The governor and Cabinet on Wednesday granted 30-year leases to a pair of sugar growers over the objections of environmental groups that urged the panel to approve much shorter terms for the tracts that drain into the Everglades.

By unanimous vote, the panel approved the renewal of leases for Florida Crystals and A. Duda and Sons on separate tracts totaling more than 13,000 acres in the Everglades Agricultural Area. In exchange the companies have agreed to sell parcels that water management district officials say they need now.

The Florida House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday unanimously approved two bills, one that broadens the scope of existing state laws which prohibit adults from hosting parties where alcohol is given to minors, and another which effectively prohibits citizens from protesting at funerals.

Saying they would never repeat such a sweetheart deal as the Miami Marlins received in 2009, Miami-Dade County commissioners agreed to lobby state legislators to increase the hotel bed tax by 1 percent. That would help pay for $400 million in improvements to the Miami Dolphins' home.

Saying the Dolphins opened up their books to them, unlike dealings with the Marlins, commissioners voted to advance for now the public-private partnership for Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday.

The website 24/7 Wall Street has come out with its list of the best and worst run cities in America.

Dont look in the list of top 20 cities best run -- topped by Plano, Texas, and Madison, Wis. -- for an entry from Florida.

Fiscal management, including strong general obligation debt ratings from Moodys, were key for those getting high marks from the Delaware-based fiscal news website.

However, the Sunshine State does have the honor of three cities gracing the 20 worst run: Orlando, 10; Hialeah, 5; and Miami, 2.

Gov. Rick Scott will seek an across-the-board pay raise for Floridas public school teachers due to cost about $480 million, he said following the state Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

He declined to break the figure into percentages or say how much of a per-teacher increase he will ask legislators for, saying he will discuss further details when he appears at Ocoee Middle School in Central Florida later today.

WASHINGTON -- My inner Pollyanna was basking in blissfulness, rolling in the hay of righteous rhetoric, backstroking through the sunny sibilance of aspiration.