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

Gov. Charlie Crist offered his best wishes to Floridians for 2011 -- and offered a look back at his tenure in office. New Years Day is a time to celebrate with family and friends, and to look toward the coming year with great anticipation. It is also a time to reflect on the past year and be thankful for our many blessings, said Crist on Friday, before turning to reviewing his term in office.

Gov. Charlie Crist announced Thursday four new members and eight reappointed members of the Workforce Florida board of directors. They are the latest in a spate of last-minute appointments from Crist, who has four days left in office. The new appointees are William Law, president of St. Petersburg College, Violet Nikolici-Lowrey, owner of A Plus Professional Resumes, and Linda Reite, teacher in Miami-Dade County public schools. Their terms end in 2013. Stanley Sikes Jr., CEO of US Imaging Solutions, is also a new appointee whose term ends in 2012.

Gov. Charlie Crist sent a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday, arguing that the cold weather has hurt Floridas agriculture and asking for a USDAdisaster declaration for more than half of the states 67 counties. The consecutive days of sustained hours of below-freezing temperatures resulted in a tremendous amount of damage to agriculture production throughout the state, wrote Crist, before listing 35 counties impacted by the weather.

Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with ties to national Democrats, posted a blog piece on a recent poll -- and what it shows for incoming U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.