At the steps of the old Capitol to launch a new organization to register African-American and Caribbean voters across Florida, Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, weighed in on a number of topics, including the special session of the Legislature next week, extension of unemployment benefits and the need for an Arizona-style law on immigration in the Sunshine State.

Hill disagreed with Gov. Charlie Crists proposal to limit the session to focusing on forwarding a proposed constitutional amendment to the voters which would ban oil drilling in state waters.

Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hallandale Beach, endorsed Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, over Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, in the close Democratic primary battle for the attorney general nomination.

As a state senator, I have served with both AG candidates in this race. I have chosen to support Dave Aronberg because he has dedicated his entire career to public safety and consumer protection -- and has the results to prove it, said Sobel.

Workshops at the South Florida Water Management District are typically rather dry affairs. But Tea Party groups say they will stir things up Wednesday.

A coalition of local Tea Party organizations and the Republican Majority Committee PAC plan to descend on SFWMD headquarters in Palm Beach to protest the district's $536 million purchase of 73,000 acres of U.S. Sugar property. Downsized from the original deal, the revised plan contains an option for 107,000 more acres at a yet-to-be-determined price.

Behind in the polls and short on cash, Republican gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Bill McCollums campaign, trying to catch up with Rick Scott, trumpeted an endorsement from Quin Hillyer, an editorial writer with the conservative Washington Times.