Its rare to see a former Florida Democratic Party chairman taking President Barack Obama to task -- but thats exactly what Scott Maddox is doing on the issue of offshore oil drilling.

Three years before it's scheduled to roll, Florida's $1.2 billion SunRail commuter train is sputtering with talk of possible cost overruns.

The solution? Rob roads to run rails.

The retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens means that in coming months we'll have another hearing on a Supreme Court nominee. But it's not likely to be the sort of hearing we got used to in the two decades after Edward Kennedy declared war on Robert Bork in 1987.

Florida's teachers are breaking my heart.

First, I hear with my own ears teachers coaching students as young as 8 years old to lobby legislators for -- let's call a spade a spade -- their own selfish interests. Now I find some 1,000 of them in the Miami-Dade school system choosing to protest passage of the performance-pay bill by calling in sick.

Congress returns this week from its two-week recess facing several key decisions. These decisions will affect the summer and fall sessions leading up to the highly anticipated November 2010 elections.

A once controversial school prayer bill won unanimous support from a House panel after a tweak to the legislation severely blunted its reach.

This bill is now a protection of school speech, said Rep. Greg Evers, R-Baker, a co-sponsor of the legislation.

They're young, educated and endlessly ambitious. They've won accolades both in and out of the classroom, and now they hold the top posts in their universities' student governments.

What's next for these 20-somethings? Business, policy, law -- maybe even careers in Tallahassee?

Florida State University researchers want to steer Florida toward becoming a key player in the electric vehicle industry, and they're inviting state lawmakers and others to discuss the matter with national and FSU experts.

I personally dont think we have that environment right now, said Dave Cartes, director of the FSU Institute for Energy Systems, Economics and Sustainability.