Florida News
Index of Stories
2016-2015
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Florida
News 2016
(scroll down)
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Posted December 14, 2016 07:30 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Congress is considering
repealing parts of the Affordable Care Act,
and a new report suggests Florida would be
one of the states most dramatically impacted
by that plan. The Urban Institute research
shows that in Florida, more than two million
children and adults would lose coverage,
nearly doubling the number of uninsured in
the state.
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Posted December 9, 2016 07:28 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night at
the North Central Florida Regional Planning
Council, Carlos Herd, the Director of the
Suwannee River Water Management District's
(SRWMD) Water Supply Division, gave a
rundown on the North Florida Regional Supply
Water Plan. Four years in the making, the
plan indicates that "fresh groundwater
cannot meet the projected demands."
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Posted December 8, 2016 04:20 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Almost three weeks ago the North
Florida Economic Development Partnership
(NFEDP) met for its quarterly meeting.
Funded by mostly public money, the NFEDP
does not announce its meetings on its web
site, where it claims its principles include
integrity and professionalism. It is funded
mainly by state and federal grants and a per
capita charge from the municipalities that
belong. The majority of its membership works
for the government. Industrial/manufacturing
site promotion/economic development in the
North Central Florida region are the main
purposes of the NFEDP.
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Dec. 7, 2016 07:00 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL – A bill introduced in the Florida Senate could alter
the plans of thousands of students who have grown up in
Florida. Under the proposal by newly-elected Republican
Senator Greg Steube of Sarasota, Florida's public
colleges and universities would no
longer have to waive out-of-state fees for undocumented
students, even if they attended high school in the
state.
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November 28, 2016 09:30 am | Public News
Service
MIAMI, FL – The arrest of a Miami-Dade man for selling
horse meat to undercover agents this month
is being called an important step toward
infiltrating the secret world of horse
slaughter. But animal-rights groups say much
more needs to be done. It may surprise many
to know that horse slaughter is not
technically illegal in the United States.
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Posted November 20, 2016 07:59 am
COLUMBIA/HAMILTON
COUNTY, FL – After reading
Highest Cancer Mortality Death Rates in Florida? New
Report Finds North Central Florida on Top, I wanted
to share a few comments regarding the article from my
perspective as the Administrator of North Central
Florida's Columbia and Hamilton County Health
Departments.
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Posted November 15, 2016 04:05 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – According to the
recently released WellFlorida Council North
Central Florida Cancer Report 2016, North
Central Florida has the highest cancer
mortality rates in the state. Other than
Alachua County, the home of the University
of Florida, all the counties in the report
are what were previously known as Rural
Areas of Critical Economic Concern (RACEC)
counties, challenged communities with
persistent poverty and other chronic
problems. The high cancer mortality rates
are not a surprise.
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Posted November 14, 2016 01:28 pm
COLUMBIA,
HAMILTON, SUWANNEE COUNTIES – Since 2015, Suwannee
County County Commissioner, Larry Sessions, has been the
administrator of the Suwannee Valley Transit Authority
(SVTA), the tri-county provider of Transportation for
the Disadvantaged. The latest insult to good government
and the law was Commissioner Sessions's almost 12th hour
czar-like rescheduling of a meeting after the SVTA Board
moved unanimously to have its quarterly meetings on the
"second Tuesday of the month." Commissioner Sessions has
ignored two public record requests for information
regarding the details of the rescheduling of the
November 7 meeting.
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Posted November 14, 2016 06:55 am
Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – With the dust beginning to
settle on election 2016, conservation groups
say now is the time to get to work on what
should be a nonpartisan issue: protecting
natural resources in Florida and
nationwide.
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Posted November 7, 2016 09:28 am | (1
comment)
North Central Florida – The North Central Florida
Planning Council (NCFRPC) is home to the largest
regularly scheduled assembly of appointed and elected
bureaucrats in North Central Florida. At its October 27,
2016 meeting, DOT District 2's Program Manager, Jamie
Driggers, handed out a flyer and announced that on
November 8, between 4 and 6 pm, there was a public work
shop scheduled to discuss the 12 county 5 year
multi-million dollar work program. Only one attendee
questioned the propriety of having the workshop,
described as an open house, hours before the polls close
on Election Day.
