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Florida News
Index of Stories
2012
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Florida
News 2012
(scroll down)
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Posted December 20, 2012 11:50 am | Part XXXI
LIVE OAK, FL – Tuesday afternoon, December 18,
2012, the North Florida Broadband Authority was
scheduled to appear in front of the Suwannee
County, County Commission. For a while it was
touch and go as County Administrator Randy
Harris advised the Commission he received a call
that past Friday afternoon from the NFBA. He
said he was told that the NFBA would not be
prepared to have anyone at the meeting to answer
questions or provide information. An e mail from
Ms. Springfield suggested someone could be
available after the
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Posted
December 18, 2012 09:25 am | Part XXX
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
The North Florida Broadband Authority, the $30,000,000
Obama stimulus funded wireless broadband project that
was eventually to bring internet service to the
"unserved and underserved" in North Central Florida has
gone through multiple attorneys; project managers;
compliance officers; and engineering firms, as well as
at least three different rate studies; multiple system
redesigns and multiple last mile providers. Overseen at
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Posted December 10, 2012 03:05 am | Part XXIX
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The saga of the ill fated
Obama Stimulus funded North Florida Broadband
Authority (NFBA) continues. The November Board
meeting was cancelled due to the sudden firing
of loyal Board Clerk Faith Doyle. A week before,
the NFBA's Community Outreach Director, Theresa
Westberry, suddenly resigned, but the best kept
secret of all was the earlier demise of the
NFBA's second last mile provider, Last Mile Wifi,
run by 30 year industry veteran Tom Gregory, who
learned that 30 years in the industry couldn't
protect him
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 Posted December
5, 2012 10:15 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - It's the cold and flu season, and the
CDC recommends hand-washing as a way to keep
yourself healthy and to prevent spreading germs
when you do get sick. But a study from Johns
Hopkins University raises questions about
whether we're "too clean" because of the use of
antibacterial products.
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 Florida
Water Wins: EPA Sets Pollution Limits
Posted
Dec 3, 2012 08:30 am
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - New pollution standards are being called a
giant step forward for Florida water quality and
beyond. Late Friday the EPA agreed to
immediately propose strict, enforceable limits
to reduce the water pollution that causes toxic
algae and slime. It did so after a Florida
federal judge failed to grant an extension to
reach a decision.
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Posted November 29, 2012 11:50 am | Part XXVIII
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
The helter-skelter saga of the North Florida Broadband
Authority (NFBA), the woebegotten $30,000,000 Obama
stimulus funded broadband project, continued after our
last article, which had an exasperated Columbia County,
North Central Florida's richest, most powerful rural
county, withdrawing from the NFBA. The next day, the
NFBA road show appeared in Madison County, with its only
last mile provider, SVIC. With exactly 90 days left
before the Federal money spigot was to shut off, the
NFBA had only a handful of customers.
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Posted Nov 16, 2012 09:05 am | Public News
Service
TAMPA, FL - BP is set to pay $4.5 billion for criminal
charges related to the Deepwater Horizon
explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in
2010.
The U.S. Justice Department announced the settlement on
Thursday. It covers guilty pleas of manslaughter for the
11 lives lost, as well as charges under the
Federal Migratory Bird Act, and obstruction of
Congress.
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Posted Nov 14, 2012 12:50 pm | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - On Veterans Day, some vets urged
Congress not to confuse programs important to veterans
with military spending, during Washington's budget wars.
They pointed out that the Department of Defense budget
would take a big hit if Congress goes over the so-called
"fiscal cliff," but the Veterans Affairs budget is
separate and protected.
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Posted Nov 09, 2012 11:25 am | Public News
Service
By
Stephanie Carroll Carson
MIAMI, FL - While the nation waits for Florida's
complete election results, there is already an
indication that Latinos played a large role in the
number of votes received by President Obama in the
Sunshine State.
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Posted November 2, 2012 06:30 am | Part XXVII
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Last night, Columbia County made its voice heard
throughout North Central Florida to Washington, DC, to
the West Coast and all points in between, when it
approved a resolution by Vice Chair Stephen Bailey to
withdraw from the troubled Obama Stimulus Funded North
Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA). As the Commissioners
voiced disappointment that the promise of the NFBA was
not met and the unserved and underserved of North
Central Florida and Columbia County would not have
high-speed Internet, the NFBA brass sat silent in the
audience.
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Posted October 29, 2012 07:15 am | Public News
Service
MIAMI, FL – Florida's early voting kicked off this
weekend and, with the state's history of election
controversy, poll monitors are on hand to make sure
everyone who wants to cast a ballot is able to exercise
the right to vote. The AFL-CIO is one organization
monitoring the polls and its executive vice president,
Arlene Holt Baker, says they're already hearing some
troubling allegations of tampering with the voting
process in Florida.
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Posted
October 25, 2012 04:00 pm
MIAMI, FL – Florida’s infrastructure has not improved
over the last four years according to a new report by
Florida’s civil engineers. The report, the 2012 Report
Card for Florida’s Infrastructure, was released by the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Florida
Section on October 24th in Miami. Local civil engineers
volunteered a year of their time grading the state’s
systems in areas of their expertise in an effort to
raise awareness about the poor state of Florida’s
infrastructure.
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Posted October 25, 2012 11:45 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Beginning this month, families in
Florida can enroll in the state's Prepaid College Plan,
allowing them to lock in this year's plan prices to
prepare for the rising cost of higher education at state
schools. An added benefit: the savings towards their
children's education are tax-free.
