Lawyers for an embattled Broward County nursing home failed to show up Monday for a hearing they requested in a public-records legal tangle with the Florida Department of Health.

The National Rifle Association is appealing a federal judge’s refusal to keep the identity of a 19-year-old Alachua County woman secret in a challenge to a state law that raised the age to purchase rifles and other long guns.

With Florida’s primary elections just three months away, intraparty sniping on the campaign trail is on overdrive, but the legal arena dominated the bulk of the action this week in and around the Capitol.

Cathy Jordan credits pot with helping her defeat the odds in the battle against Lou Gehrig’s disease she’s waged for more than 30 years.

Expressing sympathy for her plight, a federal judge nevertheless turned down a request by the National Rifle Association to keep the identity of a 19-year-old Alachua County woman secret in a challenge to a state law that raised from 18 to 21 the minimum age to purchase rifles and other long guns.

Former foes Adam Putnam and Richard Corcoran began a public bromance this week, with Corcoran clearing the deck for the agriculture commissioner in what will now largely be a two-man Republican primary for governor.

Dismissing the potential danger feared by a 19-year-old who wants to join a legal challenge filed by the National Rifle Association, lawyers for Attorney General Pam Bondi asked a federal judge to deny a request to keep the young woman’s identity private because they said her desire for anonymity was not justified.

Saying she fears for her safety, a young woman who wants to join the National Rifle Association’s challenge to a new Florida law that made it illegal to sell guns to anyone under age 21 is asking a federal court to keep her identity secret.

For years, the Sunshine State has been a regular stop on the circuit for Al Sharpton, affectionately known as “the Reverend Al” to his supporters.

The MSNBC talk-show host was one of a number of national civil-rights leaders who flooded the state Capitol during the prolonged 2000 Bush v. Gore recount.

A day after a stinging defeat handed down by an appeals court, ministers and civil rights leaders --- including national talk-show host Al Sharpton --- rallied Thursday at the state Capitol to rev up support for a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would automatically restore voting rights for most Florida felons.