Leaders of organized labor, including the head of the Florida AFL-CIO, held a media event Friday, calling for the special session of the Legislature to tackle revising state statutes on unemployment extension. They said they had not yet found a sponsor but that members of the Legislature were behind them.

The Florida Medical Association PAC announced on Monday morning that it was backing U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, the Republican nominee to be Floridas next commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, over his Democratic rival, former Tallahassee Mayor Scott Maddox.

With only a month until the primary election, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene opened the week on Monday responding to a new mailer from his chief rival for the nomination,U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek. Greene threw down the gauntlet in a letter to Meek that was released on Monday morning.

Is more trouble building in the Gulf? National Incident Commander Thad Allen issued an advisory Sunday afternoon saying, "Work must continue to better understand the lower-than-expected pressure readings. This work centers on two plausible scenarios: depletion of oil from the reservoir and potential leakage caused by damage to the well bore or casing."

Bruce O'Donoghue, one of the seven Republicans vying to unseat U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, has tax problems. The IRS slapped a $306,975 lien on O'Donoghue's company for failing to pay his 2009 payroll taxes, WDBO reported. Admitting "the timing couldn't have been worse," O'Donoghue said he was the victim of a former employee who stole from him. But WDBO reported that O'Donoghue would not name the employee and did not file charges.

The feds staged the biggest single-day fraud bust in Medicare history Friday. But a coalition of health-care providers wasn't impressed -- and they staged a protest outside the Medicare Fraud Summit in Miami to vent their concerns about the government program. Check out Sunshine State News on Monday and read what all the ruckus was about.

The Republican Party of Florida took a shot at state CFO Alex Sink, the likely Democratic nominee for governor, on Saturday morning for her comments against Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach,who's called for a second special session later in the summer to tackle the economic impact of the oil spill.

Late Friday afternoon, Attorney General Bill McCollum released details of his plans for education. "Real Solutions. New Jobs: A Roadmap for Floridas Future" is the official title -- an important part of his economic and job creation agenda, he claims. McCollum would try to raise student achievement with a variety of tactics, including these:

Friday afternoon, billionaire candidate Jeff Greene blasted out another e-mail attacking his U.S. Senate primary rival Kendrick Meek for not being a real Democrat. Meek has made similar accusations, noting Greenes Republican status, pointing out that he ran for office in California as a Republican in the 1980s.

Democrats were hoping to knock off U.S. Rep. Bill Young, the longest serving Republican in Congress. They recruited a top challenger in Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, who has been in the Legislature since 2000.

A coalition of environmental groups will be rallying at the Capitol in Tallahassee at 11:30 on Tuesday morning, minutes before the special session of the Legislature opens. In a media event on Friday morning, leaders of 14 groups announced that they will hold Hands at the Capitol on Tuesday before heading inside to lobby members of the Legislature.

Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, sent a letter to Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, and House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, opposing immigration reform measures being introduced by Republicans in both houses of the Legislature.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, battling Jeff Greene for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat open in November, weighed in on Floridas unemployment rate dropping to 11.4 percent. "My mission today is the same as it has been from day one: to set the stage for high-quality job creation throughout our state, said Meek. Too many Floridians are still out of work, and the recession has taken a devastating toll on the middle class. Meek praised the Obama administration for its economic policies.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation announced on Friday morning that the states unemployment rate went down in June for the third month in a row to 11.4 percent, a decrease from May when it stood at 11.7 percent. According to the agency, 1,056,000 Floridians remain out of work out of an eligible population of 9,237,000. Noting that the state lost 1,900 nonagricultural jobs in June, the agency said this was the result of the loss of 20,000 federal jobs connected to the U.S. Census.

Having sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson earlier in the month, incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, continued focusing on national issues, blasting Pennsylvania for permitting taxpayer dollars topay for abortions. While attacking policies in the Keystone State, Haridopolos also reminded Floridians about an amendment prohibiting tax dollars from being used for abortions, that he and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, added to HB 1143 -- the measure requiring women considering abortions to have an ultrasound that was vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist.