Bouncing back from tough times, Florida is now among the nation's top job creators.

A Goldman Sachs survey found that job growth in four sand states -- Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada -- is outpacing the rest of the country.

I was a little bit surprised, said Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs and lead author of the report. Whats particularly interesting is the contrast this new data provide between now and where we were a year ago, when [job growth] was still below the national average.

Assailed by Muslim groups and quashed by Senate President Mike Haridopolos, an "anti-Sharia" law bill died in the Florida Legislature on Friday.

Senate Bill 1360 would have restricted state courts from considering foreign laws in most cases. Authored by Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, the bill was identical to HB 1209, whicheasily passed the House 92-24.

But Hays' bill became ensnared in a late-breaking political controversy when proponents distributed fliers and a pamphlet decrying the alleged intrusion of Islamic law into America's courts.

Immigration and invasive pests topped a lengthy list of concerns of Florida farm leaders on Friday.

Meeting in West Palm Beach with U.S. Reps. Allen West, R-Plantation, and Jack Kingston, R-Ga., agricultural representatives called for a guest-worker program to ensure timely and cost-effective crop harvesting.

"We have to close the border first. National security is the No. 1 issue and we need to return sanity to Washington, D.C.," said Rick Roth, owner of Roth Farms.

The nation's first fully accredited online Catholic school is growing in Coral Springs.

Catholic Schools K12 Virtual at St. Andrew's School is attracting students from 19 states, Belize, Venezuela and even China with low tuition costs, wide course offerings and student-teacher ratios that few brick-and-mortar campuses can match.

Faced with thin operating margins and losing enrollment, Catholic schools have been closing across the country.

Despite its reputation as a gun-friendly state, Florida is losing ground to liberal enclaves like Vermont and Maine when it comes to carrying concealed weapons.

Four states -- Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming -- allow their residents to "conceal carry" without a permit. Twelve more states are considering legislation to join that group. But Florida is not among them.

Religious and political temperatures rose Wednesday on the eve of a Senate vote on "anti-Sharia" legislation.

Muslim groups, joined by an array of religious leaders, condemned the distribution of literature criticizing Islamic law. One of the pieces, a pamphlet titled "Shari'ah Law: Radical Islam's Threat to the U.S. Constitution, was circulated by Sen. Alan Hays, sponsor of Senate Bill 1360.

Several tea parties have received what they call "intimidating letters" from the Internal Revenue Service demanding detailed lists of contributors, as well as contact information of members and speakers.

The IRS says it's just business as usual.

The IRS letters were triggered by the groups seeking 501(c)4 tax-exempt status, and these tea and patriot organizations complain that the IRS responses smack of a political fishing expedition, if not an outright witch hunt.

Florida taxpayers could save hundreds of millions of dollars annually in utility costs if cities turned over their municipal electric systems to Florida Power & Light, an independent study shows.

Of the 33 Florida cities that own and operate electric utilities, none have rates lower than FPL and only two are within 10 percent of FPL pricing, according to the analysis compiled by Glenn Heran, a Vero Beach-based CPA and consultant.

President Obama's plan to boost health-care premiums for active-duty and retired military personnel continues to take heavy fire, with Ron Paul and a third Florida congressman wading into the fight.

To push more people into the private "insurance exchanges" designated under Obamacare, the administration wants to begin doubling or tripling charges for coverage in the military's Tricare program.

The price hikes, which would kick in after the 2012 elections, would affect 1.5 million active-duty personnel and up to 21.8 million veterans.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee jumped on Rep. Allen West for not supporting a year-old gasoline "price-gouging" bill. Energy Secretary Steven Chu apparently doesn't care.

"In the face of rising gas prices, Representative Allen West and his Grand Oil Party just voted against considering the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act, which would empower the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to penalize fuel price gouging," a snarky DCCC press release stated..