On this first anniversary of the BP oil spill, is anybody wondering how Tony Hayward, the disgraced former head of BP -- Mr. "I Just Want My Life Back" -- is spending the day?

Probably he's somewhere just waiting, according to London-born journalist Martin Bashir, speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program Wednesday morning.

Taxpayers, better sit down. This one is going to hurt.

Three Gunster attorneys, Daniel M. Mackler, Danielle DeVito-Huley and Rick Burgess, were just named South Florida Business Journals 2011 Heavy Hitters in Commercial Real Estate. And the Daily Business Review has made them finalists for the Top Dealmakers of the Year award. It's a very big deal, and I'd like to congratulate them, I really would.

But these three Heavy Hitters hit you and me.

If President Barack Obama is serious about getting the nation back to work, then he didn't get the message across to one of his largest federal arms, the Environmental Protection Agency.

Tea party folks have gathered in larger-than-expected numbers near the bandshell in Orlando's Lake Eoloa Park. The celebration is an annual one -- Tax Day rally and protest. But most admit they're on hand to see their hero, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the keynote speaker, who was set to deliver a speech on the need to rein in government spending, deal with the debt crisis and put the nation back on a sound pro-jobs path.

At 7:25 p.m. Friday Rubio will speak again at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, where the event repeats.

Gov. Rick Scott today announced an agreement with the House and Senate that will provide an infusion of cash to prevent the Agency for Persons with Disabilities from discontinuing services.

Executive Director Carol Wehle spoke before a full house at Thursday morning's South Florida Water Management District meeting, explaining why she announced her retirement the day before -- insisting she wasn't leaving because the governor wanted her to go.

She said the decision wasn't that sudden, that she has been considering retirement "for several weeks."

At the end of her address she clarified that she will retire from SFWMD, not from work altogether, and after a few weeks of recuperation she will look for work in the private sector.

To put a greater emphasis on the Florida Panhandle's status as a first-class tourist destination -- and to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill -- Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet will take state government on the road -- including a tour bus -- traveling throughout Northwest Florida April 19-20.

"The idea is to showcase all the great things about the Panhandle -- the seafood, the fishing, the beaches, all of it," said Lane Wright, press secretary for the governor.

After six years on the job and swirling in controversy, South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Carol Wehle, 56, announced her retirement from the district Wednesday. She did so in a letter to interim board chairman Joe Collins presented at a closed-door workshop (see letter attached below).

Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux released the following statement Wednesday afternoon on House Speaker Dean Cannon's announcement that a committee will decide the presidential primary date:

In a time of fiscal crisis, Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Dean Cannon are wasting tax money on something that shouldn't be an issue.

Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon announced during a media telephone conference Wednesday that Reps. Seth McKeel and Dennis Baxley will introduce an amendment Thursday creating a 10-member committee to choose Florida's much-debated presidential primary date.

Cannon said the amendment has the support of Senate President Mike Haridopolos.

The amendment stipulates that three each of the committee's members will be appointed by the House, the Senate and the governor's office. The 10th member, the secretary of state, will serve as chairman.