Attorney General Pam Bondis press secretary is heading to the Florida Ports Council. Jennifer Krell Davis will begin Jan. 2 as vice president of public affairs with the Ports Council, council president Doug Wheeler announced Tuesday. Jennifers communications experience will be critical in educating Floridas leadership and the public about the immense economic benefits and opportunities regarding Floridas 15 seaports, Wheeler stated in a release.

Michigan is expected to go strong for Republican presidential hopeful former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts as hisfather served as governor of the state. Romney added to his team in Michigan on Tuesday when he unveiled the backing of veteran Congressman Dave Camp.

Gov. Rick Scott is scheduled to sit down with two newspaper editorial boards today. His daily schedule has the governor meeting with the Destin Log editorial board at 11 a.m. At 1:15 p.m., Scott is to appear before the Pensacola News Journal editorial board. Each appearance is expected to last an hour. The governor's staff has said Scott intends to meet with the editorial boards of every daily newspaper in the state.

As the state Legislature has struggled to impose texting and cell phone rules for motorists, state Rep. Franklin Sands, D-Weston, wants drivers to at leasthang up the cell phone and stop texting while driving through a school zone. Sands' proposal, HB 783, would impose a $30 fine for using a cell phone or similar electronic device when a motorist is inside a school zone.

Gas prices across Florida continue to fall and the trend is expected to continue even as the holiday demand picks up, according to AAA. An average gallon at the pumps in Florida stood at $3.27 as the week began, down from $3.30 a week earlier.

Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, explains how the budget is crafted in Tallahassee in a video he posted to YouTube. View the video here.

Alabamas unemployment rate continued to fall at a record pace in November as the state's tough immigration-enforcement laws took hold. The jobless rate dropped 0.6 percent to 8.7 percent, partly because the states employers opened up jobs to Americans after shedding illegal immigrants, the Daily Caller reported. The unemployment rate is far below Octobers rate of 9.3 percent and Septembers rate of 9.8 percent.

The U.S. Supreme Court has set three days in late March for oral arguments in the challenge by Florida and other states to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is better known as Obamacare. According to Florida's attorney general's office, the nation's top court will: March 26: "Hear one hour of oral argument on the jurisdictional issue of whether the federal Anti-Injunction Act bars challenges to the individual mandate."

Valerie Rao has been appointedmedical examiner forDistrict 4, which includes Clay, Duval and Nassau counties. Rao, 67, of Jacksonville, is a forensic pathologist and will serve through July 1, 2012. She succeeds Dr. Margarita Arruza.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., announced on Monday he is backing former Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination. In order to revitalize our economy and repair our relationships abroad, I will need to work with leaders like Senator Kirk, Romney said in a statement. He has provided leadership in the Senate on the issues I am fighting for in my campaign. I am honored to have his support.

Mitt Romney broke through the tea party barrier Monday, winning that segment's vote in a New Hampshire poll. Romney beat Ron Paul among tea partiers, 29 percent to 21 percent, the Public Policy Polling survey reported. It was the first time Romney has carried a plurality of tea party voters, with whom the former Massachusetts governor has had chilly relations. And in a possible leading indicator heading to Florida, Romney garnered 50 percent of the senior vote in the New Hampshire poll conducted by the Democratic-leaning PPP.

Gov. Rick Scott issued a statement on Monday in response to the Florida A&M University board of trustees rejecting his call to suspend University President James Ammons regarding a hazing incident.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio weighed in on Monday on the death of North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il. "Kim Jong Il was a cruel tyrant who leaves behind unimaginable suffering of the North Korean people, Rubio said in a statement released on Monday. The United States should work with our partners to ensure that this period of transition is seized as an opportunity to persuade North Korea to abandon its hostile nuclear program, open up its society and address the humanitarian crisis that its tyrannical leaders have inflicted."

Publix marketing manager Douglas Ackerman has been recommended to be the executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus. Ackerman received a 4-2 recommendation from the Florida Citrus Commissions search committee on Friday. The vote came after two of the top four candidates dropped out because of concerns about public scrutiny under the state's Sunshine Law, the Lakeland Ledger reported.

The Florida A&M board of trustees agreed to keep President James Ammons in his position, rejecting Gov. Rick Scott's call for his suspension pending the results of a state investigation into the hazing death of a band member. "The board wants to reaffirm its authority per Florida statute," said board Chairman Solomon L. Badger III in a statement during the Monday morning meeting.