Judge Terry Lewis of the2nd Judicial Circuit Court of Florida this morning narrowed the lead of Rep.Jeff Clemens of Lake Worth over Democratic primary rival Mack Bernard of West Palm Beach, adding nine uncounted provisional ballots to the latter's total, thereby reducing Clemens' lead to just eight votes.

A Miami trucker, Ezrah Morrison, was arrested over the weekend for transporting more than 200 pounds of marijuana in Columbia County, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced.

Military bases in Florida will bring $850,000 in Defense Reinvestment Grants to 11 surrounding communities, Gov. Rick Scott announced Monday. The round of grants for 2012-2013, administered by Enterprise Florida, supports base retention and economic efforts in the community.

In the minds of most Americans, the word poverty may conjure up Dickensian images of outright destitution: lack of access to food, water, shelter and clothing, and basic medical care. But one of the nations leading authorities on poverty and welfare reform insists this just isnt the case.

Rasmussen's latest poll shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney in Florida, 48 percent to 46 percent, well within the statistical margin of error.

Wendy Rosen, a Democrat running for Congress from Maryland, illegally registered and voted in both Maryland and Florida. The case is widely public, it isn't in question and Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry wants to see her prosecuted. Florida officials have announced they are conducting a criminal investigation.

Gov. Rick Scott has ordered state and national flags lowered to half-staff Friday outside the Palm Beach County Courthouse and Jupiter Municipal Complex for Jupiter Police Officer Bruce St. Laurent who was killed while riding as part of President Obamas motorcade on Sunday.

U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, released the following statement following the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans including the U.S. ambassador.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Charlotte, released the following statement following the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans including the U.S. ambassador.

At approximately 1:32 p.m., a majority of members of theFlorida Joint Legislative Budget Commission voted to approve privatization of health services in three-fourths of the state's prisons. The vote fell along party lines, with Democratic Sens. Nan Rich and Gary Siplin and Democratic Reps. Charles Chestnut and Darryl Rouson voting against it. The six Republican participants at the meeting voted for it. Spokeswoman Ann Howard of the Department of Corrections immediately issued a statement praising the decision:

A super-PAC backing the Senate run of U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, has started to run a TV ad across Central Florida. The Freedom PAC spot called Proud, expected to air for about two weeks and with the ad buy in six figures, focuses strictly on Mack and his words. Macks long-serving opponent, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, isnt mentioned in the ad.

The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its investigation, without filing charges, against U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, the congressmans attorney has announced. As we stated from the beginning, any fair-minded inquiry into these allegations would establish that Congressman Buchanan never engaged in wrongdoing, Robert Luskin, an attorney withPatton Boggs, stated in a release.

A surprise round of contact between a strike force of law enforcement agencies in nine counties and hundreds of probationers resulted in 28 arrests, the Florida Department of Corrections announced Tuesday. Arrests and the closure of drug manufacturing labs were made in Brevard, Lake, Marion, Martin, St. Lucie, and Seminole counties during the 14th such sweep since the Community Justice Coalition was created in 2007.

At approximately 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, attorney Tom Brooks, who is representing theAmerican Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said in a press conference that Florida's privatization of its prison health services "will be challenged" in court should the state's Joint Legislative Budget Commission (JLBC) approve the proposal by the Department of Corrections later this week. He said their challenge would be filed "promptly." The conference call also featured state Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, andDoug Martin, legislative director of AFSCME Florida

In a move that surprised perhaps a handful of Siberian cave dwellers, Digital Domain Media Group Tuesday morning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It means the state and officials in the cities of Port St. Lucie and West Palm Beach stand a Chinaman's chance of recovering more than pennies on the dollar of the $135 million total they gave to the movie animation and special effects company for incentives to operate in Florida and hire Floridians.