Florida writer Patrick Smith, best known for his historical novel A Land Remembered which offered a sweeping glance at Florida history through the story of a family, passed away on Sunday. Smith was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize three times and was also nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In a warm, accessible way, Patrick Smith told the Florida story, said Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam. His story of the courage, greed, love and loss in the swamps and glades of our state will be a Florida classic for many decades to come.

Gov. Rick Scott reached across party lines to appoint former Rep. Mack Bernard to the Florida Elections Commission on Friday. After serving in the House from 2009-2012, Bernard ran in the Democratic primary for a Florida Senate seat. Bernard lost by the skin of his teeth to Jeff Clemens with accusations of voting irregularities. Bernard will served until the end of 2016.

In 2010, in a major political upset, Marco Rubio drove then-Gov. Charlie Crist out of the Republican Party and beat him in the U.S. Senate race by pointing out his support of President Barack Obamas federal stimulus. With Crist now a Democrat running against Gov. Rick Scott, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) picked up the same attack on Monday.

U.S. Rep Trey Radel, R-Fla., will be resigning Monday morning, according to his chief of staff. Radel has been at the center of controversy over the last few months after he was arrested for misdemeanor cocaine possession in October. Instead of resigning, Radel said he would take a leave of absence from the House of Representatives. Many in Radel's own party, however, called for his resignation from his position. A special election will be held to replace Radel, as Gov. Rick Scott cannot appoint officials to the U.S. House.

One day after the suspended mayor of Sweetwater, Manuel Maro, was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for receiving $45,000 in a pay-to-play grant scheme, Gov. Rick Scott formally removed him from office. On Friday the governor signed Executive Order 14-32 (see the attachment below).

United For Care has gathered enough signatures for its petition to get medical marijuana on the ballot, according to campaign manager Ben Pollara. The initiative had gathered710,508 valid signatures as of Friday afternoon.

On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott announced that 14 communities across the Sunshine State will recieve $2.45 million in defense grants

Florida's unemployment rate continued its decline during the month of December, falling to 6.2 percent. Gov. Rick Scott took to Twitter to make the announcement, posting a link to a video where he released December's job numbers.November's unemployment rate was 6.4 percent. Florida added 13,000 new private sector jobs in December, adding to the total of 462,000 new jobs created in the last 3 years. See Scott's announcement here:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services SecretaryKathleen Sebelius is headed to Jacksonville on Friday, but the Republican Party of Florida wasted no time digging into Sebelius over her attempts to "sell" Obamacare despite what the RPOF calls "Obamacare's disasters," which includehigher taxes, higher premiums, and broken promises on insurance plans and doctors.

The Florida Democratic Party criticized Gov. Rick Scott on a conference call with the press on Thursday, saying Scott's leadership and failed unemployment website have hurt thousands of Florida families.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) looked to pin down former state CFO Alex Sink on President Barack Obama's health care law. Sink is the Democratic candidate running in the special election for the congressional seat left vacant by the death of U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla. Noting that the likes of U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said that Democrats will defend the law on the campaign trail, the NRCC asked Sink to sign a pledge on the issue.

Former U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., went on the attack against President Barack Obama on Thursday, insisting the Democrat was weak when it came to foreign policy and the war on terror. We're now learning that the so-called deal Barack Obama made with Iran in regards to their nuclear ambitions isn't as advertised, West emailed supporters. According to Iranian officials, we did not agree to dismantle anything and the Obama administration's version of the agreement underplays the concessions and overplays Iranian commitments.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) took off the gloves on Thursday and went after Democratic congressional hopeful Gwen Graham who is challenging U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Fla. The NRCC noted Graham, the daughter of former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Bob Graham, has accepted money from U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talk-show host Jerry Springer and prominent Democratic fundraiser and trial lawyer John Morgan. The NRCC pointed to Morgan facing accusations of DUI and attacking a police officer in the late 1990s.

Gov. Rick Scott came to Jacksonville on Thursday morning to announce that his proposed budget, which will be fully released next week, will include $30 million for workforce training, mostly focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Increased STEM education and training has been one of Scotts chief focuses in Tallahassee.

Former U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., is turning up the heat on former Gov. Charlie Crist, the favorite for the Democratic nomination to challenge Gov. Rick Scott in November. Noting Crist had been a Republican for most of his political life, West took to his blog this week to bash the former governor as a shape-shifting chameleon and noted he just brought Jim Messina from President Barack Obamas campaign team on board.