A federal judge has granted preliminary approval to the multibillion-dollar agreement between BP and certain private plaintiffs damaged by the 2010 Gulf oil spill, according to the Times-Picayune.

A poll released by Quinnipiac University on Thursday shows that its close in Florida between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, the heavy favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination. The new Q-Poll has Romney taking 44 percent while Obama follows with 43 percent. A similar poll from Quinnipiac, released at the end of March, showed Obama with a solid lead over Romney in Florida, taking 49 percent while the former Massachusetts governor trailed with 42 percent.

Sometimes eating your words is fatal. Will it be today when Michelle Bachmann appears at a Mitt Romney campaign event to throw her support behind the former Massachusetts governor? Should be interesting to see how she tiptoes her red face into camp.

Gov. Rick Scott posted photos of his ninth Lets Get to Work day on his Facebook page. Scott spent the morning Wednesday at IMG Citrus Phoenix Grove and packinghouse in the Indian River County community of Fellsmere.

A trio of Tampa residents pled guilty on Wednesday to racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering for mortgage-fraud-related crimes, Attorney General Palm Bondi announced. Craig Hudson, 40, Lynne Hudson, 35, and Eric Rivero, 39, will be sentenced at a later date for the mortgage fraud scam that involved more than 50 fraudulent mortgages, for 33 properties in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando, Osceola, Seminole and Orange counties, totaling $8.8 million.

AAA and Budweiser will be offering free tows this weekend for those toasting a little too much to the Mexicans unlikely victory over the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla. The annual Tow and Go program for the Cinco de Mayo weekend, May 4 and 5, provides a confidential ride and tow home from any bar or restaurant -- free of charge -- to anyone who may have had too much to drink. For information, call 1-800-AAA-HELP (4357).

Florida A&M University board of trustees chairman, Solomon Badger, and James H. Ammons, FAMU president, released the following comments after criminal charges werefiled against 13 students in the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion Jr. We are vigorously working to eradicate hazing from FAMU and doing everything within our power to ensure an incident like this never happens again. Our hearts and our prayers are with the Champion family and the extended FAMU family as we all continue to deal with this tragedy.

Lawson Lamar, state attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit of Florida, announced that criminal charges have been filed against 13 Florida A&M University students accused in the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion Jr., according to USA Today. Eleven of the students have been charged with felony hazing.

One of the leading conservatives in the Florida Legislature -- Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala -- announced on Wednesday that he was backing former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux for the Republican nomination to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November. Baxley, who led the Christian Coalition of Florida and represents parts of Marion County, stressed LeMieuxs conservative credentials in his endorsement and played up the fact that former presidential candidate Herman Cain announced on Friday that he was backing LeMieux.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, are to be featured speakers at the Broward Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Gala on Saturday. The dinner is being held at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66, 2301 Southeast 17th St., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets range from $150 to $300.

Two years after the oil spill in the Gulf, a poll released on Wednesday finds that most likely voters think it will have little in the way of long-term consequences to the environment.

Chief Executive magazine released its survey of 650 CEOs on Wednesday which ranks Florida as the second best state to do business. While Texas tops the poll for the eighth year in a row, the Sunshine State--which placed third in last years survey --vaulted ahead of North Carolina for the second spot. Tennessee comes in fourth followed by Indiana in fifth. California ranks at the bottom of the survey, which dealt with issues ranging from quality of life, taxes, education and infrastructure.

Gov. Rick Scott and the members of the Florida Cabinet -- CFO Jeff Atwater, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam -- will participate in the release of a rehabilitated sea turtle following the May 8 meeting in Marathon, the governor's office announced Wednesday.

Gov. Rick Scott will be at a fruit packinghouse in the Indian River County community of Fellsmere today for his ninth Lets Get to Work day. His workday schedule includes lunch with employees and sorting, packing and boxing fruit, as well as a meeting with members of the Indian River Citrus League. Scott will spend the day at IMG Citrus Phoenix Grove as a demonstration of the economic impact of Floridas citrus industry, according to a release from the governors office.

Members of the Citizens Safety and Protection Task Force said they didnt want to make the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case the focal point of their review of self-defense laws. But members of the statewide committee agreed to hold their group's first public input road meeting in Sanford on June 12.