Moments after rival Jeff Greene blasted Republicans in the U.S. Senate for blocking extending unemployment benefits, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, also a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, followed suit -- and took a shot at Greene.

Billionaire investor Jeff Greene, running for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, took a break from attacking U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, his chief rival in the primary, to blast Republicans in Washington for blocking a vote on extending federal unemployment benefits.

State Sen. Mike Haridopolos was a no-show at the annual meeting of the Republican Women of the Treasure Coast today. Organizers said it was the fourth time the Merritt Island Republican had canceled a scheduled speaking engagement with the Vero Beach-based group.

Reports that parts of the shoreline on Pensacola Beach are fully closed right now are wrong About 1,200 feet of Casino Beach that was fully closed to remove oil sludge Thursday was reopened Friday morning, the Escambia County Public Safety Department confirmed. There is still a swimming advisory in Johnson's Beach and Fort Pickens Beach, but Casino Beach is open for both walking and swimming.

If you're seeking money from BP for lost wages, you might not like today's news. The Internal Revenue Service says it has the right to tax lost wage claims submitted to the oil giant, the Associated Press is reporting. Payments for physical injuries and lost payments will be exempt, though. BP has received 20,431 economic loss claims in general in Florida and has paid out approximately $17.9 million.

Lets Get to Work, a 527 organization closely connected to Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott, launched a new ad ripping into Attorney General Bill McCollum who is also seeking the GOP nomination. The ad questions McCollums conservative credentials on abortion and immigration.

The campaign team of U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek is forwarding this story in Fridays Washington Post about Democratic U.S. Senate rival Jeff Greene. The article speaks for itself, insisted the Meek team before providing quotes from the story --Greene making fun of an elderly magician (yes, you read that right); Greene has a less-than-fond view of the Koran; Greenes career in finance; Greene, who grew up in Florida, has lived in other states.

U.S. Rep. Bill Young, the dean of the Florida delegation and the longest serving Republican in Congress, sent a letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus earlier this week, praising the work done in Pinellas County and by the Navy to monitor the oil spill in the Gulf -- but also weighing in on the economic damage the spill has done to the Tampa Bay area.

Big day Friday at Kennedy Space Center. With the gloom of the Constellation and shuttle-program shutdowns hanging darkly over NASA, officials will break ground on Exploration Park, a do-over of the center's space sciences lab. Ultimately, Exploration Park will be a research and technology hub on 400 acres -- an opportunity to create high-tech jobs by attracting high-tech businesses to the Space Coast.

You've got to hand it to the folks at Procter & Gamble. On the one hand, they've found a way to cash in on the worst environmental disaster in our nation's history ... and on the other, emerge as one of the great saviors -- in fact, the only hope -- for untold thousands of sickened, oil-soaked seabirds. All because they manufacture the diswashing liquid Dawn. Dawn is acknowledged by wildlife experts as the only -- yes, the only -- product available capable of taking oil off the birds without harming their delicate bodies.

Miami International Airport and FPL Services, a subsidiary of energy giant Florida Power & Light Co., has started the second phase of an energy efficiency project expected to save the airport a net cost of $11 million, FPL announced Thursday. The project consists of retrofitting 40,000 lighting fixtures in a 7.5 million-square-foot terminal, adding occupancy sensors and installing 10 new high-efficiency motors and chilled-water pumps. The improvements are expected to cutthe airports annual carbon dioxide emissionsby 5,035 metric tons over the next 15 years.

Oil collection from the leaking well at the Deepwater Horizon site dropped to a little more than a quarter of the maximum spillage amount estimated by the federal government. The company announced Thursday that it had captured 16,830 barrels of oil, a 40 percent reduction from the day before. The federal government has estimated that 35,000 to 60,000 barrels escape from the leak daily.

A quarter-mile of shoreline in Pensacola Beach was closed Thursday due to attempts to remove oil that has washed up on the shore, the media are reporting.

Rick Scotts campaign team was ready for an attack from the Bill McCollum campaign team, linking a company Scott invested in to the Obama stimulus. Rick Scotts opposition to federal stimulus funds is clear, said Jen Baker, a spokeswoman for Scott. But people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. McCollums latest ridiculous attack is just sloppy, hypocritical stone-throwing by a desperate career politician. A statement from the Scott team rips into McCollum for investing in companies that received money from the federal stimulus.

With news coming out that Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott invested in a company that is receiving federal stimulus money, the campaign team of Attorney General Bill McCollum, Scott's chief rival for the GOP nod, is having a field day. Rick Scotts latest incidence of hypocrisy proves he cant be trusted on any issue, said Matt Williams, McCollums campaign manager. It also confirms a pattern: If Rick Scott says he opposes something, chances are hes profited from it.