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Posted October 24, 2012 09:23 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - October is National Bullying
Prevention Month, and Florida educators are being asked
to take a pledge to stand up for bullied students. The
National Education Association launched a month long
campaign called "Bully Free: It Starts With Me" to bring
more awareness to this growing problem.
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Posted October 22, 2012 02:17 pm | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - It's a waiting game as BP oil company
executives and federal officials meet to discuss the
settlement amount the company will have to pay as a
result of the Gulf oil spill that leaked an estimated
4.1 million gallons of oil into Gulf waters.
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Posted October
17, 2012 02:40 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL - Florida, since being featured in
the Marx Brothers, The Cocoanuts, in the land
boom days of the twenties (1920s), has been a living
legend and number one in public corruption for years on
end. Integrity Florida, a nonprofit, nonpartisan
research institute and government watchdog, whose
mission is to promote integrity in government and expose
public corruption, may have finally caught the ears of
the politicians and been the catalyst for the recent
talk concerning real ethics reform in Florida.
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 Posted October 15, 2012 12:15 am
OCA RATON, FL- The Keith C. & Elaine Johnson
World Performing Arts Center at Lynn University
will host the final debate between President
Barack Obama and GOP Candidate Mitt
Romney, October 22, 2012. This historic occasion
will be enhanced by the outstanding
architecture.
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Posted October 9, 2012 03:50 am | Part XXVI
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last Thursday night the North
Florida Broadband Authority's road show, minus the
$10,000 a month NFEDP's Jeff Hendry, the man in charge
of Community Outreach for the NFBA since 2010, traveled
to Columbia County. They came to ask for free tower
space and answer questions. Other than a few hardball
questions, the County Commission, unprepared as usual,
acted like they were reading from a script of
prearranged questions and mostly soft peddled the
failing Authority that had squandered millions of
taxpayer dollars through mismanagement and worse.
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 Push for Amendment to Protect FL's Environment
Posted October 8, 2012 10:37 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Efforts continue to pass an
amendment to Florida's state constitution to
protect annual funding for environmental
protection and restoration. The Florida Land and
Legacy Campaign is working through a petition
drive to put an amendment on the November 2014
ballot to guarantee annual funding for land and
water conservation.
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Posted October 3, 2012 09:20 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL
- About $3 million of Florida taxpayers' money
will be spent to fill
Fisheating Creek in Glades County, a major
tributary of Lake Okeechobee. The state is using
sand for the job provided by
Lykes Brothers, an agribusiness upstream on
the creek. A lawsuit filed Tuesday against the
Florida
Department of Environmental Protection
challenges the agency's approval of Lykes
Brothers' request to have the channel blocked to
navigation.
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Posted October 1, 2012 03:00 am | Part XXV
The saga of the
woebegotten $30 mil Obama stimulus funded North
Florida Broadband Authority continued last
Thursday morning, September 27, 2012, when no
one bid to service the wireless broadband
network. The NFBA spans 14 north central Florida
counties. Inept management; a federal government
mandated shutdown due to charges of waste,
fraud, and abuse; a federal investigation, which
has ended up under the carpet; outrageous
salaries and non competitive hiring and
procurements; and a bankrupt business partner
have sent the signal far and wide that the North
Florida Broadband Authority is not a government
business you want to do business with.
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Posted September
24, 2012 08:55 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida ranks number one in a new
study for the number of complaints about
purchases of puppies that are in poor health.
The findings point to the need for buyers to be
more careful about where their new pets come
from, says Melanie Kahn, senior director of the
Puppy Mills Campaign of the Humane Society of
the United States. She says 91 percent of the
complaints in the new study center on puppies
that are ill or have congenital disorders that
can shorten their lives.
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 FL
Religious Leaders Address the "Moral Dimension" of
Hunger
Posted September 17, 2012 02:30 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL Recent polls show major public
opposition to cutting food assistance programs
such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP). However, local religious leaders
in Florida are concerned that some lawmakers in
Washington, D.C., are not getting the message.
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Posted September 13, 2012 07:31 am | Part XXIV
LAKE CITY, FL – The saga of the $30,000,000
stimulus funded behind schedule North Florida
Broadband Authority (NFBA) continues with
another casualty, as the Observer has recently
learned that Dixie County, on July 19, 2012,
officially pulled out of the NFBA. As it
struggles to stay afloat on a soon to disappear
stream of millions of mismanaged Obama dollars,
there were no press releases by the NFBA
announcing this event. On May 9, 2012, Dixie
County's County Manager came to an NFBA meeting,
spoke out and questioned the NFBA about its
progress. The NFBA cleansed its minutes of all
of Dixie County's remarks. The Observer begins
the story here.
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Posted September 11, 2012 09:30 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Across the country, dozens of
lawsuits against manufacturers of generic drugs
have been dismissed because of a decision by the
Supreme Court a year ago that makes it all but
impossible to sue the firms for failing to
provide adequate warning of a drug's dangers.
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Posted September 10, 2012 06:45 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Recently, the Columbia
County Observer, the online news source of
Columbia County, North Central Florida and
Florida news, came under attack by the Lake
Shore Hospital Authority's General Manager,
Jackson P. Berry, a quintessential public
figure, former head of the republican party, Jeb
Bush appointee to the Lake Shore Hosp Auth Board
and its past chairman, and present LSHA General
Manager.
Zurich Insurance, the global insurance
carrier, denied Mr. Berry liability insurance
and Mr. Berry is threatening a defamation law
suit, blaming the Columbia County Observer for
his woes. The FL Southern Christian Leadership
Conference told the Observer: "We will stand by
you."
