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Remember a few months ago when Florida and Alabama beat Georgia in that court battle in the water wars over the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint rivers system?
Well, a U.S. District Appeals Judge upheld the ruling on Friday and denied Georgia's appeal for a rehearing of the case.
Marian Young, the first wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young, was the first donor to the Max Linn campaign to defeat her ex-husband for Pinellas County's District 10 seat.
Reached Friday at her home, Marian Young, 76 of Madeira Beach, said her support for Linn isn't about his political positions.
"I’m with him because we’re friends," she said, declining to comment further. Linn said he used to be her financial planner.
Marian and Bill Young were married more than 30 years but divorced in 1985. Young then married Beverly Angello, his current wife. They have three sons.
According to the Federal Election Commission, Marian Young donated $2,300 on March 5, about a week before Linn formally announced his candidacy at the Greater Pinellas Democratic Club.
--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
MEMO TO: Sen. Barack Obama
Re: Blowing off 27 electoral votes
Thanks for coming by next week for a three-day campaign swing, senator.
There has been lots of chatter about you ceding Florida to Sen. John McCain, given the way you've ignored the state for eight months and dismissed the 1.75-million Democrats who voted in our disputed Democratic primary. We're trying not to take it personally when you keep talking about the old electoral map — i.e. Pennsylvania, Ohio and US! — being so 2000/2004.
But here's something you and your advisers might be missing: Florida is turning bluer by the day.
The trend is easy to miss when you see the popularity of our Republican governor, Charlie Crist. Add John Kerry's five-point loss here in 2004 and Jeb Bush's 2002 landslide re-election as the DNC's top target, and nobody could blame you for thinking Florida is solidly Republican red.
Take a closer look, though, because Florida's political landscape is shifting dramatically. More here.
And just like that, it was all over. Florida Commissioner Kevin McCarty has allowed Allstate to sell new business again. The ban lasted less than 48 hours. OIR says Allstate is complying with the subpoenas.
Planned Parenthood said Friday it will make phone calls and launch a direct-mail campaign targeting a half-dozen legislators who voted in favor of a bill that would have required pregnant women to be shown an ultrasound of the fetus before undergoing an abortion. The bill (HB 257) passed the House easily, but died in the Senate on a dramatic 20-20 tie as seven GOP senators sided with opposition Democrats.
The lone Tampa Bay lawmaker who's being targeted is Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who's up for re-election this fall. The other five are Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-Palm Beach Gardens, and Reps. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie; Doug Holder, R-Sarasota; Matt Hudson, R-Naples; and Darren Soto, D-Orlando.
Atwater has raised more than $1.6-million and faces a challenge in a moderate district from former Democratic Sen. Skip Campbell as hs seeks to become the next Senate president. Harrell is running for Congress, Holder represents a swing district and Hudson and Soto are so-called redshirt freshmen, who were elected in the past year.
The Associated Press interviewed a third of the panel members and several other Democrats involved in the negotiations and found widespread agreement that the states must be punished for stepping out of line. If not, the members say, other states will do the same thing in four years.
"We certainly want to be fair to both candidates, and we want to be sure that we are fair to the 48 states who abided by the rules," said Democratic National Committee Secretary Alice Germond.
"We have to have delegates, and they have to be delegations that reflect the opinions of those two states," said former DNC Chairman Don Fowler, a committee member supporting Clinton. "How we get there is very different because everyone sees these questions of who it helps and who it hurts. I don't think the formulation has been found that will get around the piece at this point." But he said a solution is probably possible among the diverse interests. More here.
The state GOP has put some creative effort into its countdown for the return of Barack Obama to Florida. Check it out.
"Florida voters deserve to know why Barack Obama will take thousands of dollars from deep-pocket fundraisers, while refusing to talk to Florida voters, grassroots volunteers, or media," explained RPOF Chairman Jim Greer. "They deserve to know why Barack Obama has ignored Floridians for 249 days, and they deserve to know what he will do to make sure that the 1.7 million Democrats who voted in the Florida Primary aren’t disenfranchised. "
Gov. Charlie Crist has invited a select group of political leaders to meetings in Tampa and Fort Lauderdale on June 3 to discuss "the political climate here in Florida and around the country." With Crist will be Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, where Tuesday, Democrat Travis Childers won a Congressional seat that had long been in Republican hands.
