The governor's office has declared Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll's trade mission to South Africa a "booming success."
The Carroll-led nine-day trade mission with Enterprise Florida from Nov. 4-13 is expected to create nearly $40 million in sales for Florida, the governor's office reported.
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With a little over three weeks to go until the Iowa caucus, the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are looking to make a big splash in the Hawkeye State.
While former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich leads polls at the national level and surveys of Iowa, some of the other candidates are looking to build campaign organizations to ensure they will do well in the Jan. 3 caucus.
The Florida Transportation Builders Association has sided with the business interest groups backing the destination casino bill that would establish a statewide gaming commission and allow a trio of mega, $2 billion casinos.
Robert Burleson, Association president, in a letter to Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, the sponsor of the Senate bill on destination gaming, stated that the association's board of directors views the casinos --along the potential construction and full-time jobs --as an enhancement to the South Florida area.
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With reports continuing this week that U.S. Air Force personnel discarded the partial remains of at least 274 American service members in a landfill, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan demanded a full investigation.
Reports have found that personnel at the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware -- the initial stop on American soil for the remains of service members killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq -- have dumped the cremated remains in a Virginia landfill.
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On Friday, Republican presidential hopeful former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania gained a big boost for his campaign when he received the endorsement of Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz. Santorum has campaigned hard in the Hawkeye State, which holds its caucus on Jan. 3, and has appeared in all 99 counties in the state. Schultz becomes the first statewide elected official to back any of the GOP hopefuls.
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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder continued to draw criticism last week from Republicans representing Florida in Congress over Operation Fast and Furious, the failed sting operation launched by theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that allowed 2,000 guns to fall into the hands of Mexican criminal cartels -- one of which was used to killed U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in 2010.
Having won the Iowa Republican straw poll in Ames back in August, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has a lot riding on the Hawkeye State. A poor showing there will essentially doom her longshot bid at the Republican presidential nomination.
Having a campaign organization in place has always been key to doing well in Iowa and Bachmann appears to have a solid one in place. On Friday, the congresswoman announced that her team had county chairs in 91 of the 99 counties in Iowa and had precinct leaders in every county.
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Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has drawn fire from the right. Over at the American Conservative, conservative columnist and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan blasts Rubio for pushing a measure to allow Georgia into NATO. Buchanan also praises the senator who stopped Rubios push -- fellow freshman Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
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It doesn't appear Lee County voters will join their counterparts in Gadsden, Hamilton and possibly Palm Beach counties early next year in deciding if local gambling options should be expanded.
The Fort Myers News-Press reports that Champion Development, the company seeking to build a gaming resort along I-75, has been told its too late in the process to get the issue on the Jan. 31, 2012 ballot.
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Gov. Rick Scott will soon take a close look at the special taxing districts -- as he did the water management districts last summer -- that proliferate across Florida.
Meanwhile, hospital districts in Florida could be ranked as part of efforts to reduce Medicaid reimbursement costs and make the facilities more efficient.
Jerry McDaniel, director of policy and budget in the executive office of the governor, said an executive order may be issued by Jan. 1 regarding the special taxing districts.