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Nov. 4, 2016 04:55 am | Public News
Service
Tallahassee,
FL – While many of the big races are too close to call,
experts say the big winner this election
cycle in Florida and in many other parts of
the country will likely be marijuana. Right
now, Florida doctors can only prescribe
medical marijuana to cancer patients or
those with chronic seizures and muscle
spasms.
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Oct. 31, 2016 05:55 am | Public News
Service
Tallahassee,
FL – News that healthcare premiums under the Affordable
Care Act will rise by double digits next year has Donald
Trump renewing his calls to repeal the program and
Hillary Clinton promising to fix it. But experts say
Floridians need to turn down the political noise as open
enrollment begins this week.
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Oct. 19, 2016 05:05 am | Public News
Service
Tallahassee,
FL – Many people are calling the November election the
most important in modern history, and health-care
advocates in Florida say that isn't just because of the
contentious race at the top of the ticket. One of the
biggest issues the next Florida Legislature will face is
the shrinking safety net for the state's most vulnerable
residents.
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Posted October
12, 2016 03:30 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – This morning in
Federal Court, Tallahassee, U.S. District
Court Judge, Mark Walker, extended Florida's
voter registration deadline through next
Tuesday, October 18. Columbia County
Supervisor of Elections, Liz Horne told the
Observer, "Everybody needs to vote. We will
do whatever we need to do to make that
happen in Columbia County."
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Posted
Oct. 11, 2016 10:35 am
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Posted October 10, 2016 01:30 pm
TALLAHASSEE,
FL – Today, June 10, 2016, Governor Rick
Scott activated Florida’s Small Business
Emergency Bridge Loan Program to support
small businesses impacted by Hurricane
Matthew. The bridge loan program, managed by
the Florida Department of Economic
Opportunity (DEO), will provide short-term,
interest-free loans to small businesses that
experienced physical or economic damage
during the storm and recovery efforts. The
application period is from today through
November 11, 2016.
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Posted October 7, 2016 07:20 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – By all accounts
Governor Rick Scott is doing a great job
warning, and preparing Floridians from
across the state for Hurricane Mathew, which
as it rolls its way up the coast, is a
disaster in the making. Evacuations and
shelters are in place as Floridians watch
the course of the storm.
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Posted October 6, 2016 05:56 am
LIVE OAK, FL – The Suwannee River and St.
Johns River water management districts have
released the draft North Florida Regional
Water Supply Plan for public review and
comment. The release of the draft plan is
the result of a four-year collaborative
process that looked at the sustainability of
water supplies 20 years into the future and
identifies potential future water supply
sources.
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Sept. 8, 2016 07:30 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL – Florida Republicans, Democrats, Green Party
supporters and many others have found something
on which they all agree - their opposition to
Amendment 1.
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August 20, 2016 01:20 am | Public News
Service
Tallahassee, FL – A controversial plan to build
a $3 billion gas pipeline through the heart of
Florida has hit a snag, as three groups have
filed a petition in court to block its
construction.
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Posted August 18, 2016 07:45 am | Public News
Service
Tallahassee, FL –
As the debate over immigration policy rages
on, a new study finds immigrants play a
vital role in Florida's economy. The
Partnership for a New American Economy says
20 percent of Florida's population was born
abroad, giving the state the fourth highest
immigrant population in the nation.
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Posted August 15, 2016 08:05 am | Public News
Service
Tallahassee, FL –
For providing workplace policies that
support families and children, a new report
ranks Florida at the bottom among the 50
states. The National Partnership for Women
and Families gives Florida a D grade because
the state has no requirements beyond the
federal Family and Medical Leave Act that
guarantees job protection or leave for new
or expectant parents.
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Posted July 14, 2016 06:55 am | Public News
Service
MIAMI, FL – Environmental advocates are
wading into legal waters in an effort to
protect Biscayne Bay from what they say is
ongoing pollution from a Florida utility.
The Turkey Point power plant outside Miami
pumps millions of gallons of fresh water
into canals each day to cool its two nuclear
reactors, and researchers say the discharge
is posing a threat to the entire ecosystem,
as well as the more than 3 million
Floridians who get their drinking water from
the Biscayne Aquifer.