"As Governor of Florida, I know the importance that solid, strong leadership can make in shaping a state," Crist writes in the invitation letter. In it, he says he plans to take on a more prominent role in the Republican Governors Association in "moving our country in the right direction." Eleven states will have gubernatorial races in 2008. The lone southeastern state with a governor's race is North Carolina, where Democrat Mike Easley is termed out.
The two Crist-Barbour meetings will be hosted by George LeMieux, who was Crist's chief of staff in 2007.
Marco Rubio will not run for Miami-Dade mayor, putting an end to one of the most watched political guessing games in the state. Instead, he plans on spending the election season on TV, as a analyst and pundit on Spanish language TV.
"I obviously care very deeply about Miami-Dade," the outgoing House Speaker told the Buzz. "But I didn't feel it was the right opportunity for me in this state. The issues I have a passion for are state issues."
Rubio said he felt he could pose a strong challenge to incumbent Carlos Alvarez, strong mayor for the past two years, but said Alvarez hasn't had enough time to fully prove himself. "It really wasn't about being able to win or not," Rubio said.
UPDATE: Details on the jump
That's the Buzz - not confirmed by the campaign yet - that Barack Obama has settled on the St. Petersburg Times forum for an mid-afternoon event Wednesday. He'll finish up his trip Friday outside his comfort zone with a speech before the ardently anti-Castro Cuban American National Foundation.
Apparently that's what a Playboy magazine survey has found. From the Des Moines Register: "The current issue of Playboy includes a list of governors and ex-governors, rated for "doability" by a panel discussion held by Playboy Radio in the wake of former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's prostitution scandal. The panel included "some high-priced Los Angeles call girls," the article says, although it was rather skimpy on other details.
"Iowa's Chet "Big Lug" Culver is a lofty No. 4, behind Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Jeb Bush of Florida and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan. Toward the bottom of the list are Arizona's Janet Napolitano at No. 14, followed by John Corzine of New Jersey, Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. (Really.) Bringing up the rear is the erstwhile Gov. Spitzer at No. 18."
Floridians' bill for the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes is about to grow another $600-million.
The state catastrophe fund, which sells cheap reinsurance to insurers, needs to collect roughly 45 percent more than the $1.35-billion originally estimated to pay claims. Florida's State Board of Administration is expected to consider later this month a new bond sale, which means Floridians will be stuck with paying more in assessments for the old storms. Read it here.
Also, read more about how Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty can now ban Allstate from writing new auto business here.
Gov. Charlie Crist chose a couple of familiar political names among six appointees to the Florida Elections Commission. They include Republican consultant Karen Unger, who managed Gov. Jeb Bush's 2002 re-election, and Democrat Tom Rossin, a lawyer who was the 2002 Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor against Bush that year.
Others named to the panel, which enforces state election laws, are Jose Luis Rodriquez of Miami, assistant deputy director of the South Florida Water Management District; and attorneys Dusty Rhodes of Marco Island, Julie Kane of Miami and William Hollimon of Tallahassee. By law the panel must have members representing both political parties.
The Buzz is that Charlie Crist's former deputy chief of staff and hot shot political hand, will be John McCain's state director as of May 15. She bridges the Jeb-Charlie branches of the FL GOP and proved her mettle big time with Crist's gubernatorial campaign and Amendment 1.
NY Times: "Wounds from the Florida recount, still healing for many Democrats, are being ripped open again for some prominent former advisers to Al Gore. They say that a coming HBO film dramatizing the ballot battle after the 2000 election unfairly blames them for the Democrats’ failure to secure the White House."
