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

Floridas 11th Judicial Circuit Court Judge William L. Thomas has been nominated by President Obama to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Thomas, who began his legal career as an assistant state public defender in Miami-Dade County, was as an assistant federal public defender in South Florida from 1997 to 2005. Judge Thomas is a man of great integrity, who would bring tremendous knowledge and skill to the Florida Southern District Courts bench, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson stated in a release.

Florida TaxWatch presidentand CEO Dominic M. Calabro released the following statement in response to a proposal by incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, to have new state employees enrolled in 401k-style retirement plans instead of the state pension system. Florida TaxWatch was extremely pleased this afternoon to hear Speaker-Designate Will Weatherford address the issue of state employee retirement plans.

A citizens' petition begging the White House to allow Florida to secede peacefully from the United States has reached the required threshold which should trigger an official response from the Obama administration. The Daily Caller reports: "Less than a week after a New Orleans suburbanite petitioned the White House to allow Louisiana to secede from the United States, petitions from seven states have collected enough signatures to trigger a promised review from the Obama administration.

Florida Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, will join former governor Charlie Crist and a couple of other Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday to announce election reform legislation for the 2013 session.