With Florida atop or near atop the list of foreclosure-ridden states, lawmakers on Thursday began looking again at ways to speed up the handling of foreclosure cases that now can take two years or more to wind their way through the courts.

Florida's requirement that foreclosure cases go before a judge continues to slow the process, according to a Senate interim report and statistics compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, which on Thursday released its latest findings on foreclosures and delinquent loans.

When it comes to members of Congress, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, and eight others from Floridamay be viewed as being above average.

And Buchanan skews themidrange benchmark.

Nelson andBuchanan are among the nearly 50 percent of Congress who are millionaires, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Responsive Politics.

The center estimated the median net worth for a senator at $2.56 million, while members of the House had a median worth of $756,765, based upon lawmakers' 2010 personal financial disclosure forms.

Florida Rep. Leonard Bembry announced on Thursday that he has filed to run against Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland in 2012.

Surging in the polls, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich took his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination to Jacksonville on Thursday.

Despite being written off for dead earlier in the year when he faced a staff exodus and took aim at the Republican congressional budgetary plan backed by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Gingrich is now at the top of the polls after a series of strong debate performances.

WASHINGTON -- In 2008, the slogan was Yes We Can. For 2011-12, it's We Cant Wait. What happened in between? Candidate Obama, the vessel into which myriad dreams were poured, met the reality of governance.

The battle over "destination resorts" in Florida is pitting two of the state's largest business organizations against each other, with one rejecting a casino company's $25,000 check and bid for membership.

An aggressively pro-gaming stance by the Associated Industries of Florida has renewed speculation about AIF's agenda and members.

Erika Alba, who chairs the AIF's board of directors, is public affairs director at Foley & Lardner, a law firm that lobbies for the Genting Group, a gaming company vying to build "the world's largest" hotel-casino in Miami.

Before Gov. Rick Scott sailed into the port issue by backing the Port of Miami's effort to dredge to 50 feet, Florida business interests had been ratcheting up their focus on what they say had been a forgotten secondary piece of the states economy.

The public hook -- as highlighted in the attention given to the Port of Miami -- has become that Florida ports and accompanying commercial rail and highways must be ready when the widening of the Panama Canal is completed in 2014.

Florida's Police Benevolent Association expressed "disappointment" Thursday at election results that showed the state's corrections officers had chosen the Teamsters to replace the PBA as their bargaining unit.

Known primarily for its cruise ships, Port Canaveral has been concentrating its growing commercial focus on robust trade already coming from Central and South America.

There is untapped potential for containers, whether through direct call or via feeder vessel, and short-sea shipping of domestic loads, all, again, because of our role as Orlandos port, said Port Canaveral CEO J. Stanley Stan Payne.

Port Canaveral -- What is there: