]
The state's response: no thanks. Keep your money.
Kottkamp, a Republican candidate for attorney general, [...]
"I have never voted for a tax increase," Rubio says on his campaign Web site. "While I generally support tax cuts, I believe meaningful tax reform that simplifies our tax code, makes it easier to understand and is more fair to the taxpayer should be [...]
Trying to convey broad support for President Obama's decision to vow greenhouse emissions cuts in an upcoming visit to Denmark, the White House tonight released statements from a host of prominent officials. Among them: Lew Hay, CEO of Florida Power & Light.
"We commend the president for his efforts and [...]
With U.S. Senate Democrats just barely scrounging up the 60 votes to avoid a GOP filibuster on health care, Orlando congressman Alan Grayson is trying to gain public support for a proposal to drop the threshold to 55 votes. "We've got a problem with democracy," Grayson said on MSNBC. Below' [...]
Legislators might not be thankful for this heads-up: Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul just sent letters to members in their respective chambers to notify them that if negotiations continue to move positively, a special session on commuter and high-speed rail could be called Monday -- to [...]
Mary Ellen Klas, Shannon Colavecchio, Adam Smith, Alex Leary, Steve Bousquet, Times Editor, Aaron Sharockman, Janet Zink, Lee Logan, John Frank, Amy Hollyfield, David DeCamp, Joni James