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 Posted
September 6, 2012 11:15 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Not enough money to keep food on the
table. That's the challenge for more than 15
percent of Florida households, according to
new data from the agency responsible for federal
food and nutrition programs.
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Posted September 5, 2012 09:35 am | Part XXIII
LAKE CITY, FL -
Last night in Lake City, the proponents of big
government, led by North Florida Broadband
Authority (NFBA) insider, City Manager Wendell
Johnson, took two rubber stamped steps and gave
the ultra secretive Obama stimulus funded NFBA a
double victory. The City Council in two 4-1
votes, first agreed to begin funding an
environmental study for the proposed new
worldwide headquarters for the failing NFBA.
Then, twenty minutes later, voted to lease a
City water tower to the NFBA for free, which
will enable the NFBA to sublease it to a private
business. The NFBA, a governmental agency and
the private business can turn, or try to turn a
profit. City Councilman Jake Hill was the only
nay vote.
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Posted September 3, 2012 10:50 pm
LAKE CITY, FL - Last Thursday's North Central Florida
Regional Planning Council meeting played to a full
house, as North Central Florida's rural counties and
cities came to connect with their fellow members, the
planning Council, and listen to the Department of
Economic Opportunity's Dr. Barbara Foster's presentation
called, "Planning For Economic Opportunity."
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Posted August 31, 2012 07:35 am
TAMPA, FL - The curtains closed Thursday night on one of
the more memorable Republican National Conventions - and
Ron Paul supporters leaving Florida today are tasked
with the job of backing a candidate that's not their
own.
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Posted August 30, 2012 09:00 am
TAMPA, FL - The people watching money in politics say
the fundraising arms race has gone nuclear. Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the
Center for Responsive Politics, is on-site,
observing the Republican National Convention. She
expects candidates and their allies to spend a minimum
of $5.8 billion...
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Posted August 28, 2012 05:40 am
TAMPA, FL - After being pushed back a day by
Hurricane Isaac, the Republican National
Convention will kick into full gear today, but
the Tea Party faction already has been busy,
holding a Unity Rally in advance of the
convention. Taking place at a Tampa mega-church,
the rally included speakers such as one-time
presidential candidates Herman Cain and Michele
Bachmann.
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Posted August
27, 2012 05:35 am
TAMPA, FL - Amid all the rain-soaked Romney supporters
braving the threat of Hurricane Isaac for the Republican
National Convention (RNC) in Tampa this week, there also
are people protesting the presumed Republican nominee's
platform. As weather permits, events are planned for
protesters along the official convention parade route,
near the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
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Posted August 22, 2012 02:35 pm | Part XXII
Lake City, FL – The North Florida Broadband Authority
(NFBA) has been racked with insider dealing, conflicts
of interest, allegations of waste, fraud, abuse; massive
procurement irregularities, incompetence, outrageous
salaries, background and credit history cover-ups,
including a cover-up by the Feds of an investigation by
the Office of the Investigator General of the Department
of Commerce. The NFBA is over a year behind schedule.
After spending over $23,000,000 of the $30,000,000 of
Obama stimulus money, the NFBA has, at the most, a
handful of people using its continually
redesigned wireless broadband network and has
...
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Posted August 20, 2012 12:50 pm | Public News
Service
VERO BEACH, FL - There are more than 50 Florida animal
species listed as endangered under the federal
Endangered Species Act, and several of them have seen
sharp declines in recent years. The Florida panther and
manatee are well-known creatures on the list, but there
are dozens of lesser-known, yet vital, examples, such as
the Miami blue butterfly and the Everglade snail kite.
The Florida grasshopper sparrow is one example of a
species that is reportedly very near extinction.
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Posted August 16, 2012 06:30 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida is seen as a swing
state in this 2012 presidential election, and
political experts say senior citizens could be
the ones to swing the vote in the Sunshine
State. A study released this week found that
economic anxieties are the number-one issue for
non-retired baby boomers, with 75 percent of
respondents saying it's a top concern.
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Posted August 10, 2012 06:30 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Time is running out to
apply for disaster assistance if you were
impacted and suffered a loss as a result of
Tropical Storm Debby. Columbia County, FEMA and
the SBA are on a final push to make sure all
those that need to register and apply for
assistance get registered and have their
applications filed.
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Posted August 8, 2012 10:15 am | Public News
Service
ST. PETERSBURG, FL -
It's a "baby boom" year for Florida sea turtles.
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FL Doctors Asked to Screen for Domestic Violence
Posted August 3, 2012 09:10 am | Public News
Service
NAPLES, FL -
Florida doctors can now screen patients for
indications of domestic violence, as one of the
eight preventive care tests available at no
additional cost under a section of health care
reform that just became effective this week. It
is being billed by some as a step toward
improving women's health, and saving money for
the healthcare system in the long run.
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Posted August 2, 2012 10:45 am | Part XXI
Lake City, FL – The secretive and seriously
behind schedule North Florida Broadband
Authority met yesterday morning in Lake City to
award a 12th hour hastily rearranged bid for its
Network Operator, an illegal bid that only days
before included its touted partner and RUS Loan
recipient, Mainstreet Broadband. Since May 9th,
when the NFBA rolled out Mainstreet as its last
mile provider of choice, Mainstreet was being
heralded as the prime "commercial partner" that
in the NFBA's words, was going to "expand high
speed internet service to rural north central
Florida." Yesterday, as the NFBA meeting drew to
a close, Mainstreet Broadband
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Posted August 1, 2012 03:50 am
| Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL
- Attending an animal fight has been a felony in
Florida for nine years, but now there is a push
in Washington to make it a federal offense to
cross state lines to fight animals, and also to
offer some consistency among the state laws.
