Gov. Rick Scott signed a controversial Medicaid bill, HB 5301, on Thursday that will require counties to pay more into Medicaid, including 85 percent of what the state claims are years of unpaid bills. "I respectfully acknowledge the concern this provision may create for some counties," Scott wrote in a letter announcing his signature. " ... To that end, I have pledged to the counties that AHCA and my staff will work diligently with them to certify that any billings for which counties are charged are accurate and valid."

A 12-member jury in Sarasota quickly found 17-year-old Shawn Tyson guilty Thursday of killing British tourists James Coope and James Kouzaris. The case drew international attention, primarily from the United Kingdom. Read more here. Gov. Rick Scott released the following statement after the verdict was announced:

Floridas Supreme Court has agreed to hear condemned killer David Alan Gores appeal, with his execution two weeks away. On April 4, the court will hear oral arguments in Gore's appeal that a circuit court judge denied his request for a hearing seeking to stop his scheduled April 12 execution. Gov. Rick Scott signed Gores death warrant Feb. 28.Gore has been convicted of the 1983 death of a Vero Beach teen.

Gov. Rick Scott appointed Kimberly Hennecy as Osceola County clerk of court, serving for the suspended Malcom Thompson. Hennecy, 41, of St. Cloud, has been the chief deputy clerk of the Osceola County clerk of court office since 2009, serving for 15 years. Thompson, who was running for re-election in November, was suspended by Scott in Jan. 30 after being charged with assault and battery against members of his staff, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Among the list of more than 2,500 utilities, telecommunications giants, trade groups, unions, developers, casinos and professional associations lobbying in Tallahassee during the 2012 session of the Florida Legislature is one curious participant: The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

If you were tuned into Fox News' Your World With Neil Cavuto today, you might have heard about Gov. Rick Scott writing a letter to 100 New York businesses, inviting them to come down to Florida where "the weather is great, cost of living is low and the business climate is among the best in the country." See the attached sample of Scott's letter.

The Florida Democratic congressional delegation sent a letter to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi expressing concerns over the Trayvon Martin case. The letter asks the attorney generals office to keep the six Democrats -- Alcee L. Hastings, Miramar, Frederica Wilson, Miami Gardens, Ted Deutch, Boca Raton, Kathy Castor, Tampa, Corrine Brown, Jacksonville, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Weston -- updated on the states investigation. The letter:

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced two Tampa Bay-area residents were arrested Thursday for alleged workers compensation fraud. Yvonne C. Timmons, 61, of St. Petersburg, and Willie Lee Kendrick, 52, of Palmetto, were charged in separate cases with filing false or misleading information in order to fraudulently obtain workers compensation insurance benefits, a release from Atwaters office stated.

The House on Thursday approved a 90-day extension for federal highway funding, a move that will avert a shutdown of the program if the Senate goes along. Democrats had pushed for a two-year bill approved previously by the Senate, but substantial differences between the two chambers stalled any hope of a compromise. Current funding -- as well as the authority to levy the 18-cent federal gasoline tax -- will expire at midnight Saturday unless the House and Senate reach an agreement.

Maryland -- along with the District of Columbia and Wisconsin -- holds its Republican presidential primary on Tuesday and all signs indicate that Mitt Romney will take most of the 37 delegates that the Old State Line will be sending to the Republican convention in Tampa come August.

A poll released on Thursday finds that most likely voters think that the Supreme Court will overturn the federal health-care law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010. While 50 percent of those surveyed think the law should be overturned, 54 percent think the court, which listened to three days of oral arguments this week as Florida and 25 other states offered a constitutional challenge to the law, will strike it down. While 37 percent of those surveyed want to see the law upheld, only 26 percent think it will be.

Saying he wants oil companies to "succeed," President Obama on Thursday renewed his attack on the industry and again called for an elimination of its "taxpayer subsidies." "Right now, the biggest oil companies are raking in record profits -- profits that go up every time folks like these pull into a gas station. But on top of these record profits, oil companies are also getting billions a year in taxpayer subsidies -- a subsidy theyve enjoyed year after year for the last century," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden.

Gov. Rick Scott named former Jacksonville City Council member Matthew Carlucci to the Florida Commission on Ethics. Carlucci, 55, has been the owner of Matthew F. Carlucci Insurance Agency Inc. for 31 years. He served on the Jacksonville City Council from 1999 to 2003 and from 1987 to 1994, serving as council president from 2001 to 2002.He has also been on the board of directors of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and was president of the Jacksonville Police Council.

A day after the U.S. Supreme Court concluded its hearings on Obamcare, the National Federation of Independent Business/Florida expressed confidence the law will be thrown out. "Following three very successful days of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, we are as confident of our case as we ever have been," said executive director Bill Herrle, whose group joined with Florida and 25 other states in challenging the health-care law.

The political committee that wanted residents in Lee County to vote on casino gambling fell short of getting the issue on the Nov. 6 ballot. However, the Naples Daily News reports that Our Fair Share for Florida will make another run at getting the required signatures, starting with sending out 180,000 mailers to more than 350,000 voters in the next seven to 10 days.