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Posted July 1, 2016 008:10 pm
TALLAHASSEE, FL – The
Forrest Service in Florida is reminding visitors and
campers that the use of all fireworks and other
pyrotechnic devices is prohibited on almost all national
forests and national grasslands regardless of weather
conditions or holidays. Forest Service officials are
expecting large numbers of visitors to recreation areas
over the Fourth of July weekend and this increased
activity could lead to human caused fires.
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Posted June 28, 2016 07:15 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Without changes in the way
electricity is produced and how it is used,
Floridians will likely see a nearly 17
percent increase in their electric bills
over the next 15 years, according to a new
study from the Georgia Institute of
Technology.
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Posted June
24, 2016 12:45 pm
Dr. Jerry
Parrish is the Chief Economist & Director of
Research for the Florida Chamber Foundation.
He was formerly the Chief Economist and
Director for the Center for Competitive
Florida at Florida Tax Watch. In an earlier
life he was with Ducati Motorcycles. He has
a PhD in Economics. Last night he told the
NCFRPC, "You can safely say that in the last
12 months more than one in every ten jobs
created in the U.S. was created in Florida.
That's the total private sector jobs, plus
the total government jobs. That's been
really good for some parts of Florida."
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Posted June 21, 2016 07:25 am
UNION
COUNTY – Doyle and Karl Williams’ farm in
the Worthington Springs area of Union County
combines the art of agriculture with the
helpful science of the University of
Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural
Science (UF/IFAS) Extension Service to grow
their multiple crops successfully. The
Williams brothers have reduced the inputs
needed to produce good crops and continue to
work to protect our precious water bodies
and natural systems. “We start every year’s
crop by pulling a soil sample. Then we do
what the soil sample tells us to do,” says
older brother, Doyle Williams.
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June 21, 2016 06:15 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE
– The League of Women Voters of FL
hand-delivered a letter to Gov. Rick Scott,
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, and Senate
President Andy Gardiner. The letter, signed by
dozens of advocacy groups, asks lawmakers to
return to Tallahassee for a special session on
gun control before the end of the month.
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Posted June 20, 2016 09:15 am
COLUMBIA,
HAMILTON, SUWANNEE COUNTIES – The Suwannee Valley
Transit Authority (SVTA) is the tri-county agency whose
prime responsibility is providing transportation for
those who by income, age, or disability are unable to
transport themselves to doctors, jobs, and educational
facilities or other life sustaining activities.
Advertising its meetings, providing public records, and
ethical issues have plagued the agency and its
management for at least a decade. The state, through the
Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged (CTD),
and indirectly through the North Central Florida
Regional Planning Council, oversees the agency.
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June 18, 2016 05:55 am | Public News Service
MIAMI – Thousands of people travel through
Miami International Airport each day, but
some airport workers say their working
conditions are putting both airline
passengers and workers at risk.
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Posted June 16, 2016 10:20 am
MELBOURNE,
FL, – "As they fly through international skies,
Embraer Executive Jets that originated from
Orlando Melbourne International Airport
exemplify the legacy of our partnership of
mutual respect: Built on promises made, promises
kept, and a team that strives daily to give our
community the legacy of flight." Greg Donovan,
Ex. Dir. Orlando Melbourne International
Airport.
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Posted June 16, 2016
06:40 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL –
The Bachelor of Science in nursing program at Florida
Gateway College (FGC) is now nationally accredited. The
accreditation was awarded by the Commission on
Collegiate Nursing Education. FGC began offering the
RN-BSN degree in the fall of 2012. Students who enroll
in the program have the opportunity to attend full time
or part time. All classes are offered online with three
courses requiring minimal clinical hours.
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Posted June 10, 2016 07:05 am
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – It's been two years since
the onset of Medicaid expansion, and a new
report says it's paying off for states that
have helped close their "coverage gaps" with
economic benefits for health-care systems
and the people they serve. But Florida is
missing out.
