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.