Contrary to Charlie Sheen-esque claims of a "winning" legislative session, Republicans settled for a watered-down compromise on public pension reform and punted on other key labor issues.

Bad news, Floridians. Scientists have no plans for exterminating those greasy love bugs that are splattering your car grill and windshield.

The seasonal swarms of plecia nearctica have been particularly heavy in South Florida, where the moisture-seeking bugs have been hydrated.

But, according to experts at the University of Florida, this year's first crop -- a second typically emerges in August or September -- is no worse and no bigger than usual.

Armed with Mike Huckabee's endorsement, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Haridopolos travels to Bradenton Tuesday to speak to a tea party group. Heated members say he has some explaining to do.

Coming off a tumultuous state Senate session that disappointed conservatives, Haridopolos will need more than the religiously good wishes of Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential hopeful who hasn't always rung the tea party bell.

Buffeted by business interests and political hardball, Gov. Rick Scott is near a decision to approve the SunRail commuter train project for Central Florida, sources tell Sunshine State News.

After rejecting $2.4 billion in federal stimulus funds and derailing a proposed Tampa-Orlando high-speed train, the governor has reportedly turned around on SunRail, a $1.3 billion line that would serve parts of four counties around Orlando.

State Sen. Paula Dockery said Scott will approve the 61-mile venture for three reasons:

Red-light cameras survived a close call in the Florida Legislature, thanks in part to big contributions from one of the major vendors of the technology.

Just a year after the state approved use of the controversial cameras, lawmakers attempted to yank them down. The House narrowly approved a camera ban, 59-57, but the bill (HB 4087) never got a hearing in the Senate.

The Senate's own version, SB 672, stalled in Sen. Mike Bennett's Community Affairs Committee and died there.

It's all over but the shouting and the honking. Three days after the 2011 Legislature adjourned, union members and liberal groups plan to rally Tuesday outside selected legislators' district offices and on streets across Florida.

The "Awake the State" campaign, which drew some 10,000 protesters in 30 cities on the session's opening day, expects to stage follow-up demonstrations in 24 communities this time around.

Amnesty or bust. Though not using those words, that's expected to be the message President Barack Obama will deliver in the border town of El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday.

Obama, according to unofficial reports, will argue that his administration has tightened America's borders and stepped up deportations, and that it is time for Congress to enact a "path to citizenship" for at least some of the estimated 11 million illegal aliens in this country.