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Posted July 27, 2012 06:40 am
Jacksonville, FL – Tropical Storm Debby affected many
small businesses in Florida and the Small Business
Development Center (SBDC) at the University of North
Florida is ready to help accelerate the recovery
process. Certified business continuity professionals
from the SBDC at UNF will make a visit to Columbia
County on July 30 from 10:00 to noon at Lowe’s Home
Improvement Store at NW Bascom Norris Dr. in Lake City.
Business owners who were affected by Tropical Storm
Debby are invited to visit the MAC to find out more
about...
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Posted July, 26, 2012 11:10 pm | Part XX
Starke/Trenton,
FL – The North Florida Broadband Authority, an
Obama stimulus program that has been racked by
charges of waste, fraud, and abuse; has gone
through multiple engineering firms, law firms,
lawyers, accounting firms and accountants; has
performed at least three rate studies; has a
partner that has also received a Rural Utility
Service (RUS) loan; is and has been under
investigation by the Office of the Inspector
General of the Dept. of Commerce; has a $200k
plus anointed prima donna general manager with
zero communication industry experience; a
project manager who has had badges of fraud
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Posted July 24, 2012 08:15 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The future of a southwest
Florida river is now in the hands of the federal
court system. On Monday, environmental groups
sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for what
they say are repeated violations of water
protection laws on the Caloosahatchee River.
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 Posted July
23, 2012 06:35 am
MIAMI, FL - Hundreds of people will converge Tuesday
on Miami's Bayfront Park to voice their support for
a new push in Congress to raise the federal minimum
wage.
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 Posted July 20, 2012 03:05 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The FEMA/SBA Disaster Recovery
Relief Centers are still going strong in Florida
as a result of Tropical Storm Debby, which dumped record
amounts of rain and is being called by some a 500 year
event. Three of the DRCs have closed and FEMA
representatives have told the Observer that the centers
will stay open as long as folks are coming in. The
byword for FEMA/SBA reps is, "You must register to
receive assistance."
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Posted
July 9, 2012 01:15 pm
TALLAHASSEE, FL - With just four months to go
until the November election, there is one thing
missing from the campaigns, some people say, and
that is children. A recently released study by
the Child and Family Policy Center and Voices
for America's Children found that children's
issues often are absent from the discussion in
the presidential campaign. In the past 20
Republican presidential debates, children's
issues were only brought up two percent of the
time.
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Posted June 29, 2012 07:25 am
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -
Almost one million women in Florida will gain access to
health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act
(ACA), upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday. The
ACA also broadens their access to birth control and
preventive health screenings.
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Posted June 27, 2012 09:59 am | Public News
Service
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -
Congress is weighing in on a rule that advocates say
could save the lives of thousands of sea turtles every
year.
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Posted
June 26, 2012 08:55 am
TAMPA, FL - HIV
continues to be a public health threat in Florida,
particularly in the southern part of the state in
Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Wednesday is HIV
National Testing Day, and health officials are reminding
people of the importance of making an HIV test part of
their routine health screenings.
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Posted June 20, 2012 11:35 am
Integrity Florida research is getting results.
On June 15, the Florida Commission on Ethics set
its 2013 legislative priorities and cited
Integrity Florida research during the
discussion. The Ethics Commission's top two
priorities were both included as recommendations
in the Integrity Florida research
report Corruption Risk Report.
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Posted June 11, 2012 08:15 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The cost of cooling Florida
homes is expected to rise this summer, with
predicted record high temperatures and a
proposed rate hike from one of the state's major
electricity suppliers, Florida Power and Light.
The added cost will be hard to afford for many
Floridians, particularly seniors, explains AARP
spokesman Greg Tanner.
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Posted June 7, 2012 08:55 am
ST.
PETERSBURG – Progress Florida executive director
Mark Ferrulo made the following statement in
response to Gov. Rick Scott's Administration's
letter that he will continue purging registered
voters from Florida’s rolls despite
the Department of Justice calling for the purge
to stop: It’s now crystal clear that Floridians
can't trust their own governor to protect our
most...
(1
comment)
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Posted June 4, 2012 06:30 am | Special Report
A first-of-its-kind analysis of the online
porn industry reveals the economics and the
vulnerabilities of the shady world of online
adult media. If you want to know how the online adult
industry works, you must become a part of that
industry. That's what five security researchers
from The Technical University of Vienna, Eurecom
and UC Santa Barbara did in an attempt to get a
handle on how the adult industry makes money
online. And they found that it's exposing
everyone who consumes its wares to previously
unsuspected levels of malware.
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Posted May 29, 2012 06:00 am | Public News Service
HIGH SPRINGS, FL - This
Memorial Day weekend, red, white and blue weren't the
only colors visible on Florida waterways. Visitors also
saw green "summer slime" on the water in some parts of
the state. The unwanted color is caused by blooms or
outbreaks of algae, fed by a toxic combination of
industrial pollution, sewage, manure and fertilizer. Photo: JohnMoranPhoto.com
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American Cancer Society Cautions Sunshine State
About Skin Cancer
Posted May
24, 2012 05:15 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL -
Temperatures are rising in Florida - and so are skin
cancer rates. Every year more than 600 people die in
Florida from melanoma, the most serious type of skin
cancer. St. Johns County had the state's highest death
rate - 96 percent higher than the national average.