The DNCC has tapped the Florida Progressive Coalition to be Florida's designated convention blogger. "Similar to the record-breaking voter turnout our Party has seen during the primary season, the demand for these coveted blogger positions is yet another indicator of the tremendous interest in this historic Convention," said Howard Dean. "The Internet has played a critical role in connecting Americans to elected officials and candidates seeking office. The DemConvention State Blogger Corps will continue to foster this dialogue - in all 50 of our states and our territories too - as we head towards this year's historic election and elect a Democrat to the White House."
Florida is still in the dog house, of course. Though Dean has said hotel rooms have been set aside for a would-be Florida delegation, the national party still won't say where: "If they are seated we will absolutely provide for their housing needs," said DNCC spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth. "No specific hotel has been assigned."
UF trustees this morning approved president Bernie Machen's plan for $47-million in cuts, including program eliminations and the elimination of 430 staff and faculty positions, 290 of them already vacant.
Trustees did restore a couple of faculty spots in the liberal arts college, said spokesman Steve Orlando. But they expressed great concern about a "brain drain" of top faculty and staff -- a valid concern considering UNC administrators recently said publicly that now is the best time to poach from top Florida institutions like UF.
Already UF is losing its main IT guy, Mark Hoyt, to NC State, Orlando said. And the law school is losing at least one faculty member. FSU has seen similar losses, and administrators fear the exodus will only continue as the budgets grow leaner.
Thousands of Tampa-area voters who signed petitions that helped the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment get on the Nov. 4 ballot are receiving this letter from the opposition, suggesting they might have been "misinformed" about what they were signing.
The letter from the Red and Blue Committee says, among other things: "People collecting petitions aren't always honest about the issues they're pushing -- especially if they're paid by the signature." That infuriated Florida Family Action, the group seeking to put a same-sex marriage ban in the Constitution, because its petition-gatherers were unpaid volunteers. (Red and Blue countered that its letter did not specifically accuse Florida Family Action of paying for signatures).
The letter looks like a warm-up for a petition revocation effort, except that wouldn't make sense. The same-sex marriage ban is already on the ballot, as Amendment 2. Asked why the letter focuses on Hillsborough County (and Leon), Red and Blue spokesman Stephen Gaskill said: "Obviously, statewide elections are won in the I-4 corridor, so we're starting in Tampa, where we have a strong base of support." Florida Family Action says "homosexual activists" are behind the letter.
Aiming to start catching up to the Florida Federation of Young Professional Republicans, the Florida Young Democrats have hired a full-time executive director. Lori Poole comes from the Florida Justice Association.
"The Florida Young Democrats are very excited about our new Executive Director as this opens the door for a much more active and integrated youth movement in Florida" said Alan Brock, FYD President. "Her presence will help to coordinate the efforts of Young Democrats across the state, while providing professional quality organizational support to local YD chapters."
Democrat George Gonzalez, who's challenging Republican Rep. Jim Frishe for Pinellas County's District 54 House seat, has made ballot petition by collecting voters' signatures, he announced Wednesday. This is one of those so-called battleground seats where the Republican Party could face difficulty protecting its incumbents in a presidential year driven by turnout.
Frishe won the seat in 2006 with 53 percent of the vote, or a 3,000-vote margin over Democrat Betsy Valentine. On the same ballot, Democrat Alex Sink got 52 percent of the vote to win the office of chief financial officer.
The First District Court of Appeals has denied Allstate's appeal, like they had suggested they might a few weeks ago. Read it here. That means Commissioner Kevin McCarty can move to stop Allstate from writing new auto business until the insurer complies with regulators' subpoenas.
Ever hit the Starbucks kiosk at the Doubletree in downtown Tallahassee? Remember this woman?
Kimberly Cannon, 40, served Starbucks lattes and coffee to hundreds of Tallahassee's lawyers, lobbyists and lawmakers at the Doubletree Starbuck's kiosk. She started work there around the time of the PIP special session and worked through the budget-cutting and organizational sessions and all throughout this Spring's regular session.
But she's gone now. Leon County Sheriff's Office arrested her last Thursday, less than a week after session ended, on murder charges stemming from some sort of 13-year-old investigation in Santa Rosa County. Read the release here. Cannon has been transferred to Santa Rosa County jail.
