(St. Pete Times)A judge removed from the November ballot Thursday a proposed constitutional amendment that would have blocked the state from implementing a health care plan similar to President Barack Obama's federal plan, saying the ballot language would have confused voters. Circuit Judge James Shelfer said Amendment 9's ballot language could even make voters think they would never have to wait in a doctor's office if the amendment passed. State law requires ballot summaries to be clear and accurate.
(CNN)Under a 25-year-old law, mandatory minimum sentences involving crack cocaine -- a drug more commonly used by blacks than whites -- led to far more severe penalties than for offenses involving powder cocaine, generally preferred by whites. "The Fair Sentencing Act will reduce sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1," said Congressman John Conyers, D-Michigan, who applauded the passage.
(Sun Sentinel)While $2.5 billion may sound like a lot of money, Palm Beach County School District officials say their new total budget is barely enough to scrape by. The School Board on Wednesday tentatively approved the district's spending plan for the 2010-11 school year. It passed in a 5-1 vote with Chairman Monroe Benaim absent and Paulette Burdick dissenting. The tentative budget means different things to different groups: For homeowners, it means higher taxes. For parents and students, it means textbooks, supplies, and clean campuses - and everything needed to operate classrooms.
(Sun Sentinel)As gambling grows in South Florida, so do the problems: More people than ever are asking the state's gambling hotline for help. The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling says requests for help are up 12 percent this fiscal year, which ended June 30. In South Florida, the most calls come from women age 40 or older who play slots. "Whether it's out of loneliness or boredom, they're classic 'escape gamblers,'" said Brian Kongsvik, the council's helpline director.
(Hot Air)Sometimes a politician has an honest change of position on key issues, even after a few years. When they do, they will usually offer a detailed explanation of their thought process, hopefully convincing supporters that the change was merited by more and better information and/or a reapplication of first principles. Other politicians who change their positions for political expediency just hope no one notices.
(Palm Beach Post)Republican Marco Rubio collected $4.3 million from April 1 to June 30, a record for a U.S. Senate candidate in Florida. But he spent $4 million during the same period. Rubio's supporters say it was money well spent. He pushed his top primary opponent out of the Republican Party by the end of April and by June 30 had built a base of 75,000 donors who can continue giving to the campaign.
Grayson bills taxpayers for DVD of term's highlights
(Orlando Sentinel)The DVD comes wrapped inside a mailer covered with promotional slogans: "Congressman Alan Grayson, Hard at Work for You," "He works hard. He pays attention. He gets things done," and "Video DVD Inside: Watch Congressman Grayson in Action!" In many ways, it's the perfect campaign video - with one key difference. Thanks to perks given to all members of Congress, it's not Grayson's campaign but taxpayers who footed the nearly $73,000 bill to produce and mail the DVD to 100,000 homes in Grayson's district of Lake, Marion, Orange and Osceola counties.
(Fox News)Insured Americans are using fewer medical services, raising questions about whether patients are consuming less health care as they pick up a greater share of the costs. The drop in usage is showing up as health care companies report financial results. Insurers, lab-testing companies, hospitals and doctor-billing concerns say that patient visits, drug prescriptions and procedures were down in the second quarter from year-ago levels. "People just aren't using health care like they have," said Wayne DeVeydt, WellPoint Inc.'s chief financial officer, in an interview Wednesday. "Utilization is lower than we expected, and it's unusual."
(NY Post)The richest man in the world is taking over New York. Mexican mogul Carlos Slim - who already owns a major interest in the New York Times and a major office building in Manhattan - has added a new trophy, the magnificent Duke-Semens mansion across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Post has learned. The deal closed for $44 million cash, when the billionaire swooped in and snatched the prize from the clutches of a mystery Russian buyer whose starting bid was around $37 million, sources said.
(Washington Times)President Obama's choice to be the government's chief budget officer received a bonus of more than $900,000 from Citigroup Inc. last year -- after the Wall Street firm for which he worked received a massive taxpayer bailout. The money was paid to Jacob Lew in January 2009, about two weeks before he joined the State Department as deputy secretary of state, according to a newly filed ethics form. The payout came on top of the already hefty $1.1 million Citigroup compensation package for 2008 that he reported last year.
