CEO Vivian Schiller has resigned from her post at NPR, according to a radio announcement on NPR News radio broadcasts Wednesday morning. From the wires: Fox News: "The announcement comes a day after a hidden-camera video was released showing a senior NPR executive criticizing the tea party as "racist." NPR condemned the comments, but the company announced Wednesday that the board of directors just accepted Schiller's resignation, "effective immediately."

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera sent U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a letter on Wednesday, weighing in on the case of Alan Gross, who is in jail in Cuba. The Cuban government maintains that Gross was a spy, while his defenders insist that he was working on Internet projects. Madame Secretary, being patient with a dictator is not a policy, wrote Rivera, a member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee and a sharp critic of the Obama administrations handling of Cuban affairs.

Space shuttle Discoverys crew is packed up, ready for home and on schedule for Wednesday's expected 11:57 a.m. EST landing at Kennedy Space Centers Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). According to NASA, the entry team of flight controllers has been in Houstons Mission Control Center since 4:30 a.m. Capcom Charlie Hobaugh told Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey, The weather looks great. Winds, the only issue, are within limits for runway 15, the northwest to southeast runway at the SLF.

It's not often that the Republican Party of Florida and the Florida TEA Party agree, but both organizations lavished Gov. Scott's State of the State address with praise Tuesday night. I commend Governor Scott on his first successful State of the State address," said RPOF Chairman Dave Bitner. "Tonight, he reiterated that he is committed to keeping the promises he made to the voters while on the campaign trail.

After being prompted by U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson last week, the U.S. Justice Department has appealed a ruling declaring the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. To read the notice of appeal, click here.

The Health Care Freedom Act, which would place an amendment to the state Constitution on the 2012 ballot allowing Floridians to opt out of the individual mandate portion of the year-old federal health care law, is ready for a final vote in the state Senate after being introduced by Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.

Left-wing detractors who simplistically tar tea parties as tools of corporate America and the Koch brothers will be disoriented by a Florida tea group memo that blasts state Republican leaders. The memo urges the state to mandate use of the federal E-Verify database to screen all new public- and private-sector hires, and chides the GOP for tinkering with the enabling legislation:

Consigning his party further to the margins, Democratic state Rep. Jeff Clemens wants to stash medical marijuana in the Florida Constitution. In an effort to make his proposed amendment more palatable to voters, the Lake Worth lawmaker wouldn't require health insurers to reimburse pot-puffing patients, and would bar use from "public view." Proponents cite a recent Florida poll purporting to show that slightly more than half the respondents favor medical marijuana. Whatever.

Gov. Rick Scott will recognize four job-creating business leaders during his State of the State address Tuesday night. Two of them, according to Scott's Facebook page, are Armand Lauzon, president of Chromalloy, an aviation parts manufacturing company that created 400 new jobs in Hillsborough County; and David Meers, chief operating officer of Vision Airlines, which recently began flying to 23 cities from Destin. Stay tuned for more about tonight's address, which begins at 6 p.m.

House Democrats named Rep. Perry Thurston of Plantation as their next leader after the 2012 elections when current House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders of Key West will face term limits. Thurston defeated current House Democratic Leader Pro Tempore Joe Gibbons of Hallandale Beach on Tuesday in a caucus vote. In the coming months we will work as a united front, insisted Thurston, who also ran against Saunders two years before.

Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, released a web video on Tuesday, the first day of the 2011 legislative session. Gardiner offered a quick glimpse of what the Senate will focus on during the first days of the fledgling session.

Before kicking off the legislative session, Oscar Braynon II, D-Miami, was sworn in Tuesday in the Senate chambers to complete the body's full complement of 40 members. Braynon moves from the state House, having won special election recently after Frederica Wilson vacated her state Senate District 33 seat to take a spot in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sign up for news alerts from Sunshine State News.

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Chairman U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and ranking Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi calling on them to back a proposal looking to pull the plug on the federal EPA water-quality proposals for Florida.

The Florida House just inaugurated its newest member in its opening moments. Rep. Barbara Watson, D-Miami Gardens, won a special election last month to represent parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. She replaces Oscar Braynon who vacated the seat to run successfully for the Senate. Watson, who was introduced by Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, offered some brief words of thanks before taking her seat and joining the House. Sign up for news alerts from Sunshine State News

The Florida Senate is open for business. The 2011 regular legislative session got underway Tuesday, with the state Senate scheduled to vote on a slate of substantive bills during a busy first week.