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Posted June 8, 2016 07:15 am |
Public News
Service
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – The difficult task of finding a
job is all the more challenging for those who have
interacted with the criminal-justice system, which is
why people in one Florida community hope to "Ban the
Box" on job applications. "The box" is what applicants
check if they've been arrested or convicted of a crime,
and tonight at a forum in Broward County, community
members will urge the county to eliminate the box from
its job applications.
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Posted May 31, 2016 06:45 am |
Public News
Service
JACKSONVILLE, FL – How safe are the natural
gas lines under your street? A new high-tech
tool is helping to answer that question,
while potentially sparing damage to the
environment and your wallet. The
collaboration between the Environmental
Defense Fund and Google Earth Outreach sent
cars equipped with special sensors driving
all across Jacksonville to create an
interactive map that shows where methane is
leaking from natural gas lines.
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May 27, 2016 10:05 am |
Public News
Service
ORLANDO,
FL - More than one in 10 Floridians and nearly a
quarter of African-Americans in Florida will be
shut out of the polls in November because of
past mistakes - but civil rights activists say
they hope to change that.
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Posted May 24, 2016 02:05 am |
Public News
Service
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Big Cypress
National Preserve is one of the most
biologically diverse sites in the state, but
many who love it say it's not being
preserved the way it should. The National
Park Service recently authorized seismic
testing in the preserve, a process that
involves multiple trucks weighing more than
60,000 pounds crisscrossing the preserve,
sending out vibrations in search of oil
deposits.
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Posted May 18, 2016 06:50 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL – Florida falls behind the national high school
graduation rate and the recent proliferation
of alternative schools doesn't seem to be
helping, according to a new study.
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Posted May 3, 2016 07:15 am |
Public News
Service
ORLANDO,
FL – With national reports giving Florida a failing
grade in terms of economic security for
women, a forum was held last night in
Orlando with the goal of getting women to
raise their collective voices for change.
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April 26, 2016 11:25
am Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida has the
third-largest number of children in the
nation who have, or have had, a parent in
jail or prison, which experts describe as a
"shared sentence" due to the lifelong impact
on kids. A new report from the Annie E.
Casey Foundation finds kids with an
incarcerated parent are often living under
financial stress, and are more likely to be
homeless.
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Posted April
20, 2016 06:25 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Until now, not all
financial advisers were required to put
their clients first, before any investment
funds they represent. This month, that's
expected to change after the U.S. Department
of Labor issued a fiduciary rule that will
take full effect in 2018 and requires all
financial advisers who give retirement
advice to act in the best interest of their
clients.
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Posted April 4, 2016 06:45 am |
Public News
Service
MAIMI,
FL – A new estimate that sea levels will rise up to 6
feet by the end of this century could be
seen as an impending disaster for Florida -
or an opportunity - according to a science
advocacy group.
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March 28, 2016 06:50 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL – While state wildlife officials say Florida's black
bear population is on the rise, a coalition of
scientists believes more needs to be done to preserve
and protect the animals and their habitat. Dozens of
scientific, environmental, and conservation groups are
backing a petition to have the Florida black bear
protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
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Posted
March 25, 2016 04:40 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – At almost $10 billion, the Florida
Dept. of Transportation (FDOT), has the third largest
budget appropriation in the state. Funding road and
associated projects in financially strapped rural
communities has always been problematic. In December of
2014, FDOT's Roosevelt Petithomme appeared before the
North Central Florida Regional Planning Council to
enlighten it on
Federal Funding for Hometown Projects. Last night,
Mr. Petithomme made a return engagement. His mission:
update the council and inspire those rural communities
that have not been certified as partners by the FDOT to
take action.
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Posted
March 10, 2016 12:45 pm
COLUMBIA
COUNTY, FL – Tuesday afternoon, March 8,
CareerSource Florida Crown met for its
quarterly board meeting. Board members from
the 4 county region: Columbia, Dixie,
Gilchrist, and Union, as well as staff
members, met to receive an update on its
budget, review the FY 2015 Audit, and
discuss its new hours of operation.
Operating with 2/3 less money than it did in
2001, Florida Crown continues to serve a 4
county area with enthusiasm and dedication
while the region remains a Rural Area of
Critical Economic Concern (RACEC).
