Future funding for Everglades restoration and other environmental programs would be enshrined in the state Constitution under a ballot initative proposal to guarantee the spending of $10 billion on such programs over the next 20 years.

Any Floridian with a mailbox, a telephone or a TV probably realized this week that an election is approaching.

Just when people will be able to vote might actually be up in the air.

As voters waded through nasty campaign mailers sent out by shadowy groups that may or may not have been related to candidates, as surrogates for the presidential candidates flew all over the place, a Democratic congresswoman filed a federal lawsuit over the dates when Florida voters can start casting their ballots.

Two more Republican heavyweights climbed aboard Thursday to endorse Tom Lee in his primary bid against Rep. Rachel Burgin in a Senate race that has turned ugly and personal.

Lee, a former Senate president from Brandon who is looking to return to the Legislature, received the endorsements of Sens. John Thrasher and Joe Negron in his quest to become the GOP nominee in District 24.

The support comes in addition to previous endorsements from incoming Senate President Don Gaetz, Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner and Sen. Jack Latvala.

The payoff may be years away, but Florida stakeholders are already coordinating efforts to make sure the state gets its share of BP oil spill compensation in what could be the largest Gulf restoration effort in history.

A Tallahassee judge has sided with online travel companies like Expedia and Orbitz in a dispute over local tax obligations -- a blow to counties that have argued the companies weren't paying enough.

After hearing arguments last month, Circuit Judge Terry Lewis on Friday ruled that the online travel sites only owe local hotel taxes on the discounted amounts they actually pay for rooms, not the marked up rates that travelers pay.

Fireworks hit the capital city the week after the Fourth of July, with sparks flying over the resignation of a besieged university president, allegations of inappropriate behavior in the lieutenant governor's office and a high-profile court case upholding a tough Florida drug law.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle filed a flurry of financial disclosures, giving the public a good first look at campaign contributions following the redrawing of political boundaries.