Floridas effort to build its port-to-rail freight infrastructure in anticipation of increased global trade is receiving high marks from one of the oldest Washington, D.C., think tanks.

A report from the Brookings Institute, a nonpartisan outfit that has a reputation of leaning to the left, listed as smart the states freight game plan as directed last year through the creation of the Office of Freight Logistics and Passenger Operations.

Florida Rep. Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill, has been named chairman of the House Select Committee on Gaming by House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

And as with the Senate Gaming Committee, the House effort is viewed as a two-year endeavor.

The House Select Committee on Gaming will be charged with looking at Floridas gaming activity holistically to determine ways to improve the states oversight of the industry, Weatherford stated in a release.

Is Disney overstepping and infringing on the privacy rights of children entering its theme parks with the new electronic wristband pass system it will introduce?

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wants to know if the Walt Disney Co. will be collecting too much personal information about its young guests.

Markey has asked Disney CEO Robert Iger -- in a Jan. 24 letter -- for details of the amusement giants plan to track guests at parks through bracelets called MagicBands" to the MyMagic+ program.