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Tallahassee, FL (Posted May 23, 2012 04:30 am)
Dignified Burial for Veterans
The members introduced this legislation after a
veteran, with no known next-of-kin, was buried
in a cardboard container at a VA National
Cemetery in Florida. The exposed remains were
discovered during a raise and realign project at
the cemetery.
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Posted
May 16, 2012 04:05 pm
JACKSONVILLE, FL - Stroke is the fifth leading
cause of death in Florida, according to the
American Heart Association. May is Stroke
Awareness Month, and health advocates are
reminding Floridians about the risks and warning
signs of the potentially deadly condition.
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Tallahassee, FL (Posted April 26, 2012 06:50 am)
Sexual Assault in the Military
Senator Nelson wrote to Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta about the growing issue of sexual
assault in the military. Senator Nelson urged
the Secretary to take a no-tolerance policy
towards sexual assault.
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Posted April 24, 2012 01:15 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Several new studies have been
released to mark April's Autism Awareness Month,
focusing on prenatal exposures, diet, and
prevalence of the disorder. The CDC reports one
of every 88 Florida children has some form of
autism, and success in school can be difficult,
although an expert who's considered to be the
best-known person with the disorder says it's
possible.
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Posted April
21, 2012 06:45 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida ranks number one among
the states when it comes to access to Pre-K, as
surveyed across the country. However, the
Sunshine State is slipping when it comes to
per-student spending, according to a report
released this month by the National Institute
for Early Education Research.
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Posted May 08, 2012 08:25 am
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Florida's U.S. Senator Bill
Nelson is a cosponsor of the Violence Against
Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), which passed
the Senate by a vote of 68-31 the last week in
April. Every female Republican Senator joined
with the Democrats in the Senate to support the
legislation. Florida U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio,
voted against the bill. FL Rep. Sandy Adams
(photo) is working to roll back protections.
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Posted May 07, 2012 07:40 am
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Social Security is going broke
three years earlier than last year's projection,
according to the annual report by the Social Security
Board of Trustees. Some are sounding the alarm bell for
major changes, while others say needed fixes are minor.
"There are many, many ways to bring that
additional...
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Posted April 30, 2012 07:59 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida has one of the highest
per-capita electricity usage rates in the
country, with utility bills climbing even higher
during the hot summer months. It's one reason
why Floridians join a majority of Americans in
wanting more renewable energy, according to a
recent survey commissioned by the Civil Society
Institute. It found that a majority of
Republicans, independents and Democrats would
all like Congress to work on an energy policy
that supports renewable energy, protects public
health, and
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Posted April 26, 2012 07:33 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The familiar sight of green
waterways has some residents and
environmentalists seeing red in Florida... A few
weeks ago, an early "summer slime" outbreak in
the Fort Myers area prompted the Lee County
Health Department to issue a warning for people
to avoid contact with waterways in the county,
just as the beach season is beginning.
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Posted April 24, 2012 01:15 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Several new studies have been
released to mark April's Autism Awareness Month,
focusing on prenatal exposures, diet, and
prevalence of the disorder. The CDC reports one
of every 88 Florida children has some form of
autism, and success in school can be difficult,
although an expert who's considered to be the
best-known person with the disorder says it's
possible.
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Posted April 23, 2012 08:10 am
SUWANNEE COUNTY, FL – The Suwannee Valley
Transit Authority (SVTA) is up to its old tricks
of playing cat and mouse with its meetings and
locking down information. During the last SVTA
meeting on March 26th, after it was determined
that the Authority's financial spreadsheets were
out of whack, the board voted to have a workshop
tonight to review the SVTA's financial
situation. Chairman of the SVTA, Columbia County
Commissioner, Ronald Williams, gave the order to
make sure the meeting was advertised. It wasn't.
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Posted April
21, 2012 06:45 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida ranks number one among
the states when it comes to access to Pre-K, as
surveyed across the country. However, the
Sunshine State is slipping when it comes to
per-student spending, according to a report
released this month by the National Institute
for Early Education Research.
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Posted April 18,
2012 10:25 am | Part XIX
TAYLOR COUNTY, FL – For
the past 2 1/2 years the North Florida Broadband
Authority has been in one stage of disarray or another.
Charges of waste, fraud, and abuse, ignored procurement
policies, noncompetitive hiring practices and outrageous
legal fees have been some of the hallmarks of a federal
stimulus project with good intentions turned bad. NFBA
member, Taylor County, has been considering parting ways
with the organization. Last night Taylor County decided
it had seen enough and became the third North Florida
Broadband Authority member to say goodbye.
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Posted
April 18, 2012 09:55 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - After
44 years of damming up a river for a project that was
never completed, central Florida is one step closer to
removing the dam over the Ocklawaha River. The dam was
built in 1968 as part of a project to construct a
cross-Florida barge canal. The plan was abandoned, but
the dam remained, blocking natural migration of Florida
wildlife. This week the U.S. Forest Service says it will
reconsider the impact of the dam on the river.
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Posted April
11, 2012 08:12 am | Part XVIII
TAYLOR COUNTY,
FL – The North Florida Broadband Authority
suffered another casualty when at 6:10pm last
night, the City of Perry pulled out of the NFBA.
City Manager Bob Brown has been briefing the
City Council for sometime regarding the goings
on at the NFBA. It took the Perry City Council
three minutes to unanimously decide to leave the
NFBA behind. (1
comment)
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Posted April 2, 2012 04:20 pm
BRADFORD COUNTY, FL –
In 2009 the North Florida Broadband Authority
was established with $30,000,000 of Obama
Stimulus Money for the purpose of bringing
internet service to the underserved rural areas
of North Central Florida. Today at 9:45 am,
after the written recommendation of Bradford
County Attorney, Will Sexton, the Bradford
County Commission voted unanimously to withdraw
from the NFBA.
