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

The student activist group, Florida Alliance for Student Action, is planning a statewide campus protest for March 1 aimed at recent appointments to the state Board of Governors. Besides expressing concerns about Gov. Rick Scott appointing businessmen and developers -- rather than educators -- to the board, the group opposes bills now in the state Legislature that would replace how the student representative to the board is selected.

Floridas unemployment rate for December stood at 9.9 percent, down from 10 percent in November and marking the first time the state has been below double digits since April 2009, according to the state Department of Economic Opportunity. Gov. Rick Scott, in a conference call with reporters on Friday, said Floridas growth is the strongest since 2007; the result, he said, of a reduction in business regulations and streamlining government. This proves the changes we're implementing, with the help of our friends in the Legislature, are working, Scott said.

Gov. Rick Scott has reappointed Ava L. Parker and appointed Joseph L. Caruncho and Thomas G. Kuntz to the Board of Governors of the State University System. The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate. According to a release from the governors office:

Update: The Delta IV rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:38 p.m. The weather is listed as perfect over Cape Canaveral for a launch tonight of a next-generation military community satellite. The launch window opens at 7:38 p.m., closing at 9:11 p.m.