Some 1.6 million veterans across the state of Florida will now be recognized and honored for their military service through their driver's license or identification card.

Gov. Rick Scott signed HB 1165, allowing veterans who have served their nation honorably and live in Florida, the privilege to add a veteran designation to their driver's license.

Republican incumbents David Simmons and Lizbeth Benacquisto outpaced other Senate candidates in raising campaign cash during the second quarter of 2011, new reports show.

Simmons, R-Maitland, raised $91,640 between April 1 and June 30, while Benacquisto, R-Wellington, pulled in $62,165. Candidates faced a Monday deadline for filing campaign-finance reports, though not all had been posted on the Division of Elections' website as of 7 p.m.

"The Disappearing Black Middle Class" ran the headline over the Chicago Sun-Times story. And the statistics from the Economic Policy Institute were indeed sobering.

A state battle over climate-change legislation in 2008 is leaving former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner to explain to the GOP base why he voted for a measure that appeared to bring the state closer to a cap-and-trade system -- a policy that is anathema to most conservatives.

Hasner responds that the bill was actually an attempt to fight a climate-change proposal being pushed by one of his opponents.