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

The political action committee of Associated Industries of Florida, one of the states largest business lobbying firms, has backed former Rep. Aaron Bean, of Fernandina Beach, and Rep. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, in their respective Florida Senate contests. The endorsements are part of AIFs final round of endorsements for state House and Senate. Others receiving endorsements on Wednesday included: HOUSE District Candidate 7: Halsey Beshears (R) 17: Ron "Doc" Renuart (R) 49: Marco Pena (R)

Linda Huber, the sister of Democratic congressional candidate Keith Fitzgerald, today endorsed Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan's re-election, saying "Buchanan is exactly what we need in Congress."Huber praised Buchanans positive vision for creating jobs, restoring prosperity to America and protecting Medicare benefits for seniors. Verns background as a businessman is exactly what we need in Congress, Huber said in a statement today released by the Buchanan campaign.I support his agenda to grow the economy and create jobs while protecting Medicare."

The University of South Florida picked up two grants worth more than $1 million combined from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to research the impact of extreme weather on air and water quality. One grant of $750,000 was awarded to the universitys College of Marine Science to support the development of tools to predict future water-quality degradation associated with extreme weather events and a changing climate, according to the EPA release.

After two days of weather delays, Floridians had their last chance to watch a space shuttle depart from its shores at 7:22 a.m. Wednesday morning. However, it wont be their last chance to see one of the nations once-proud but retired shuttle fleet in the Sunshine State.