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

The Florida Senate's Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) launched its first meeting Monday, withChairman Joe Negron, R-Palm City, assuring his fellow legislators and citizen attendees that no votes would be taken that day. "I've always believed it's good to have a trial first, before a verdict," Negron announced. The Committee is considering what the Florida Legislature's official response will be to the Obamacare Act, which comes into full effect in 2014.

No word on how this is affecting sales of vodka and babushkas, but CNBC reports that a growing share of Miami's real estate market is falling into the hands of Russia's er-wealthy:

Gov. Rick Scott has appointed Eric W. Hendon, of Miami, to the 11th Judicial Circuit Court. Hendon, 56, has been a Miami-Dade County judge from 1999 to 2003 and since 2006, taking the break to practice privately. Judge Hendon has an exemplary record of service to the people of Miami-Dade County, Scott stated in a release. He is a fair, honest, and distinguished judge and understands and adheres to the important principle that judges apply, and does not make the law. Hendon will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Joseph Farina.

Not very, according to an analysis authored by researchers Chester E. Finn Jr. and Amber Winkler, that appears today in the pages of National Review; indeed, our teacher unions are among the weakest in the nation: "[A]re union biceps as brawny as ever, or growing flabby with age? Short answer: It depends, particularly on which state (or the District of Columbia) you look at, and at what point in time. Thats the central finding of our recently concluded three-year study of the relative strength of teacher unions state-bystate.