Nineteen people have applied for the job of Florida education commissioner, including the surprise emergence of a well-known Florida politician who held the job 10 years ago.

But that wasnt enough to satisfy the State Board of Education, which voted Friday to extend the deadline for applicants to June 6 in the hopes of casting a wider net.

Interviews will now take place around June 20, which means an interim director will be appointed to bridge the gap after current Education Commissioner Eric Smiths resignation becomes effective June 10.

As your lieutenant governor, I am asking you to pause this Monday and reflect about the meaning of Memorial Day.

One of the painfully revealing episodes in Barack Obama's book "Dreams From My Father" describes his early experience listening to a sermon by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

In March, Gov. Rick Scotts staff said he would accept a $35.7 million Money Follows the Person federal health grant.

But the Legislature appears to have decided otherwise. In the 2011-12 budget Scott just signed, lawmakers failed to give the Agency for Health Care Administration budget authority to draw down and spend the money.

Patient advocates were dismayed at the omission, because the money was to have been spent on home- and community-care programs that let disabled and elderly people move out of nursing homes or avoid them in the first place.