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

Twenty people in South Florida have been charged aspart of a criminal ring accused of making false insurance claims after torching rental homes, declared the state fire marshals office, state attorneys office in Miami-Dade County and the Miami-Dade Police Department. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater (the fire marshals office is under Atwater) announced the arrests as part of his weekly roundup on Friday.

On Friday, former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon announced that he was going to enter the Republican primary to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

The states unemployment numbers continued to decline, falling to 8.7 percent, the lowest mark since January 2009, according to figures released Friday. The latest figures estimate that 804,000 Floridians were listed as jobless last month, down from 836,000 in March, when the statewide unemployment mark was 9 percent, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The monthly total is 1.9 percent lower than where the state was a year ago. Florida still lags behind the nation, which has an 8.1 percent unemployment rate.

Gov. Rick Scott is expected to lift the suspension of Osceola County Clerk Malcom Thompson today. Kim Hennecy, the chief deputy clerk who had been acting as Thompsons replacement, sent an email Thursday to employees notifying them of Thompsons pending return. "An executive order will be issued tomorrow reinstating Mr. Thompson to his position as clerk of court, Hennecy emailed employees on Thursday. I am not sure when the order will be issued or whether Mr. Thompson will be returning to work tomorrow or Monday."