Surging in the polls, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich took his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination to Jacksonville on Thursday.
Despite being written off for dead earlier in the year when he faced a staff exodus and took aim at the Republican congressional budgetary plan backed by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Gingrich is now at the top of the polls after a series of strong debate performances.
WASHINGTON -- In 2008, the slogan was Yes We Can. For 2011-12, it's We Cant Wait. What happened in between? Candidate Obama, the vessel into which myriad dreams were poured, met the reality of governance.
The battle over "destination resorts" in Florida is pitting two of the state's largest business organizations against each other, with one rejecting a casino company's $25,000 check and bid for membership.
An aggressively pro-gaming stance by the Associated Industries of Florida has renewed speculation about AIF's agenda and members.
Erika Alba, who chairs the AIF's board of directors, is public affairs director at Foley & Lardner, a law firm that lobbies for the Genting Group, a gaming company vying to build "the world's largest" hotel-casino in Miami.
Before Gov. Rick Scott sailed into the port issue by backing the Port of Miami's effort to dredge to 50 feet, Florida business interests had been ratcheting up their focus on what they say had been a forgotten secondary piece of the states economy.
The public hook -- as highlighted in the attention given to the Port of Miami -- has become that Florida ports and accompanying commercial rail and highways must be ready when the widening of the Panama Canal is completed in 2014.
Florida's Police Benevolent Association expressed "disappointment" Thursday at election results that showed the state's corrections officers had chosen the Teamsters to replace the PBA as their bargaining unit.
Known primarily for its cruise ships, Port Canaveral has been concentrating its growing commercial focus on robust trade already coming from Central and South America.
There is untapped potential for containers, whether through direct call or via feeder vessel, and short-sea shipping of domestic loads, all, again, because of our role as Orlandos port, said Port Canaveral CEO J. Stanley Stan Payne.
Port Canaveral -- What is there:
Sunshine State News is hitting the radio airwaves again for a quick point at Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Kevin Derby will be on the Ed Dean radio show to talk about presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, whom Derby interviewed while the former speaker of the U.S. House was in Jacksonville earlier in the day. Host Ed Dean is one of the most feisty, informative and entertaining conservatives in Florida. The show can be heard online here and on two stations in South Florida -- 89.3 on the west coast and 90.3 on the Atlantic coast.
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Reps. Alcee Hastings and Dennis Ross -- two names you don't see together every day -- are co-sponsoring legislation to regulate insider trading by members of Congress.
Hastings, D-Miramar, and Ross, R-Lakeland, are among the most liberal and conservative members of the House, and rarely vote on the same side. But the odd couple joined 54 other members in supporting HR 1148, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act introduced by Rep. Timothy Walz, D-Minn.
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The Associated Industries of Florida confirmed Thursday that passage of a destination-resorts bill will be among its top legislative priorities in 2012.
Bringing the destination-resorts industry to Florida would be the greatest job creator in the states recent history. With this kind of potential, a single industry could help us move approximately 10 percent of our states jobless off the unemployment rolls and we could get paychecks in the hands of tens of thousands of people within the next 12 months, said Brewster Bevis, AIF vice president of external relations.
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