Nearly 4.8 million Floridians, 1.2 percent more than a year ago, will do some traveling for the year-end holidays. But fewer will be flying. The vast majority will be on the road, either driving (4.35 million) or riding a bus (183,859), according to AAA, the auto club group. Meanwhile, air travel, which will be the primary method of travel for 261,487, is down 11 percent from a year ago. Part of the decrease in air travel is that Americans are traveling fewer miles for the holiday, with the average trip being 726 miles, down from 1,052 a year ago.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas won the Republican Party of Pasco Countys presidential straw poll, though Bill Bunting with the county GOP insists that Pauls backers included supporters from out of county.

There are at least 158 lobbyists focused on the destination gaming bill and other gambling issues now before the state Legislature, according to the Capitol News Service. Reports put total lobbying expenditures well over $2 million for the year, the Capitol News Service reported.

The Port of Miamis dredging is on hold after a last-minute challenge to the state-issued permit for the deep dredge, the Miami Herald reported.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., broke ranks with fellow Democrats this week by deriding his party for failing to pass a budget in nearly 1,000 days. The National Republican Senatorial Committee praised the recently elected Manchin, and assailed his two-term Democratic colleague, Sen. Bill Nelson, who is up for election in Florida next year.

Tapping into a growing trend, the Democratic mayor of New Haven, Conn., wants to allow illegal aliens to vote in local elections. John DeStefano said he will forward his proposal to the state Legislature for approval. New Haven, the home of Yale University, has become a haven for illegal immigrants from Central America is recent years -- drawn in part by Connecticut's generous welfare benefits.

Tea party favorite Christine ODonnell, who ran for the U.S. Senate in Delaware, announced that she is backing former Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination. Christine has been a leader in the conservative movement for many years, said Romney in a statement. Christine recognizes that excessive government threatens us now and threatens future generations, and I am pleased to have her on my team.

Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner took 51 percent in the Republican Party of Pasco Countys straw poll Tuesday of candidates looking to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. U.S. Rep. Connie Mack placed a distant second with 25 percent.

Appointments by former Gov. Charlie Crist to the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission are being investigated for violating appointment guidelines, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported.

A new Florida company, HIE Networks, joined with the Florida Hospital Association and the Florida Medical Association to announce a new network designed to make patient medical records more easily accessible to doctors and health care providers. The Florida Health Data Network, which is offering competition to the state-run Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, is to be operated by the Tallahassee-based HIE Networks LLC, a private, physician-owned company.

A poll from Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, released on Tuesday, finds that Republican presidential hopefuls former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas are neck and neck to lead Iowa which holds it caucus in three weeks.

With less than a month to go until the New Hampshire primary, a poll unveiled on Tuesday found that former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts continues to lead the pack of Republican presidential candidates in the Granite State while U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas closes in on former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich for second in the nations first primary.

President Barack Obama's vow to veto an extension of the payroll tax cut if Congress includes approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is self-defeating, a conservative think tank said Tuesday. "Whats so offensive?" asks the Heritage Foundation. HR 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, would provide for the approval of the Keystone project that would bring oil from Canada.

The governor's office has posted some photos of Gov. Rick Scott on his Facebook page from the ongoing Enterprise Florida trade mission to Israel.

Three U.S. House members from South Florida and another from New Jersey want U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to investigate the consulate general of Venezuela in Miami regarding a cyber attack. Reps. David Rivera, R-Miami, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, and Congressman Albio Sires, D-N.J., want Clinton to review the actions of Livia Antonieta Acosta Noguera.