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Posted March 07, 2016 08:25 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL – It's test time in Tallahassee, as one man wants to
get lawmakers and other state leaders to state once and
for all where they stand on climate change and the risk
it poses to Florida. Environmental engineer Bart Bibler
is the driving force behind what he calls the
climate-change "litmus test." In it, he's asking
policymakers to acknowledge climate change is real and
primarily caused by human activity, and that Florida is
particularly vulnerable.
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Posted Feb 29, 2016 05:55 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL – With Florida leading the nation in the number of
new HIV cases and facing a growing heroin epidemic,
health advocates say a measure moving through the
Legislature could help on both fronts. The program would
create a pilot in Miami-Dade County, run by the
University of Miami Hospital, to establish sterile
syringe exchanges.
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Posted Feb 25, 2016 05:55 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – They want assistance to
stay in their homes as they age, but
according to a new report, a lengthy waiting
list for those services means thousands of
Florida seniors are dying before they can
get help. The analysis from Politico found
that in the fiscal year that ended in July
of 2015, 6,500 frail seniors, including some
with disabilities, died before they could
receive services...
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Posted Feb 9, 2016 08:30 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - While no one disputes Floridians have a
constitutional right to access public
documents, the debate over how to crack down
on a small number of abusers of that right
is much more controversial. State law
dictates if a person sues the government for
violating public records access and wins,
they'll be awarded costs and attorney's fees
associated with the case. But...
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Posted Feb 4, 2016 07:30 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - State senators are poised to
vote on a bill that would roll out the welcome mat
for fracking operations statewide, despite grave
concerns from the scientific community. The bill, which
already passed the state House, would not require
fracking companies to disclose the chemicals or
potential carcinogens used in the process. Dr.
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Posted
Feb 1, 2016 07:30 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - It's the $1 billion
question: what to do with the excess revenue
generated as the state's economy continues
to recover? Gov. Rick Scott is calling it a
surplus and asking for nearly $1 billion in
tax cuts, with the state House last week
rolling out a proposal that aimed much of
that cut toward corporations.
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Posted Jan. 11, 2016 08:20 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - As lawmakers prepare to return
to the capitol this week, hundreds of people
across the state want to make sure their voices
are heard on the issues they believe matter
most. From Medicaid expansion to income
inequality and immigrant rights, people across
Florida plan to voice their concerns tomorrow in
what's become an annual tradition for the first
day of the legislative session.
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Florida
News 2015
(scroll down)
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Posted Dec. 30, 2015 06:05 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The First Amendment
Foundation is pleased to announce Barbara
Jeffords Lemley, a Lake City resident,
and Stew Lilker, publisher of the Columbia
County Observer, as the recipients of the
2015 Pete Weitzel/Friend of the First
Amendment Award.
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Dec. 28, 2015 11:40 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL -
Learning to drive, playing a sport and going on
sleepovers, they're all part of what many consider a
"normal" childhood, but that's not always the case for
the nearly 14,000 Florida kids in foster care. A new
report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows how the
federal Strengthening Families Act can help remove some
of the barriers to typical adolescent activities. The
Foundation's senior policy associate...
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Dec. 21, 2015 04:15 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - There are signs capital
punishment may be dying out in Florida, as
only a handful of new death sentences were
handed down this year.
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Dec. 14, 2015 07:30 am |
Public News
Service
MIAMI, FL -
The Miami-based Knight Foundation is one of
the best-known names in the world of
philanthropy, but a new report questions
whether its overall strategy is doing the
most good, particularly in lifting up those
who are underserved.
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Posted Dec. 7, 2015 11:15 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL -
It's been a very busy month for those helping to enroll
Floridians in health insurance plans under the
Affordable Care
Act, but those on the ground say there's still more
work to be done to reach the state's uninsured.
Right now, Florida leads the nation for the number of
people enrolling or renewing coverage in health
insurance plans during the current open enrollment, with
nearly 445,000 people in the past four weeks.
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Nov.
30, 2015 09:45 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The national wave of anti-immigrant
sentiment seems to have swept over the Florida
Capitol, with a number of measures filed in
recent weeks that could potentially threaten
immigrant families in the state.
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Posted November 19,
2015 11:51 am
LIVE OAK, FL – COLUMBIA, HAMILTON, SUWANNEE
–Yesterday's LCB meeting was well attended.