Are some problems at the FAMU law school rooted in unrealistic enrollment goals set by the Legislature? Yes, some faculty members have concluded, according to the American Bar Association site team report that was the basis for this story in today's St. Petersburg Times.
"The Self-Study makes clear that one of the factors driving the admissions decisions is the legislative mandate that the Law School reach an enrollment of 750," the report says. "The faculty and administration believe that this would not be in the best interest of the Law School and report that they intend to see if a lower enrollment target of 650 students might be acceptable to the Legislature."
Continue reading "ABA: Legis mandate partly to blame for FAMU law woes" »
In a state with Castors, Meeks, Bushes, Bilirakises, and Diaz-Balarts, we probably shouldn't be surprised to see nepotism popping up in the FDP's elections of wanna-be delegates to the Democratic national convention. But with interest stonger than ever in becoming delegates - even with all the uncertainty - there's a growing Buzz of discontent over the deck being stacked for relatives of party insiders in big south Florida counties that dominate the state Democratic executive committee. Among them: Lori Glasser, daughter-in-law of Diane Glasser; and Jared Moscowitz, son of Mike Moscowitz.
There's also grumbling about Miami-Dade Chairman Bret Berlin pushing for his mother to be elected to one of the 40 at large delegate slots that nearly 400 people are vying for. But Democrats being Democrats, they have big time affirmative action guidelines, and Berlin tells Buzz he's actually not voting for his mother and is discouraging others from doing so. Why? Because mom's not black, Hispanic, native American, Asian, disabled, a vet, gay, lesbian, bi or transgender and thus doesn't fit the affirmative action plan.
"Especially on Mother's Day, it's not easy to have that discussion with your mother,'' Berlin said of opposing his own mother's candidacy. Below is an e-mail making the rounds of Democratic activists. The header: "Broward and Miami-Dade party leaders abusing the system for their own special interest"
Continue reading "Nepotism alive and well among Democrats" »
He'll be in Miami Tuesday giving a speech about Cuba and Latin America. No word yet on other public events.
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio on Monday put the brakes on plans for Tampa's reclaimed water backed by Senators Paula Dockery, Ronda Storms and J.D. Alexander. Iorio said she won't contribute the city's water to the $188-million project that would allow a private company to sell millions of gallons of Tampa's wastewater to customers in Polk and Hillsborough counties. Iorio said she wants to keep the water in the city to reduce drinking water use in Tampa. Storms and Alexander cared about the project enough that they tried to block the re-appointment of Southwest Florida Water Management District executive director Dave Moore because he wasn't making it a high enough priority.
Buzz is that Gov. Charlie Crist is headed to Melbourne this afternoon to reveal the details on a deal to bring Brazilian jet manufacturer Embraer to Florida, a $41 million aviation deal. Florida Today has the report. Supposedly, the company is slated to get a major economic incentive package.
Ken Magyar, an 88-year-old cyclist from Orlando, added little levity to a Florida Cabinet meeting on Tuesday when he announced to Gov. Charlie Crist: "I've never met a real, live governor before."
"Well, today is your day. I'm alive," Crist said to Magyar who was among those receiving a special resolution in honor Bike Florida, a nonprofit that encourages cycling across the state.
And then the white-haired cyclist complimented Crist's hair: "I wish I had hair like yours." And Crist answered, "you do."
Gov. Charlie Crist said continued bad news, when it comes to revenue numbers, won't make his veto pen more stringent. There's Buzz that April revenue dollars are going to be down even more.
"We're reviewing the budget right now. . .those aren't really determining factors in deciding on what may or may end up in the budget. But I look forward to being as fiscally prudent as I can," Crist said.
When asked if he or his office had already identified budget turkeys ripe for the veto pen, Crist said: "I've made no judgments yet."
Maybe it's time to cool the speculation about Barack Obama writing off Florida's 27 electoral votes. The day after the Illinois senator is expected to win a majority of the delegates for the nomination, he is planning to make up for lost time by kicking off a three-day Florida campaign swing in the Tampa Bay area on May 21. He also recently sent a campaign worker to Miami to work on voter registration, and more are expected soon.
