Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who waded into the environmental quagmire of Everglades restoration and won a bout with the Obama administration's eco-tiger Lisa Jackson, spoke out Friday in support of the first step to codify his agreement into Florida's law books.

A landmark Everglades restoration bill, sponsored by Rep. Matt Caldwell, unanimously passed the full House Friday. The bill was described as the final phase of Everglades restoration. Anidenticalcompanion bill is currently moving through the Senate. It unanimously passed its first committee stop Thursday, a sign that the bill could move swiftly and arrive on Gov. Rick Scott's desk. The bill puts into Florida law an agreement proposed by the state and accepted by the Obama administration last year to finalize restoration efforts that began 20 years ago.

HB 155, the bill banning electronic games at Internet cafes, passed the Florida House 108-7 as anticipated, with no eleventh hour theatrics. "I think they were all talked out on the issue," Daytona arcade owner Scranton Phillips said of House members. "I knew we were history the day Lieutenant Governor (Jennifer) Carroll resigned."

Republicans have taken back voters' truston key issues of the economy and national security, according to a survey released Thursday.

Even though an overwhelming number of Florida voters support universal background checks (a 91-8 percent margin) and stricter laws on guns generally, more of them still say the National Rifle Association better reflects their views on gun control than President Obama does -- even if it's only by 45-44 percent. Florida voters support 5144 percent stricter statewide gun-control laws, with gun owners opposed 6133 percent.

While the president may be misguided on what states will land a team in the NCAA men's basketball national championship game, President Barack Obama seems to have his head on straight with some choices, picking a team from the Sunshine State to go to the Final Four. Obama, an avid basketball fan, selected his annual March Madness bracket picks and pushed the University of Florida up to the Final Four.The Gators are one of three Florida teams -- along with University of Miami and Florida Gulf Coast University -- to make it into the TV-ratings-giant tournament.

Can Rick Scott win re-election when two-thirds of Florida voters are against him? No, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute. But Brown cautioned that at this time during the 2010 cycle, the poll numbers were just as stacked against Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race, showing then-Gov. Charlie Crist running away with it.

Assault weapons have been removed from the gun-control legislation working its way to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday the assault weapons ban, which passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, would not be a part of the bills language, but instead would be offered up for a vote as an amendment. The ban is not expected to clear the full Senate.

Sears Holdings Corp. has selected the University of Florida as the site of its first Center of Excellence, which will provide Gator engineering students the chance to earn undergraduate internships focused on software development, the university announced Monday. The Council for Economic Outreach, part of the Gainesville Chamber, and UF partnered to bring the Fortune 65 companys program to the university.

If it's a Monday -- or Tuesday through Sunday, for that matter -- then there's something out there to blame on Big Sugar ... even if it has absolutely nothing to do with them. It's almost funny, it's so absurd. But that's how The Palm Beach Post and the Everglades Foundation think.

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry said Monday the fact that Floridas unemployment rate is under the national rate for the first time in five years shows Republican principles work. "These results speak volumes," said Curry."The continuous drop in unemployment and the creation of 282,000 private-sector jobs since December of 2010 proves that Republican economic policies are moving the state in the right direction."

A new Rasmussen survey of likely U.S. voters finds Americans continue to think of President Barack Obama as a liberal Democrat. According to the poll, 69 percent of respondents said Obama is at least somewhat liberal, but 43 percent tagged him as very liberal.In contrast, only 23 percent said the president is politically moderate. And, somewhere in America, there are 3 percent that actually believe he is conservative.

Following a string of testimony from cafe and adult arcade owners, and from others for and against keeping Internet cafes in business, the Senate Gaming Committee unanimously advanced SB 1030 Monday, a bill that changes its version of a moratorium on Internet cafes to an out-and-out ban.

Florida's unemployment rate was7.8 percent in January, marking its lowest level sinceNovember 2008, according to information released by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Monday.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott welcomed international tourists to drive back through the streets of Florida Friday, as he anticipates signing legislation that will repeal a 2012 bill that resulted in unintended consequences: a driving ban on international tourists that don't have a special license.