Any Floridian with a mailbox, a telephone or a TV probably realized this week that an election is approaching.

Just when people will be able to vote might actually be up in the air.

As voters waded through nasty campaign mailers sent out by shadowy groups that may or may not have been related to candidates, as surrogates for the presidential candidates flew all over the place, a Democratic congresswoman filed a federal lawsuit over the dates when Florida voters can start casting their ballots.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The huge humpback whale whose friendliness precipitated a surreal seven-year -- so far -- federal hunt for criminality surely did not feel put upon.

As he seeks a second term in the Florida House, Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, faces a serious challenger in the Republican primary on Aug. 14 and is looking at a very different district than the one he currently represents.

First elected to the Florida House in 2010 after serving as an assistant state attorney, Trujillo currently represents parts of Miami-Dade County. But, after the Legislature tackled redistricting earlier in the year, Trujillo now is running for a seat that contains parts of Broward and Collier counties as well as parts of Miami-Dade.

The use of the phrase global marketplace has become so commonplace it is almost trite.

Florida pulled in $407 million in revenue above predictions for the end of the recently completed fiscal year.

But dont call it a windfall. Economists point out that most of the money was either one-time dollars or simply a trick of the calendar on accounting books.

Sales tax did account for a little more than $150 million of the total -- a good sign that people were dipping into their wallets heading into a period that economists forecast will see a downturn in spending.

With Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, facing term limits and running for a seat in the Florida Senate, an interesting battle is developing to see who will represent the southern part of Volusia County in the Florida House of Representatives.

Two candidates are battling for the Republican nomination in the Aug. 14 primary in HD 27 and David Santiago, an Army veteran and a former Deltona city commissioner, has a solid lead in the money chase.

While Citizens Property Insurance Corp. continues to be a topic of interestfor Floridians across the state, including how policyholders in certain areaswill be able to afford potential, future rate hikes, some members of Congresshave proposed federal legislation that is also cause for concern.