Florida parents won't need to pay sales tax on notebooks, pencils and other school supplies for three days this August. Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law today a bill re-instating the School Sales Tax Holiday, a priority of the Florida Retail Federation, one of the state's largest business advocacy groups. The tax holiday, which will lasts Aug. 13-15, exempts from the state sales tax purchases of school supplies costing less than $10 and books, clothing and shoes costing less than $50.

William G. Doc Myers, one of the Florida Legislatures giants during the last two decades of the 20th Century a staunch conservative who helped change the color of power in Tallahassee from blue to red died Tuesday. He was 79. Doc, who lived and practiced medicine in Hobe Sound, was more than my representative and later my senator. He was my doctor and a family friend.

Kiplingers has released the 10 top cities for the next decade and Floridas cities are conspicuously absent from that list. The likes of Jacksonville, Dunedin, Ave Maria and DeLand lost out to Des Moines, IA and Rochester, MN. Rochester has a Mayo Clinic, cheers Kiplingers. Big deal, so does Jacksonville and we also have beaches, the Jaguars (for now) and better golf courses.

The state just got a little smaller for convicted sexual offenders released from jail. Gov. Charlie Crist just signed into law a measure that punishes convicted sex offenders for loitering within 300 feet of where children gather or for steppping foot in a pre-school or school without prior notification or permission. The law also prohibits offenders from soliciting sex from a child in a public park or communicating to them about it there. Predators arrested for any of those activities now face as much as a year in jail.

Waiting in the mail today was a postcard inviting me to an event hosted by Scott Fortune, an attorney who is challenging U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown in the Democratic primary, at the Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art.

Jeff Greenes Senate campaign launched two new television ads today.These ads continue to introduce Jeff to voters and build off the tremendous momentum our campaign is generating on the ground as Jeff meets voters across the state, said Greene campaign spokesman Paul Blank.

While Rick Scott and Jeff Greene may be getting the most headlines, there are a number of business leaders running for Congress in Florida this election cycle, shades of the 1990s when Ross Perot, Steve Forbes and Morry Taylor ran for president. Craig Miller, former president CEO of the Ruths Chris Steak House chain, is running for the Republican nomination against U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas and his campaign manager says that the high number of business leaders running for office reveals voter discontent about the economy and about the current crop of office holders.

Billionaire Jeff Greene challenged U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, his chief rival for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, to hold a series of bi-weekly debates throughout the summer. Meek said he was open to debates but not as many as Greene was calling for.

Well, you knew this was coming. The news just broke that Super Bowl XLVIII, coming up in 2014, will be held outside of New York at the New Meadowlands Stadium. While Miami and Tampa Bay made runs at hosting the big game, the NFL decided to send the event to the Big Apple. Estimates of the Super Bowls economic impact range up to $550 million. Lets just hope the Dolphins, Bucs and Jags do better than the Giants and Jets next year! Avenge the Sunshine State's honor, oh, brave Jaguars in the teal and black, when you head up to play the Giants Nov. 28.

Looks like Sen. John Thrasher, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, will have a challenger in the GOP primary. Here comes Dr. Charles Perniciaro--and he intends to make Thrashers support of SB 6, a measure to reform teacher performance pay, one of the chief issues of his campaign.

Dr. Beach has bad news for the Panhandle beach boosters. Dr. Beach (well his real name is Stephen Leatherman but that's like calling Superman "Clark Kent") releases a list of the top 10 beaches in the nation the week before Memorial Day. But with the oil spill plaguing the Gulf, Dr. Beach is saying that none of the Panhandle beaches, which had won the top spot on the list more than any other region, will be included on the list this year.

With President Barack Obama looking to repeal the Dont Ask, Dont Tell Defense Department policy prohibiting homosexuals from coming out of the closet during their military service, U.S. Senate candidates in Florida are weighing in on the issue.

Despite his lack of political experience, billionaire Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene feels confident enough in his abilities to challenge his chief rival, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, to a series of debates to be held every two weeks from here until the primary election on Aug. 24. Greene took off the gloves in issuing the challenge.

One of the biggest arguments teachers' unions all over the country have against breaking away from guaranteed tenure and evaluating teachers based partly on their students' performance is resources. According to a New York Times article, the overriding philosophy is that hiring more teachers so that classrooms will be smaller makes the most difference.

Its a wild, wild life for rock stars but, when it comes to politicians using their songs without permission, this must be the place. Rockers are burning down the house to stop politicians from using their tunes. Ah, life in wartime. This phenomenon does not happen once in a lifetime. In fact, it has happened twice in the same race.