After years of inexplicably large gaps between low reading results and sky-high writing scores, the Florida Department of Education admits to overly lenient grading of essays and says it is tightening standards.
Floridas Agency for Health Care Administration began making plans to move the states long-term care Medicaid recipients into managed care plans Tuesday, but it has until Monday to submit the federal waiver request necessary to implement the changes.
The move of long-term care patients into managed care plans is part of the fundamental Medicaid reforms passed by the Legislature this year.
Ron Pauls supporters insist their candidate is gaining momentum as the Texas congressman makes his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination. He certainly has more name recognition and a larger war chest this time around -- but he is flopping badly in the Sunshine State.
Gov. Rick Scott on Monday said Florida is ready to weather a potential federal shutdown and if he were put in congressional shoes hed oppose efforts to raise the federal debt ceiling.
Scott conceded that the nation, which has never failed to pay its bills, is entering new territory if Republican lawmakers and President Barack Obama cannot reach an agreement, but he added that financial markets have likely already figured in such a scenario and would not overreact if it comes to pass.
The big news, as far as the media are concerned, is the political game of debt-ceiling chicken that is being played by Democrats and Republicans in Washington.
Software company owner Ron Rushing will announce on Tuesday that he is pulling out of the Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and will instead offer a primary challenge to Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, in 2012.
In his prepared remarks for Tuesday, Rushing took aim at the lack of progress in Tallahassee for conservative legislation.
A company that sells and operates red-light cameras says recent court victories signal "an end" to legal challenges against the controversial traffic enforcement program.
"As judges become more familiar with the evidence needed to convict under the Wandall Safety Act, the number of [ticket] dismissals will continue to fall," said Charles Territo of American Traffic Solutions.
"Recent legal victories in Broward and Miami-Dade courts are a clear sign that the days of legal challenges to red-light safety cameras are coming to an end."
A new poll finds Gov. Rick Perry of Texas leading the Republican presidential pack in Florida, with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts on his heels.
