After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton

Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio released a video statement late on Thursday explaining why he could not back the budget deal.

Turning up the heat on Florida Atlantic University and a controversial faculty member, a Boca Raton pastor expanded allegations against the professor and demanded his dismissal. Speaking to a group of 40 protesters and a gaggle of reporters outside the campus Thursday, Pastor Mark Boykin said Bessem Alhalabi listed future terrorist Sami Al-Arian as a reference when he applied for an FAU faculty position in 1996.

Executive Director Carol Wehle spoke before a full house at Thursday morning's South Florida Water Management District meeting, explaining why she announced her retirement the day before -- insisting she wasn't leaving because the governor wanted her to go. She said the decision wasn't that sudden, that she has been considering retirement "for several weeks." At the end of her address she clarified that she will retire from SFWMD, not from work altogether, and after a few weeks of recuperation she will look for work in the private sector.

So much for that $38.5 billion budget cut. The Congressional Budget Office says the net reduction is a wimpy $352 million. As the Washington Post reported: "The Congressional Budget Offices analysis shows that the compromise does cut nearly $38 billion in whats called 'budget authority.' That means that, in all, government agencies would have that much less permission to spend federal money.