House Democrats convened on Wednesday night to select Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, to lead the party after the 2014 elections. In the aftermath of a feud with the Florida Democratic Party over setting up a fundraising committee for House candidates outside party control, Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, was outed from the incoming leader post on Monday. On Wednesday night,Pafford defeated Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, on a 29-12 vote to become the next House Democratic leader.

The South Florida Water Management District governing board adopted its $622.2 million fiscal 2014 budget Tuesday night, funding the agencys core flood control and water supply missions as well as its continued progress to restore the South Florida ecosystem -- and that includes Americas Everglades.

More than 80 percent of the budget is invested in the environment, operations, and maintenance.

In Florida, there's never enough money to buy land, there's never enough money for education.

Legislators, parents, educators, and community activists will rally Thursday, starting with a press conference, 10:30 a.m. at the State Capitol in Tallahassee.

Advocates from Florida will be attending the Second Amendment Foundations Gun Rights Policy Conference in Houston later this week. Sean Caranna and Rich Nasack, the executive directors of Florida Carry, will be at the event.

Caranna will be speaking on state issues regarding the Second Amendment. Other speakers include Alan Gottlieb who founded the Second Amendment Foundation and Larry Pratt who is the executive director of Gun Owners of America.