Prominent Florida governmental affairs and consulting firm Ballard Partners announced Tuesday the formation of a strategic partnership with Ioppolo Law Group, an elite, boutique business law and consulting firm based in Lake Mary. It's a strategic arrangement made to offer clients top legal, legislative and government affairs services in Central Florida, Ballard said in a written statement.

Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico called on President Barack Obama to take major federal action to decriminalize marijuana on Tuesday. After spending most of his career as a Republican, Johnson was the Libertarian Partys presidential candidate in 2012 and has left the door open to running again in 2016.

On Tuesday, Rep. Richard Stark, D-Weston, announced the Tallahassee police had found the body of Ryan Uhre, an intern in his office who had been missing for over two weeks. Uhre was last seen downtown on the night of Feb. 2 when he had been out to watch the Super Bowl. The body was found in Tallahassee on a building on College Avenue.

Republican-aligned super-PAC American Crossroads announced on Tuesday it was launching a new television ad taking aim at former state CFO Alex Sink, the Democratic candidate running in a special congressional election in Pinellas County. Sink takes on Republican David Jolly and Libertarian Lucas Overby in the March 11 election.

Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, is cheering the news that SB 188, which ensures schools will not collect biometric and personal information from students, sailed through the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Monday. The bill also replaces using Social Security numbers with Florida Student Identification numbers to better protect students security.

The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) came out swinging on Tuesday, attacking former Gov. Charlie Crist for his ties to convicted frauster Scott Rothstein. Despite spending most of his political career as a Republican, Crist is the favorite for the Democratic nomination to challenge Gov. Rick Scott in November. Earlier this month, Rothstein said Crist appointed judges based on campaign donations.

Anti-Common Core protesters are gearing up for Tuesday's State Board of Education meeting, preparing themselves to let their opposition to the standards be heard. Florida Stop Common Core Coalition outlined its plan on Monday to protest Tuesday's meeting, which is expected to give the green light to nearly 100 proposed changes to Common Core in Florida.

On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott announced the advancement of the Gateway Express project, which would serve as a direct connection from I-275 to US 19 and from I-275 to the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Airport and the Bayside Bridge via an elevated tolled expressway. As a result of investments in the Transportation Work Plan of more than $131 million in state funding, the Department of Transportation will be able to speed up the project allowing the road to open 20 years sooner than previously expected.

The State Board of Education will review and vote on proposed changes to the Common Core State Standards on Tuesday, ultimately deciding whether or not to pass revisions to the academic standards.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio took aim at President Barack Obama on Monday to mark the fifth anniversay of what Rubio called Obama's failed stimulus program. Rubio released a Web video on the matter in which he says the following: If you recall five years ago, the notion was that if the government spent all this money that, by the way, was borrowed that somehow the economy would begin to grow and create jobs. Well, of course, it clearly failed.

Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future weighed in on Alberto Carvalho's designation as National Superintendent of the Year on Friday, praising Carvalho for his commitment to Florida's students and the state's education system.Carvalho was selected as the National Superintendent of the Year on Thursday in Nashville. He was appointed as Miami-Dade County's superintendent of schools in 2008.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist has a new campaign ad -- this time, talking about "voter suppression" at the University of Florida. Over the last few weeks, Democrats have been accusing Gov. Rick Scott's administration of voter suppression because his elections agency ruled that the University of Florida student union does not fit the legal definition of an early voting site.

Speaking at Universal Studios in Orlando on Friday, Gov. Rick Scott announced that 2013 was a record year for tourism in Florida as 94.7 million tourists visited the Sunshine State, a jump of 3.5 percent from 2012. Using data from Visit Florida, Scott also noted almost 1.1 million Floridans worked in direct travel-related jobs in 2012, an increase of almost 3 percent from 2012.

After being namedNational Superintendent of the Year on Thursday, Miami-Dade Superintendent of Schools Alberto Carvalho received high words of praise from Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart.

Where is the love? According to a new poll, most adults don't feel too warm and fuzzy about Valentine's Day -- in fact, most of them are indifferent toward the love-centered holiday. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 5 percent of American adults consider Valentines Day one of the nations most important holidays. Most -- 63 percent -- rank it among the least important holidays, while 31 percent say its somewhere in-between.