Gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott came out on Wednesday behind efforts led by Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, and Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, to push Arizona-style immigration in Florida in the special session next week. I urge legislative leaders to include immigration reform in the special session, said Scott, who is battling Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican nomination. Floridians overwhelmingly support an Arizona-style immigration law and it is just common sense.

With less than a week until a special session of the Legislature opens to consider forwarding a constitutional amendment to the November ballot to ban oil drilling in Florida waters, House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands of Weston came out swinging at the Republican leadership on Wednesday, calling on them to let the measure pass.

In its response to Gov. Charlie Crist's request for $50 million more to market the state's tourism destinations and beaches, BP said the majority of Florida's coastline is clean and it would prefer to distribute money on a local level to areas most affected by the spill.

Money is flowing into a congressional race in Central Florida where U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, a freshman Democrat, looks to hold off whoever emerges from a crowded field of Republican candidates.

BP has rejected Gov. Charlie Crist's request for an additional $50 million in marketing money to promote the state's tourism industry as it struggles to counter bad press about the efffect of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Florida shores. Speaking about the company's decision at a round table discussion in St. Petersburg Tuesday, Crist said he was considering bringing in lawyers to try to secure the money. "We're trying to force them to do the right thing, like they say they're doing in their commercials," Crist told the St. Petersburg Times Tuesday.

Think Jeff Greene has not made an impact at the national level? The billionaire financier, who is running against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race, had a bit of a shakeup in his campaign team on Wednesday -- and CNN picked up the story.

BP is pushing back its plan to test a cap that could contain the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico until the company completes a permanent solution next month. The company was predicting Tuesday that it would that day start testing a tighter cap on the Macondo well that has unleashed as much as 60,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf daily, according to estimates by the U.S. government. But National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen later said the project "may benefit from additional analysis" before testing occurs.

While all eyes will be on Tallahassee next week for the special session of the Legislature to forward a proposed constitutional amendment to the November ballot to ban oil drilling in state waters, Gov. Charlie Crist will not be able to escape the close battle he is waging with likely GOP candidate Marco Rubio for the U.S. Senate. The Rubio camp took another shot at Crist on Wednesday morning for calling the session.

National retail and food service sales fell a half-percent in June, producing $360.2 billion. It's the second drop in sales in as many months, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. The May estimate showed that sales had dropped .6 percent from April.

Running in a Republican primary to take on U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, former Ruth's Chris CEO Craig Miller announced on Wednesday morning that he had raised more than $272,000 in the second quarter of 2010 and has more than $325,000 in the bank.

Veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings appears headed for another term in Congress.With financial figures in from the second quarter of 2010, Hastings has raised more than $610,000 and has slightly less than $300,000 in the bank.

Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, who came to office in 2003 calling himself a conservative and pledging not to raise taxes, will present to the City Council a proposal to raise property taxes by 9 percent on Wednesday. While Peyton is cutting back on library hours and city employee salaries, he is also looking to keep public funds going to after-school programs, arguing that they have helped reduced crime in Jacksonville.

Heard enough Medicare horror stories? Here's another chapter in the making. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Tuesday that Rotech Healthcare was awarded 17 contracts for service. That's good news for the Orlando company, but potentially precarious for the public purse, warns the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America, a Miami-based trade association.

Former President of the Florida Senate Ken Pruitt is running for St. Lucie County property appraiser in a special election. The Republican lawmaker-turned-governmental-affairs-consultant is looking to step into the position in place of Jeffrey Furst, who died of a stroke last week. Qualifying for the position is set for Thursday.

Rick Scott, the front-runner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, released a new radio ad, calling on the Legislature to pass an immigration reform measure during nextweek's special session, like the one backed by Arizona.