(CNN)Three iPad users claim that because the iPad will shut itself off after remaining in direct sunlight for long enough, it fails to meet the promises Apple made about using the device as an e-book reader. The group has filed a federal class-action lawsuit in the Northern California district to "redress and end this pattern of unlawful conduct."
(Fox News)Its tablet computer can't play most of the videos on the Web ... its cell phone has trouble making voice calls ... and yet its products are wildly popular, selling millions worldwide and engendering a cultish devotion among followers. Apple is the new religion, say several academics. It's not a matter of rationality, it's a matter of faith.
(WPTV) More space shuttle contractors learned this week that they will be out of a job. 1,300 workers with United Space Alliance got layoff notices. It is all part of the planned wind down of the space shuttle program, which is scheduled to end next year. The layoffs will take effect on October 1st.
(Sun Sentinel)Broward County Court candidate Jordan Howard Breslaw says he may be collecting unemployment benefits, but that shouldn't detract from his superior qualifications in his bid to unseat Judge Mary Rudd Robinson. The chiropractor, attorney and author of "How to Raise Millionaire Children," also known as Jordan H. Jordan, says his current unemployment is an "unfortunate circumstance" that came about when he was "let go" from a Coral Springs law office in July 2008.
(Sun Sentinel)Who is Jose Helio Lopez and why is he running for Broward County Commission? Lopez is the mystery candidate in the race for Broward's District 8, the seat that was held by Diana Wasserman-Rubin until her resignation and subsequent charges for unlawful compensation. Lopez's father is well known. He is Jose "Pepe'' Lopez, chairman and CEO of the Latin Chamber of Commerce.
(Miami Herald)Without the benefit of their state's strict new immigration law, officers from a single Arizona county helped deport more than 26,000 immigrants from the U.S. through a federal-local partnership program that has been roundly criticized as fraught with problems. Statistics obtained by The Associated Press show that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office was responsible for deportations or forced departure of 26,146 immigrants since 2007.
(USA Today)One little-discussed provision in the new health care reform law requires all employers to provide unpaid break time and private space for nursing mothers to pump breast milk at work. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who sponsored the breast-feeding legislation in the Senate, calls it "a revolution in American culture."
(Fox 29)A 14-year-old Palm Bay teen accused of attacking someone for listening to rap music could be charged with a hate-crime. Police took the teen into custody late Monday and charged him with battery. He is not being identified because of his age. Police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez says the teen faces a hate-crime enhancement charge because he shows "extreme prejudice against the victim because of his race."
(PR Newswire)The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today denounced a planned anti-mosque protest by California Tea Party supporters who are being told to bring dogs to harass Muslim worshippers during a Friday congregational prayer, or "Jummah." CAIR-LA called on local officials and interfaith leaders to show support for the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, the target of the July 30 protest by the Southwest Riverside County (SWRC) Tea Party group. The protest is in opposition to a proposal for a new mosque in the area.
(Washington Times)The summer of the discontented voter steams onward and, unfortunately for President Obama, polls show voters are no longer blaming the bad times on the George W. Bush administration. Add Hispanics to the growing list of Obama supporters disgruntled by aspects of the presidents performance, in what has become for the White House and Democrats a seemingly daily beat of gloomy polls.
(Fox News)An anti-illegal immigration group is calling on the Obama administration to ensure a smooth exit for illegal immigrants who are trying to leave the U.S. due to the weak economy and Arizona's strict new immigration law. Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is urging U.S. citizens to pressure the White House and the Homeland Security Department to establish "safe departure" border checkpoints along the U.S. border for illegal immigrants so they can leave without fear of being detained or prosecuted for immigration crimes.
(Miami Herald)Republican U.S. Senate contender Marco Rubio rolled out a dozen proposals to reduce federal spending Monday, becoming the latest Florida GOP candidate to call for shrinking government and cutting the size of its workforce. Among Rubio's ideas is one backed by Arizona Sen. John McCain, who last month introduced federal legislation that would allow taxpayers to designate 10 percent of their tax bill toward lowering the $13 trillion national debt. McCain had once been an ally of Rubio Senate rival, Gov. Charlie Crist, who as an independent candidate has shied from making spending cuts a central part of his campaign.
(MSNBC)They are perhaps the best-educated generation ever, but they can’t find jobs. Many face staggering college loans and have moved back in with their parents. Even worse, their difficulty in getting careers launched could set them back financially for years. The Millennials, broadly defined as those born in the 1980s and '90s, are the first generation of American workers since World War II who have cloudier prospects than the generations that preceded them.
