Former Gov. Charlie Crist has addedGreg Goddard to his campaign team. Goddard will be working as Crist's Florida finance director, having previously served as finance director for the Florida Democratic Party in charge of North Florida. Goddard has also worked as a fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown. He joins Michael Hoffman, former FDP deputy finance director overseeing South Florida, who will serve as Crist's deputy finance director.

Gubernatorial candidate Nan Rich's first campaign ad seemed to go live yesterday, but Rich's camp was mostly silent over the video and did not officially distribute it. Rich had been the only Democratic nominee to be in the gubernatorial race for quite some time until former governor Charlie Crist announced his candidacy earlier this week. Rich's ad is composed by quotes only from women, which seems to suggest the former state senator is targeting the female population as part of her campaign.

An agricultural company owned by the Mormon Church agreed Thursday to purchase 382,834 acres of timberland in the Florida Panhandle. The St. Joe Co. announced Thursday it will sell the land to AgReserves Inc., a taxpaying company owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for $565 million. The transaction is expected to close by April 1.

Gov. Rick Scott issued the following statement Friday regarding Veterans Day: This weekend, Ann and I join all Americans as we express our appreciation for the brave men and women who served our great nation," said the governor. "The bravery and sacrifice of our veterans has preserved and protected the American dream for generations.

St Lucie County commissioners voted 4-1 Thursday night to opt out of the Seven50 regional plan. They join Indian River and a number of municipalities in the northern reaches of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council area in rejecting the seven Florida counties that would embrace a regional rather than local concept of planning the area's future.

With the U.N. expected to vote on which countries should be on its Human Rights Council on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., weighed in on Friday, arguing violators of human rights -- including Russia, China and Cuba -- should be excluded. Rubio sits on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., issued the following statement to commemorate Veterans Day: America is the land of the free and home of the brave. Men and women in our armed forces have been paying a high price for this freedom and on this Veterans Day as with every other day of the year -- we remember their courage and sacrifice with the deepest gratitude.

At the Mayport Naval Station on the First Coast on Friday, U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., honored 33 veterans in a ceremony.

Florida's fourth- and eighth-graders did better this year, better than counterparts two years ago on math and reading according to national test results released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress on Thursday. The NAEP results showed a higher percentage of students scoring at or above the "basic level" this year, increased from 2011 for Florida's fourth-graders in reading and eighth-graders in both math and reading. In math, fourth-graders remained where they were two years ago.

The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs during the month of October, an unexpected hiring number during a month where the federal government was shut down for 16 days. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate went up to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent, likely as a result of furloughed federal workers being counted as unemployed. About 800,000 government workers were furloughed for all or part of the shutdown, which lasted from Oct. 1 through Oct. 16.

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) released a Web video on Friday, attacking President Barack Obama and former Gov. Charlie Crist who announced on Monday he is running for governor in 2014.

Far behind former Gov. Charlie Crist in the battle for the Democratic nomination to challenge Gov. Rick Scott in 2014, former state Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich came out swinging against her opponents on Thursday on abortion.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced on Thursday that every state park, except the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park, will have free admission on Monday in honor of Veterans Day. Veterans Day offers a wonderful opportunity to spend time with a veteran, said Donald Forgione, the director of the Florida Park Service, I encourage you to invite a veteran to visit a Florida State Park with you. You can then spend the day hiking, bicycling, picnicking, bird watching or a variety of other outdoor activities.

Despite Democrats winning the Virginia gubernatorial contest and other races in the Old Dominion on Tuesday, former U.S. Rep. Allen West insisted on Thursday that Democrats dont have momentum in 2014 and 2016. Ignore the pundits who say a Hillary Clinton presidency is inevitable after Virginia voters elected a Democratic governor Tuesday evening, West emailed supporters on Thursday. It's not inevitable. In fact, it's completely preventable. By focusing on the economy, creating jobs, and national security, Republicans can, and will, come out stronger than ever in 2014.

Sixteen community health centers in Florida will share more than $8.3 million in new grants from the Affordable Care Act, federal health officials announced Thursday. More than half of the grants are for amounts exceeding $500,000.