Gov. Rick Scott visited the offices of the state Department of Management Services Thursday in Tallahassee, praising Jack Miles, whom he recently tapped to head the agency, and pledging to stop the problems within the agency that led to the "Taj Mahal" debacle of the extravagant 1st District Court of Appeal courthouse.

"We have a new secretary, Jack Miles, (he) is going to do a great job. He's got a great background, you know, in procurement, in contracting, so I think he'll do a good job making sure we have the right things in place," Scott said.

Traditional Catholic institution Ave Maria University has joined the Independent Colleges and University of Florida (ICUF), an association of 29 private, nonprofit schools with more than 130,000 students across the Sunshine State.

Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, is hoping the Legislature will follow the example of some members of Congress when Gov. Rick Scott holds the State of the State address in March by having members of both parties sitting together.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos stated Thursday he is against moving back Florida's date for the presidential primary in 2012.

Democratic legislators have filed a bill to move the date back from the end of January, and newly-elected Republican National Committee Chair Reince Preibus urged his party to move it back during a recent trip to Tampa, the site of the 2012 Republican national convention.

"I think it's a bad idea," Haridopolos said of moving the date back.

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, who is a possible candidate to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, focused on border security on Thursday in light of increased violence, including the recent murders of two American teenagers.

Mike Yost will be back in 2012. Yost, the Republican candidate who ran against Democratic U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, appears to be headed for a rematch. While Yost pulled in more than $80,000 and caught the attention of national pundits, Brown defeated him with more than 60 percent of the vote. Yost has already released a web video for his campaign.

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On Wednesday, local officials joined up with WWE Inc. to announce that Miami would be hosting WrestleMania XXVIII on Sunday, April 1, 2012.

Flanked by WWE wrestlers, including fan favorite John Cena, Vince McMahon, the chairman and CEO of WWE, joined up with Jose Pepe Diaz of the Miami-Dade County Commission and Miami-Dade Sports Commission, CEO Mike Dee of the Miami Dolphins and Dolphins legend Dan Marino to announce the news.

Conservative leader Gary Bauer, best known for leading the Family Research Council and his bid for the Republican presidential nomination back in 2000, offered strong words of praise for Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West on Wednesday.

Al Cardenas, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), was named on Wednesday to head up the American Conservative Union (ACU), succeeding conservative icon David Keene who led the group for more than 25 years.

Cardenas, who had served as the ACUs treasurer was elected as chairman without opposition despite grumblings from some social conservatives who maintained he did not share their commitment to traditional values.

While there have been rumors and reports that the proposed budget unveiled on Monday by Gov. Rick Scott would lead to closing 53 state parks -- including Civil War battlefields like Olustee and Natural Bridge -- the Scott team shot those reports down on Wednesday.