With the U.S. Supreme Court prepared to take up a major case on the role of religion in the public square, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., offered his thoughts on Thursday. Earlier in the week, Rubio joined an amicus brief for Town of Greece v. Galloway, a religious liberty case which the Supreme Court of the United States took up regarding a federal appeals court ruling that having a prayer at town board meetings violated the Constitution.

Former Congressman Allen West ripped into civil rights activists for being silent on an incident in Gulfport in which three African-American teenagers beat up a younger white teenager who refused to buy drugs from them. The incident was caught on video and the bus driver, John Moody, is under fire for doing little to prevent it.

Online middle school and high school Florida Virtual School saw its enrollment numbers plummet 32 percent over the last year, causing the school to make the first layoffs in its 16-year history. Florida Virtual School serves about130,000 students around Florida. The Tampa Bay Times reported Wednesday that FLVS cut over 600 part-time teachers and 177 full-time teachers as a result of the decreased enrollment, though FLVS hasn't attributed the decline to any reason in particular.

Almost 50 members of Congress from both parties joined in a letter sent to Baroness Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the European Union (EU), praising the EU for classifying Hezbollahs military operations as terrorism. The congressmen urged the EU to classify all of Hezbollah as terrorists. Members of both parties signed the letter, including Florida Republicans Gus Bilirakis, Jeff Miller and Mario Diaz-Balart, and Florida Democrats Ted Deutch, Alcee Hastings and Lois Frankel.

Former Congressman Allen West, who has opened the door to a political comeback in 2016, weighed in this week on the start of the trial of the Fort Hood shooter.

Another celebrity is headed to Tallahassee Thursday to join the Dream Defenders in their protest. According to the Dream Defenders' Facebook page, Rapper Talib Kweli will be coming to the Capitol at 3:30 p.m. and will spend the evening with them to protest the controversial Stand Your Ground law in Florida.

Gov. Rick Scott will be the keynote speaker at Americans for Prosperity's "Defending the American Dream Summit" over Labor Day weekend at Universal Orlando theme park. "Im proud to announce that Governor Rick Scott will be joining this years Defending the American Dream Summit," AFP Foundation PresidentTim Phillipssaid in a statement. "Since taking office two years ago, he has fought hard for the principles of economic freedom, leading to impressive job creation, better education, and a balanced budget, all without raising taxes."

Florida's Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater endorsed Chris Sprowls, a Republican candidate for House District 65, on Wednesday. HD 65 covers Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Palm Harbor, and East Lake. Atwater had warm words of praise for Sprowls, who is currently a prosecutor for the 6th Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Pinellas and Pasco counties.

Sunshine State News is hitting the radio airwaves on Wednesday from 3:20-4 p.m. Your humble blogger will be on the Ed Dean radio show, which is hosted by one of the most feisty, informative and entertaining conservatives in Florida. It can be heard onlinehereand on two stations in Central Florida -- 89.3 on the west coast and 90.3 on the Atlantic coast.

President Barack Obama has backed out of a planned meeting in Moscow with Russia's President Vladimir Putin after Russia granted temporary asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

Former Congressman Ron Paul, the Texan who is well-known for his three bids for the presidency, is planning to launch the Ron Paul Channel in the days to come. On Wednesday, Paul offered a sneak peek of his new channel.

In a video released on Wednesday, responding to constituent messages , U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., weighed in on the August congressional recess.

On Wednesday, at an event in New Port Richey, Gov. Rick Scott appointed Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, as Pasco County tax collector. Fasano will give up his seat in the Florida House.

Another state representative has added her name to the long list of supporters for state representative hopeful Blaise Ingoglia. Rep. Elizabeth Porter, R-Lake City, signed off and had warm words for Ingoglia as he campaigns for House District 35, whichcovers most of Hernando County. The seat is currently held by Rep. Rob Schenck, who must leave office because of term limits.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd will be taking over as the president of the Florida Sheriffs Association (FSA). Judd is very familiar with the FSA, having chaired its board of directors and having been treasurer, secretary and vice president of the group. Sheriff Judd was selected for this position because of his extensive experience in various roles within law enforcement, said FSA Executive Director Steve Casey in a statement on Wednesday morning. He brings more than 40 years of experience, a highly successful tenure as a leader, as well as multiple honors and awards.