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Posted April 2, 2012 07:15 am
LIVE OAK, FL,
April 2, 2012 – After working on a web redesign
over the last several months, the Suwannee River
Water Management District has hit a home run
with its new website. This is the first time the
website has undergone major upgrades since 2006.
It has a fresh look. It is packed with
information.
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Posted March
30, 2012 07:28 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - An unfinished construction
project in central Florida is harming - and
sometimes killing - Florida wildlife, according
to conservationists. The Ocklawaha River has
been blocked by the Kirkpatrick Dam since 1968,
when a federal project was started to connect
the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico.
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Posted March 29, 2012 008:55 am | Part XVI
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The North Florida
Broadband Authority saga continued in Lake City,
Florida, with another secret
meeting held by NFBA Board Chairman, Gilchrist
County's Tommy Langford. The guests included ...
various NFBA hired contractors and President
Obama's representatives from the Dept. of the
Commerce's NTIA, Doug Kinkoph and Chris Holt.
The ultimate purpose of this secret and illegal
meeting was to continue doling out $30,000,000
of Obama Stimulus money for the NFBA secretive
and failing broadband project.
(2
comments)
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Tallahassee, FL (Posted March 28, 2012 04:55 am)
This weeks congressional update runs the gamut
from stopping congressional abuses, supporting
startup companies, Everglades restoration and
more from the desk of Lynn
Bannister, Director of Outreach.
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Posted March 27, 2012 07:55 am
SUWANNEE COUNTY, FL –
The Suwannee Valley Transit Authority met at 6 o'clock
yesterday in an unnoticed and unannounced public
meeting. Still appearing to be millions of dollars in
debt, the Authority is looking for its three member
counties, Columbia, Hamilton and Suwannee, as well as
other governmental agencies, to bail them out.
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Posted March 26, 2012 12:15 pm
 NOAA
and its state and federal partners are
researching multiple ways Gulf dolphins may have
been exposed to oil, including through
ingestion, inhalation or externally. Bottlenose
dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, are
showing signs of severe ill health. Following
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, numerous
dolphins were documented encountering oil. (1
comment)
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 Posted March 23, 2012 05:38 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
Florida, the Sunshine State, is the bellwether across
the country for its Sunshine Laws, which encompass both
public meeting law and records access law. In Courtroom
2 in Lake City, a motion
hearing was held in open court to determine a side issue
in a case of great public concern. Did Third Circuit
State Attorney Robert "Skip" Jarvis delay producing
public records for Lake City resident, plaintiff LJ
Johnson and was the delay justified? But first the
motions...
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Tallahassee, FL (Posted March 21, 2012 10:59 am)
Learn about the Federal Highway Bill, the
prescription drug shortage, CDBG funding, beach
water quality testing and other things in this
weeks report from the desk of Lynn
Bannister, Director of Outreach.
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Posted March 19, 2012 07:59 am
MIAMI, FL - AARP is stepping forward to give
Americans a forum to voice their opinions about
the future of Social Security and Medicare.
Today in Miami and around the country the
organization is announcing its national
conversation titled, "You've Earned a Say." It's
an effort to enable people to share their
concerns with the politicians in Washington.
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Posted March 15, 2012 05:35 am | Public News
Service
TAMPS, FL - Living next
to a state-owned park in Florida might lead its
neighbors to expect they would be living next to native
species. However, they might see more exotic critters if
a bill passed on Friday by the Florida Legislature is
signed into law.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted March 14, 2012 09:05
am)
For two hours and twenty seven minutes Florida
Leaders Organized For Water (FLOW) met in
Columbia County's main auditorium to talk about
and listen to folks talk about water: water that
comes out of the sky, out of the ground, water
in the rivers, water in the springs, water used
for recreation and water that is used by farmers
to grow the food you eat. One thing on which
everyone could agree – the water level in the
aquifer is going...
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Posted March 13, 2012 08:35 am
MAIMI, FL - Miami is known for its high-rise office
buildings and affluence, but a growing disparity between
the wealthiest and those who clean up after them has
some labor groups crying foul.
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Gulf Coast RESTORE Act Passes Big Hurdle
Posted March 09,
2012 09:46 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida and other Gulf Coast
states are one step closer to restoration of
areas damaged by the 2010 BP oil spill.
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 Posted March 08, 2012 11:14 am
ALACHUA, FL – Last night the first public
meeting hosted by the North Florida Regional
Water Supply Partnership kicked off to a packed
house in Alachua City Hall with folks still
lined up and signing in fifteen minutes after
the meeting began. A crowd in the hundreds came
from all over in a show of force, which should
have told the Water Supply Partnership that they
weren't happy with the stewardship of their
water. Ann Shortelle of DEP said they...
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Posted March 06, 2012
11:45 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The Suwannee River Water
Management District, the St. Johns Water
Management District and the and the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection will host
a public meeting tonight, March 7, from 6–8 p.m.
at Alachua City Hall, 15100 N.W. 142nd Terrace,
Alachua, to bring stakeholders together to
discuss water supply issues in north Florida
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FL: More Kids Growing Up In Poor Neighborhoods
Posted February 29,
2012 06:55 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - A new
"Kids Count" Data Snapshot from the Annie E. Casey
Foundation released today shows that the number of
children living in high-poverty communities has
increased by 28 percent in Florida. In high-poverty
neighborhoods, 30 percent or more of the residents are
below the poverty line.
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Posted February
28, 2012 08:55 am | NFBA Part XV
LAKE
CITY, FL – Last night Lake City, City Manager Wendell
Johnson surprised Lake City's Community Redevelopment
Agency with another scheme to buy and renovate the Vann
family's Powers Building on Main Street. This time with
the troubled North Florida Broadband Authority. City Manager
Johnson is on the Board of Directors of the NFBA and has
said he visits with them about three times a week.
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 Posted February
27, 2012 12:45 am | Public News Service
SARASOTA, FL - The seabirds native to the
Florida coast are exposed to life-threatening
dangers every day, many of which are created by
common practices of human life. Save Our
Seabirds is a Sarasota-based nonprofit with a
mission to educate and rescue seabirds in the
Sunshine State.
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Posted February
25, 2012 01:30 am | Part XIV
 COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The North Florida Broadband
Authority (NFBA) is a $30,000,000 part of the Obama Stimulus
Package, which was designed to bring the internet to
"communities that were left behind." The NFBA is financed by
the American People and has been propped up by the Feds
for the past seven months, when they ordered
work stopped. Although work has recently begun
again, the NFBA is at least six months behind.
The NFBA continues under investigation by the
Federal Office of the Inspector General for waste, fraud and abuse.
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Posted February 21, 2012 07:15 am
TALLAHASSEE , FL - Pending Florida legislation
could convert some 500,000 acres of publicly
owned shoreline into private ownership.
Opponents, including Audubon Florida Director
Eric Draper, warn that it's a land grab move
backed by Florida agribusiness interests.
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Posted February 19, 2012 2:55 pm
Legislators across America are generally found
to be immune from testifying in civil cases.
Courts across the nation have recognized that
legislators at every level would be rendered
ineffective if they were constantly responding
to a bombardment of subpoenas. Last week the
House Judiciary Committee in a 13-5 party line
vote passed bill
PCB JDC 12-03, which gives current
legislators, former legislators and their staff,
and former staff members "absolute immunity"
from testifying or turning over their papers and
any documents until the end of time.
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Largest U.S. Private-Prison Deal Defeated in
Florida’s Senate
Posted February 15, 2012 06:45
am
TALLAHASSEE , FL - By a
two-vote margin Tuesday, Florida lawmakers killed a bill
that would have privatized 26 prisons in the state.
Corrections officers, backed by unions fought the
legislation. The private-prison move was supported by
the Republican majority and Gov. Rick Scott...
|
Posted February
15, 2012 06:33 am | 14 day post
The National Weather Service is improving its
Doppler radar serving Northeast Florida and
Southeast Georgia by installing the latest dual
polarization technology. This technology will
give forecasters better information about heavy
rainfall in flooding events, hail detection in
thunderstorms, and even recognize whether
precipitation is in the form of rain, snow or
ice.
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Posted
February 14, 2012 06:55 am
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Florida is still near the
bottom on a first-ever scorecard by AARP that
ranks states on how well they provide long-term
health care for seniors and people with
disabilities. Florida is number 41 overall and,
in some subcategories, the state ranks even
lower.
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Posted February 13, 2012 07:10 am
TAMPA BAY, FL – Late last week, Know Your Care,
Service Employee International Union (SEIU),
and Florida’s Community Health Action
Information Network (CHAIN) jointly sponsored a
teleconference to discuss the importance of all
women having affordable access to comprehensive
health care, including preventive health care
services and contraceptives. Laura Goodhue, the
executive director of CHAIN stated, “It’s an
emotional issue.”
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Posted Feb 09, 2012 06:30 am
| Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE , FL - Florida real estate developers
were selling houses as fast as they could build them
until the bottom fell out of the market. Now, hundreds
of new homes and condos stand empty, threatened with
decay and vandalism. What can property owners do to preserve their
investment until a house is sold? Some are turning to a
unique publication, Gary Dunn's Caretaker Gazette.
|
(Posted
Feb 06, 2012 07:45 am) | Florida News
Connection
KEY BISCAYNE, FL - The
closest thing to the Lost City of Atlantis may be
located three miles off the coast of south Florida.
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Tallahassee, FL (Posted Feb 02, 2011 07:15 am)
The Senator's most recent news update includes a
link to the recent Senate Judiciary Subcommittee
on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human
Rights’ first-ever field hearing in Tampa,
Florida on the state's new voting laws.
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Posted January 31, 2012 09:38 am
Florida correctional officers say a proposal to
privatize some prisons amounts to the government
picking winners and losers. They claim the
losers will be correctional officers who would
be unemployed or displaced, along with their
families and communities. Proponents, including
private prison operator GEO Group, counter that
privately-managed prisons are
|
 Recording
the Police: Is it a crime?
Chicago police sued over eavesdropping arrest
Posted January 27, 2011 09:48 am | Special to the
Observer
A 21-year-old woman acquitted of violating the
strict
Illinois eavesdropping statute is suing the
City of Chicago and three officers for allegedly
violating her Fourth Amendment rights when she
was arrested for recording her conversations
with police officers while filing a sexual
harassment complaint with the department. ¶
After recording a conversation with police,
Tiawanda Moore was arrested for violating an
Illinois law that makes it a felony to use a
device to record any conversation or intercept
communications without all parties' prior
consent. The law is broad, but there are
exemptions.
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Posted January 26, 2011 05:49 am
TAMPA – Progress Florida has submitted a
petition signed by 11,289 Floridians in
opposition to HB 1355 – the “Voter Suppression
Act of 2011.” The petition was made part of the
official record of the Senate Judiciary
Committee's hearing on Florida’s elections law
to be held Friday in
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Posted January 25, 2012 06:45 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Next week, on January 31st, is
the deadline to enroll in Florida's Prepaid
College Program savings plans. These plans allow
parents to lock in today's tuition rates years
in advance of their children going off to
college and start saving for it.
|
 Columbia
County, FL (Posted January 24, 2011 10:58 am) |
Part II
The Suwannee River/St. Johns River Water
Management Districts multi county/city working
group picked up steam last night as it looked
for a direction and method to keep a watchful
eye on the region's water resources and the
water management districts that by Florida
Statute are entrusted to manage them. It was
never explained by Columbia County, the
facilitators of the event, why the water
management districts were intentionally kept
from updating the gathering on the joint
progress being made by them, the DEP and the
State of Georgia. These multijurisdictional
issues are the very issues that the group was
formed to address.
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Columbia County, FL (Posted January 23, 2011 04:50
pm) | Part I
All the counties and cities represented in the
recently formed Water Working Group that are
meeting tonight in Columbia County are
represented on the board of directors of the
Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD)
or the St. Johns Water Management District
(SJRWMD). It has yet to be established why the
counties don't go to the water management
districts and address them directly. That may be
answered to night, along with the reason that
the directors of the SRWMD and the SJRWMD were
refused a place on the
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(Posted January 23, 2012 07:20 am)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - A
telephone poll by U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio
conducted late last year found that an over-whelming
majority of Floridians think all of the funds paid out
by BP for the oil-spill disaster should come back to the
states affected, to clean up the environment.
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What's the 'State Of The State' of Florida? It
depends.
(Posted January 17, 2012
02:05
am)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Hearing Governor Rick Scott
and his critics last week was like listening to
the start of a famous Charles Dickens tale - and
whether this is the "best of times" or the
"worst of times" depends on who's doing the
talking.
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Posted January 16, 2012 05:45 pm | Special to the
Observer
CHICAGO – With the
U.S. average price of gasoline at the highest
level ever recorded at this time of year,
volatile gasoline fuel prices are the order of
the day. The research contained in Gas Buddy's
Annual Gasoline Price Outlook includes a look at
prior projections and actual prices going back
to 2001.
|
(Posted
January 13, 2012 06:10 am) | Special to the
Observer
MASSACHUSETTS - After standing by their officers
for four years, the Boston Police Department
admitted officers were wrong when they arrested
attorney Simon Glik for filming an arrest of a
young man with his cell phone. ¶ In a
separate case the Dept. of Justice weighed in:
The right to record police officers while
performing duties in a public place, as well as
the right to be protected from the warrantless
seizure and destruction of those recordings, are
not only required by the Constitution, they are
consistent with our fundamental
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Posted January 13, 2011
11:45 pm | Part XIII
Lake City, FL – Why is the NFBA clique, its attorneys, the NFEDP,
Jacobs Engineering, and the ex GSG employees
having secret meetings with the Feds under the cover of
darkness? ¶ The saga of the North Florida
Broadband Authority continued last Thursday and Friday,
January 5th and 6th. This time the NITA's Chris Holt and his boss,
Doug Kinkoph, were scheduled to appear by teleconference
from Washington. Photo: NFBA's Pat O'Neal stands in...
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(Posted January 12, 2012 06:55 am)
LIVE OAK, FL,
January 11, 2012 – On Jan. 10, the Suwannee River
Water Management District’s Governing Board
authorized the District to enter into an agreement
with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
to assist with flood mapping efforts. FEMA will
provide a $1.8 million grant for the District to
administer FEMA’s Risk MAP (Mapping, Assessment, and
Planning) Program for the Upper Suwannee River and
the Santa Fe River...
|
(Posted January 12, 2012 06:50
am)
ORLANDO, FL - More than 2,000 Latinos gathered in
Orlando this week to kick off a six-state campaign to
mobilize young, evangelical Hispanic voters. They say
the goal of Nuestro Futuro (New Future) is to let both
political parties know they want a strong,
secure future for young
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(Posted January 03, 2012 07:59 am)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida Senate has held
two workshops on a proposal that would allow
three destination casino resorts to be built in
South Florida. The bill represents $6 billion in
investments in Florida. Supporters say it would
create thousands of jobs. But polls indicate the
state is divided on the issue, and that division
can be heard in lawmakers' remarks. Photo:
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$4.5
Billion BP Settlement Called a “Down Payment” for
Florida
All
Eyes On Florida As Election Looms
Florida's Infrastructure Fails To
Make the Grade in New Report
Florida Families Can Prepare for College Costs Now
Ethics Reform In Florida: Will it be for real this time?
Integrity FL is encouraged
FEMA/SBA
– Tropical Storm Debby Disaster Assistance: Sept. 4th
witching hour approaches
Animal-Fighting Law Takes Federal Stage
Small Business Mobile Assistance Center in Lake City
Monday Morning at Lowes
Violence Against Women Act: FL Sen. Bill Nelson
Cosponsors Bill - FL Rep. Sandy Adams works to roll back
protections
Suwannee Valley Transit Authority (SVTA) Train Wreck
Continues: Accounting still questionable - Vendors still
not being paid
Florida Leaders Organized For Water (FLOW): The word is
out, "Our water is critical to all of us."
Regional Water Meeting Tonight: SRWMD, SJRWMD &
DEP getting their act together in a state with
no state wide water policy
Florida
Legislators want to grant themselves absolute immunity
until the end of time
FL Housing Crisis Opens a Unique Job
Market
Florida's Exclusive Underwater Burial Ground
