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

The Florida First Amendment Foundation luncheon today attracted a healthy turnout of political leaders and journalists. Notably absent: Gov. Charlie Crist, who is a two-time winner of the foundation's Pete Weitzel Friend of the First Amendment Award, and Attorney General Bill McCollum. Keynote speakers were Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, and CFO Alex Sink, a Democrat, both of whom are candidates for governor. Most members of the House and Senate leadership were in attendance.

Former Republican candidate and Tea Party darling Sarah Palin will be speaking at the private Orange County Lincoln Day Dinner tonight, and the Chairman of the Florida Federation of Teenage Republicans, Jacob Engels, will be Tweeting from the dinner. The event is off-limits to the press, but we will be retweeting Engels' tweets live at our Twitter account, SSNAlerts, starting at 6 p.m. You can also follow Jacob at his Twitter feed, JacobEngels.

Locked in a bitter battle with Marco Rubio for the GOP nod for the U.S. Senate, Gov. Charlie Crist is bringing out former U.S. Sen. Connie Mack to vouch for him. In a fundraising letter for the Crist campaign, Mack stressed Crists conservative credentials. Mack labeled Crist a common sense conservative and said that the governor is a reliable conservative on crime, guns and abortion. Mack said that Crist passed the biggest tax cut in Florida history and cut $7 billion in state spending during his term as governor.

This just in from the House Majority Office: Legislation moved through committee Wednesday designed to improve the safety of motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists; prevent crashes; reduce the financial impact of injuries, death, and property damage -- all caused by texting while driving; and authorize law enforcement to issue citations as a secondary offense. I am thrilled that this issue is finally getting the attention it deserves, said Rep. Doug Holder R-Sarasota, sponsor of the bill. We must send a message that Floridas roads are safe to travel.