(Sun Sentinel)Bail was set at $21,000 for Raisa Bernabe at her first court appearance Friday on manslaughter charges in the death of her only child. Bernabe, 44, of Parkland, was ordered by Broward Magistrate Judge John "Jay" Hurley to surrender an expired passport and is not allowed to travel beyond South Florida. She was arrested Thursday after the Broward Medical Examiner's Office ruled that her son, Nicholas Odze, 4, died in September, 2009 from an overdose of eszopiclone, a prescription sleep aid sold under the brand name Lunesta.
(WPTV)Signs on an East Naples road intended to warn drivers of an upcoming crosswalk contained a provocative new message on Sunday - “illegal alien crossing.” Underneath two of the familiar yellow diamond-shaped crosswalk signs on Radio Road was a smaller rectangular sign with the controversial message.
(Sun Sentinel)The Sunshine State just landed a spot in the Top 20 on a list of the laziest states in the country: We're #17. Time sleeping: 8 hours, 36 minutes. Time watching TV: 2 hours, 53 minutes. Time relaxing and thinking: 18 minutes. Time socializing: 40 minutes. Time working (averaged over total population ages 15 and older): 3 hours, 25 minutes. Median age: 40.1. Obesity ranking: No. 36 (25.1 percent), tied with New York and Idaho.
(USA Today)The Dove World Outreach Center, a non-denominational church founded in Gainesville, Fla., in 1986, has outlined its plans on its website and Facebook page. It says the burnings will be held on church grounds "in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam. Islam is of the devil!" The church sells "Islam is of the Devil" T-shirts.
(Haaretz)Jewish control of the media is preventing an open discussion of the Holocaust, prominent Hollywood director Oliver Stone told the Sunday Times, adding that the U.S. Jewish lobby was controlling Washington's foreign policy for years. In the Sunday interview, Stone reportedly said U.S. public opinion was focused on the Holocaust as a result of the "Jewish domination of the media," adding that an upcoming film of him aims to put Adolf Hitler and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin "in context."
(The Australian)Correspondence obtained by The Sunday Times reveals the Obama administration considered compassionate release more palatable than locking up Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in a Libyan prison. The intervention, which has angered US relatives of those who died in the attack, was made by Richard LeBaron, deputy head of the US embassy in London, a week before Megrahi was freed in August last year on grounds that he had terminal cancer. The document, acquired by a well-placed US source, threatens to undermine US President Barack Obama's claim last week that all Americans were "surprised, disappointed and angry" to learn of Megrahi's release.
(Miami Herald)Anti-Semitic incidents in Florida declined last year by 26 percent, according to an audit the Anti-Defamation League is scheduled to release Tuesday. It counted 90 incidents -- 32 fewer than in 2008 -- and 60 were in South Florida. There were 24 cases of vandalism targeting Jewish institutions, homes or private property, compared to 47 in 2008. There were 63 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment and three physical assaults, compared to 75 combined in the previous year. The 2008 report did not separate the two types of incidents.
(TCPalm)Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, now a radio talk show host in Palm Beach County and rumored to be a potential candidate for mayor of West Palm Beach, saw his congressional campaign chest grown by nearly $24,000 in the past quarter. Four years removed from representing a large part of the Treasure Coast, Foley’s campaign account has $1,225,295 as of July 1, up from $1,201,479 three months earlier.
(Sun Sentinel)Florida's consumer confidence level fell two points to 65 in July, the lowest rating in 16 months, the University of Florida reports. "Although Florida was by no means recovered from the recession, there were signs that the economy was turning around prior to the oil spill," said Chris McCarty, director of UF's Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research in a new release.
(WFTV)A mob of angry parents helped to capture a man arrested for allegedly fondling two girls, police said Monday. Parents confronted the stranger Sunday when they saw him inappropriately touch a 5- and 10-year-old girl at a Kissimmee park. The parents kept him in custody at the park on Lakeshore Boulevard until police could arrive and arrest him. The stranger told police that he blamed his behavior on schizophrenia.
(Palm Beach Post)Five months after a near-fatal beating at Deerfield Beach Middle School, Josie Lou Ratley can write her first and last name - but not much else. Unable to speak clearly, she doesn't like to talk, said Jowharah Sanders, head of a local nonprofit group that has been working to help rehabilitate the teen. Once an artist who penned anime portraits, the 15-year-old now seems to have no interest in art and does not recall creating many of her works, Sanders said. Sanders and other volunteers are hoping for an awakening.
(Reuters)Nicaraguan mother Lorena Aguilar hawks a television set and a few clothes on the baking sidewalk outside her west Phoenix apartment block. A few paces up the street, her undocumented Mexican neighbor Wendi Villasenor touts a kitchen table, some chairs and a few dishes as her family scrambles to get out of Arizona ahead of a looming crackdown on illegal immigrants.
(Sun Sentinel)Every night before she falls asleep, Marlene de León worries whether she'll be jarred awake the next morning by immigration agents banging on the door to deport her mother, who for years has lived in Miami without papers. The fear inspired the talented 13-year-old middle school student to write a song about deportation that has become the anthem of a contingent of U.S.-born children who will travel to Washington, D.C., this week with their undocumented parents to march in front of the White House and demand an end to deportations.
(Miami Herald)The federal government is rapidly expanding a program to identify illegal immigrants using fingerprints from arrests, drawing opposition from local authorities and advocates who argue the initiative amounts to an excessive dragnet. The program has gotten less attention than Arizona's new immigration law, but it may end up having a bigger impact because of its potential to round up and deport so many immigrants nationwide.
(Sun Sentinel)Every night before she falls asleep, Marlene de León worries whether she'll be jarred awake the next morning by immigration agents banging on the door to deport her mother, who for years has lived in Miami without papers. The fear inspired the talented 13-year-old middle school student to write a song about deportation that has become the anthem of a contingent of U.S.-born children who will travel to Washington, D.C., this week with their undocumented parents to march in front of the White House and demand an end to deportations.
(St. Pete Times)In a wide-ranging interview Monday aboard his campaign bus, GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott said science does not support global warming. Asked if he believes in climate change, he said "No." "I have not been convinced," he said. Asked what he needs to convince him, "Something more convincing than what I've read." Scott finds himself in an awkward position as he completes the final leg of his six-day statewide bus tour in the oil-ravaged Panhandle.
(Fox News)A Republican Senate candidate in Colorado, who has positioned himself as the Tea Party favorite, could be in trouble after calling activists who harp on the issue of President Obama's birth certificate "dumbasses." The Denver Post obtained the audio recording that it says shows Ken Buck complaining about fringe activists known commonly as birthers. "Will you tell those dumbasses at the Tea Party to stop asking questions about birth certificates while I'm on the camera?" the man identified as Buck said at a June event. "What am I supposed to do?"
(WSVN)U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio on Monday proposed having a constitutional amendment requiring Congress to balance the budget and endorsed a requirement that any future taxes be approved by a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate. Rubio's 12-point plan for cutting government spending also calls for slicing the budgets of the White House and Congress by 10 percent, ending the economic stimulus plan, banning all earmarks and freezing all federal spending to 2008 levels, with the exception of spending on defense and veterans. Rubio also wants to give the president the line-item veto and also have a policy of hiring one federal civilian employee for every two that leave.
(Washington Post)President Barack Obama, who rocketed to the White House promising "change you can believe in," is now telling voters they shouldn't change a thing. His message for the fall elections, which are looking ominous for his Democrats, is that Republicans caused the nation's economic troubles, but he and the Democrats are starting to fix them. So stick with the Democrats and don't go back to the GOP.
(Fox 29)Soon, tax cuts enacted under George W. Bush are set to expire. The Obama administration wants to drop the breaks at the end of the year. Republicans, and some Democrats, are calling for an extension of all the cuts for the sake of the economic recovery. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner explained the President's position. "I think it is fair and good policy to allow those tax cuts that only go to 2 percent or 3 percent of the highest earners in the country to expire as scheduled. The country can withstand that. The economy can withstand that. I think it's good policy."
(Washington Times)Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have sued Augusta State University in Georgia on behalf of a counseling student who claims the university told her to deny her Christian beliefs in order to graduate. Jennifer Keeton, 24, who is pursuing a master's degree in counseling, said she was ordered to undergo a re-education plan that requires her to attend "diversity sensitivity training," complete additional remedial reading and write papers to describe their effects on her beliefs, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday. The ultimatum: Complete this re-education plan or be expelled from ASU's Counselor Education Program.