Committee members are paying attention,
getting involved and asking questions about
the SVTA, which survives on a sea of cash
provided by the American people. However,
the now undisputed fact that both
Commissioners Bashaw and Nash voted to
approve a set of hijacked and clearly wrong
minutes should put the members of the
various boards and counties that they
represent on alert.
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Posted November 19, 2015 11:51 am
Yesterday's LCB meeting was well attended.
Committee members are paying attention, getting
involved and asking questions about the SVTA,
which survives on a sea of cash provided by the
American people. However, the now undisputed
fact that both Commissioners Bashaw and Nash
voted to approve a set of hijacked and clearly
wrong minutes should put the members of the
various boards and counties that they represent
on alert.
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Posted November 12, 2015 09:10 pm
LIVE
OAK, FL – The Suwannee Valley Transit Authority (SVTA)
has been in operation since the mid-1970's with what
appears to be a lifetime contract with the state of
Florida. The Authority board met
Tuesday night. The newly begun and failing Live Oak bus
route elicited no questions from any of the
Commissioners who sit on the board. Again, the needs of
Columbia County/Lake City residents for local surface
transportation were ignored.
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Posted Nov. 9, 2015 03:50
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida has received a D-minus
grade in a new assessment of state government by
the Center for Public Integrity and Global
Integrity. In the category of Ethics Enforcement
Agencies Florida's score rose slightly from an F
grade in 2012 to a D-minus
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Posted Nov. 2, 2015 06:00 am |
Public News
Service
JACKSONVILLE, FL - The fight to save
Florida's black bears will go on, as
defenders of the bears say after last
month's controversial hunt, they are more
determined than ever to stop it from
becoming an annual event.
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Posted Oct. 9, 2015 05:48 am | Public News Service
MIAMI, FL - Could you live on just $17 per
day? After trying it for a week, some
Florida lawmakers say no one should.
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Posted Oct. 01, 2015 08:30 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Wildlife advocates are going before
Florida's 2nd Judicial Circuit in Tallahassee today to
ask Judge George Reynolds to halt Florida's first bear
hunt in 21 years.
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Sept. 28, 2015 07:59 am |
Public News
Service
MIAMI, FL - Starting today, 18 Florida state legislators
will take a five-day Minimum Wage Challenge
designed to bring attention to the plight of
low-wage workers, and to bills in Tallahassee to
raise the state minimum wage.
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Sept. 7, 2015 05:15 pm |
Public News
Service
SOUTH MIAMI,
FL - Over the past 35 years, income inequality in
Florida has gotten much worse, according to a new report
from Florida International University (FIU). The report,
The State of Working Florida 2015, says the wage gap
between the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent has
grown by almost two-thirds.
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Sept.
2, 2015 10:50 am
GAITHERSBURG,
MD - Americans hitting the road this weekend stand
to see the cheapest Labor Day prices at the pump
in over a decade, leading to huge savings - $1.4
billion - over the four day weekend.
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Sept. 2, 2015 10:15 am | Public News
Service
Miami, FL - Starting next year, people in
Florida's largest county may be able to get
a county ID card, a move supporters say will
benefit the community's more vulnerable
residents. The Miami program likely will be
modeled after one implemented in New York
City in January.
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Sept. 1, 2015 03:32 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - The impact of so-called religious freedom laws on
women and the LGBT community is the subject of a
new report from the Movement Advancement
Project.
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Posted
August 3, 2015 06:32 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - The U.S. Senate will vote today on cutting $500
million in federal funding for Planned Parenthood - so
Florida's pro-choice community is making its opposition
known. The vote follows the release of controversial
videos showing Planned Parenthood representatives
discussing the cost of fetal tissue donations to be used
for scientific research.
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Posted July
31, 2015 12:28 pm
GAITHERSBURG, MD 2015's second half represents a
strong commitment that motorists will spend even
less on gasoline this year than they did in
2014. GasBuddy experts say that before
Christmas, as many as 20 states could have
average gas prices below $2 per gallon as the
national average for December slips to $1.98.