"It just confirms what everyone on the Obama campaign has been saying — not only will we compete in Florida but we'll compete in every part of Florida," said Miami lawyer Kirk Wagar, Obama's Florida finance chairman. "He has to introduce himself to the people in Florida in a way that he won't have to in all the other primary states (where) he's competed, but he has the time and the resources and the message," Wagar said. "
The SEC released this on Broward cardiologist Zachariah, the top Bush family bundler whom Jeb appointed to the Board of 
Medicine, the Board of Governors, and the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education: "The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil action today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah (Zachariah), Dr. Mammen P. Zachariah (M. Zachariah), and Dr. Sheldon Nassberg, alleging that they engaged in illegal insider trading from which they reaped a total of more than a half-million dollars in profits from their illicit scheme. All three defendants reside and practice medicine in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida area.trading day before IVAX announced on July 25, 2005 that Teva would acquire it....
"...The complaint seeks a judgment against all defendants providing for injunctions, disgorgement of their ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties. The complaint also seeks an order prohibiting Zachariah from serving as an officer or director of a public company."
The still-changing host lists in Orlando 5/21: Bill Beckett, Nathan Carter, Roger Chapin, Joseph Egan, Rohini & Suresh Gupta Edye & Ed Haddock, Bibiana & Gregory Herbert, Isis & Garry Jones, Allan Katz, David King, Nouha & Patrick Kupelian, Bob Mandell, Sarah & Brock McClane, Rosy & Harold Mills, Mark NeJame, Sherri Pierce, Tom Rossetter, Fritz Schiller, Bobby Stein, Nancy Whited & Michelle Stile, Nell & Brad Thompson, Kirk Wagar, Ann & Bill Wallace, Susan Morris & Ron Webster, Edward Woodill III
And in Hollywood 5/22:Rachel & Jeremy Alters, Katie Lane Arriola & Eddy Arriola, Ricky Arriola, Adrienne Arsht, Maggie & JP Austin;Chandra & Freddy Balsera, William Barzee, Mitchell Berger, Ed Bell, Ingrid & Neil Birenbaum; Allison Cammack, Steven Chaykin, Ahpaly Coradin, Lynn Overmann & David Crouch, Jaret Davis,Jorge Dominicis, Mike Eidson, Gary Farmer, Barbara & Richard Garrett, Nancy & Mark Gilbert; Evelyn & Bruce Greer, Carla & Marlon Hill, Heather Urban Holtzman & Max Holtzman, Mayor Neisen Kasdin; Allan Katz, Hank Klein, Lilianne & David Kubiliun, Michael Lozoff, Joseph Louis, Jr.;Christina Getty‐Maercks & Arin Maercks, Chris Marlin, Todd Michaels, Bryan Miller;Rachel & Damian Navarez, Tunde Ogunluna, Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter, Tony Rogers, John Ruffin, Jessica Goldman Srebnick & Scott Srebnick, Abby & Damian Thorman, Pamela Watson; Anne & Andrew Weinstein, Leslie Zigel.
Florida's prison system had already fined its food provider $241,000 this year over staffing and supply issues. And then 277 inmates said they became sick last month after eating chili.
The April 25 incident at a Panhandle prison has raised the latest question into the performance of Aramark Corp., which took over prison food service in 2001 as part of former Gov. Jeb Bush's privatization push.
"I think in the past we probably didn't manage the contract as closely as we should have," said Richard Prudom, chief of staff for the Florida Department of Corrections, on Monday. "I think they are just taking a little time catching up. But these fines mean we're serious."
The suspect food was served at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Milton. Prisoners complained of diarrhea and upset stomachs. The problems did not persist, and health officials have not determined whether the chili was the cause. But the situation has added to ongoing trouble for Aramark, a powerful Philadelphia company that has been at the forefront of outsourcing efforts nationwide. (story here)
Also, check out what Florida inmates eat.
