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Small-Business Owners: Shop Classes, Reduction in Unemployment Needed

September 5, 2012 - 6:00pm

As Floridas Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater begins a two-day forum in Tampa on the needs of small businesses, among the first complaint hes hearing from business owners is that unemployment benefits in the Sunshine State are too enticing for some people to enter the work force.

Another is that for all the talk about directing students toward science, technology, engineering and math degrees, there is a need to also maintain the basic shop courses.

Florida Voter Guide Now Available

Submitted by Nancy Smith on September 6, 2012 - 12:25pm

The League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund (LWVFEF) is offering state voters its just-published 2012 Florida Election & Voter Guide. The guide includes information on presidential contenders as well as statewide candidates, Supreme Court justices and the 11 constitutional amendments on the Florida ballot.

According to the League, with a print run of 1.1 million, copies of the Voter Guide will be available in all 67 counties through media, local libraries, civic organizations and local Leagues.

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More than 600 State Officials, Staff Failed to File Financial Disclosure

Jim Turner

September 4, 2012 - 6:00pm

The Florida Commission on Ethics has started to impose $25-a-day fines on 632 current and former state and local elected officials, government staff and appointed officials for failing to submit financial disclosure forms by July 1.

The individuals named in a report by watchdog Integrity Florida include term-limited state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, judicial nominating commission members Joseph Lopez, John Mariani, Nilda Pedrosa and R. Kyle Gavin , and Amy Graham, a former spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Scott.

Rick Scott Names Mark Porter Monroe County School Superintendent

Submitted by Anonymous on September 5, 2012 - 10:45pm

Gov. Rick Scott has appointed Mark T. Porter as Monroe County superintendent of schools.

Porter, 56, of Key West, has been the deputy superintendent of the school district.

With 32 years of service in public education, Porter previously held several leadership positions within South Washington County Schools, including superintendent from 2000 to 2012.

The term is through Jan. 7, 2013.

Porter fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Jesus F. Jara, whom Scott had appointed to the position in August 2011.

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Marco Rubio Edges Jeb Bush, Strong GOP Bench in 2016

Jim Turner

September 4, 2012 - 6:00pm

Jeff Atwater's Jim Moran Institute Small-Business Forum Ready to Go in Tampa

Jim Turner

September 5, 2012 - 6:00pm

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater will host the 2012 Small-Business Leadership Forum, in partnership with The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship, at Florida State University on Thursday and Friday in Tampa.

The forum, at the Westin Harbour Island Hotel, brings together business leaders, investors and academic and industry experts.

Haitian Legislators Victims of Political 'Ethnic Cleansing' by Florida Democratic Party?

Submitted by Kevin Derby on September 5, 2012 - 6:20pm

As two Florida Democratic state representatives contest their recent primary election defeats through the courts, a political consultant from one of the states major bipartisan consulting firms suggests the Haitian legislators might be the victims of a political ethnic cleansing by their own party officials.

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Is the Florida Democratic Party Victimizing Haitian Legislators With Political 'Ethnic Cleansing'?

Eric Giunta

September 4, 2012 - 6:00pm

As two Florida Democratic state representatives contest their recent primary election defeats through the courts, a political consultant from one of the state's major bipartisan consulting firms suggests the Haitian legislators might be the victims of a political "ethnic cleansing" by their own party officials.

It's Her Party: Debbie Wasserman Schultz as Usual at the DNC

Brandon Larrabee News Service of Florida

September 5, 2012 - 6:00pm

Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has spent her time at the Democratic National Convention here much the same way she has since becoming chair of the party last year: with a spirited defense of President Barack Obama, sharp barbs aimed at Republicans and a splash or two of controversy along the way.

Florida VA Embarks on Mission to Get Vets the Benefits They’ve Earned

Jim Turner

September 4, 2012 - 6:00pm

Veterans administrators in Florida are expanding their online services as a means to reach out to former active-duty military personnel residing in the Sunshine State that are not taking advantage of benefits they have earned.

Fewer than half the 1.65 million U.S. military veterans living in Florida are currently accessing state and federal benefits, ranging from the GI Bill to health care services, that they are eligible to receive, said retired U.S. Army Col. Mike Prendergast, executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs.

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