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Posted July 29, 2015 08:10 am
AMERICA – The day the Americans With Disabilities Act
passed in 1990, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin delivered a speech
from the Senate floor in a way most of his colleagues
didn’t understand. Senator Harkin, the bill’s sponsor,
used sign language for the benefit of his brother who
was deaf and had taught Harkin this lesson: “People
should be judged on the basis of their abilities and not
on the basis of their disabilities.”
|
Posted July 28, 2015 08:45 am
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Medicaid turns 50 this week, and a new study shows
it has dramatically decreased the percentage of
uninsured children in the U.S. in recent years,
going from 14 percent down to seven percent.
|
Posted July 19, 2015 11:45 am
LIVE OAK, FL – The UF/IFAS Suwannee Valley Agricultural
Extension Center near Live Oak, FL will be offering a
three hour hydroponic vegetable program on July 23. The
popularity of hydroponic gardening continues to grow.
Hydroponic gardening is growing plants in a water and
nutrient solution without soil. Hydroponics allows you
to grow plants, fruits and vegetables in a more
efficient and productive manner, literally anywhere.
|
Posted July 15, 2015 07:35 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Activists are blasting the idea of drilling for oil
in the Everglades after a longtime Florida firm,
Kanter Real Estate, filed for a permit to allow
oil exploration on land it owns near Miramar. An
environmental group is vowing to fight the
potential oil-drilling site proposed for the
Everglades.
|
July 10, 2015 06:55 am |
Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - The Floridians for Solar Choice constitutional
amendment effort is moving quickly to get on the
2016 ballot. Backers say they've gathered more
than 100,000 signatures, exceeding the 10
percent necessary to submit the language to the
state Supreme Court.
|
July 08, 2015 09:45 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Florida's State Attorney General Pam Bondi is
getting the state involved in clean water lawsuits
lately and conservation groups contend she's on the
wrong side of the issues. On Tuesday, a federal judge
rejected a case by the American Farm Bureau Federation,
that Bondi joined as a friend of the court.
|
Posted July 05, 2015 02:20 pm
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The tragic death on the
Suwannee River of 5-year old Jaylon Rippy along
with the injuries of her brother and mother at
8:47 pm on July 3 is still under investigation
by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC). Also on July 3, FWC reported
that Colleen Harvey and her husband Charles were
injured while heading eastbound on the Santa Fe
River. They are investigating.
|
July 07, 2015 06:20 am | Public News
Service not done with insect habitat in mind, according
to a recent
University of Florida study.
|
Posted July 03, 2015 06:59 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Florida conservation groups say the BP settlement
announced Thursday is a big step forward giving
certainty that the funding will be there to
restore the Gulf coast.
|
Posted June 30, 2015, 10:35 am
WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, in a 5-4
decision, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded the
first-ever national airborne limits on mercury
and other toxic power plant air pollution back
to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and the
EPA. The Supremes found that even though the EPA
demonstrated that health and environmental
benefits would save between 4 and 11 thousand
lives a year, and that the air standards far
outweighed the costs to industry, the EPA should
have considered the cost earlier in the process.
The Court left the standards in place pending
|
June 26, 2015 08:15 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Florida health activists say they're
thrilled that the Supreme Court upheld a key
section of the Affordable Care Act on Thursday.
The court affirmed the legality of federal
subsidies that make health care affordable for
people who buy coverage from the federal
health-insurance exchange.
|
June 23, 2015 08:15 am | Public News Service
SARASOTA, Fla. - The public is invited to weigh
in on the future of the Florida panther at a
meeting of the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Commission this afternoon in Sarasota. Experts
from the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife will be
in attendance to urge the state to reconsider a
recent policy statement, which recommends the
agency shift resources to focus solely on the
panther population below the Caloosahatchee
River in South Florida.
|
June 22, 2015 07:25 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - June is LGBTQ Pride month and Equality Florida is
fanning out to Pride events all over the state
to introduce the Our Tomorrow campaign. It's a
survey and social media effort created by a
national organization, Equality Federation, to
identify the issues that matter most to LGBTQ
Americans.
|
June 19, 2015 05:20 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Eighty-six percent of children
in Florida who qualify for a free or
reduced-price lunch in summer don't participate,
according to a report recently released by the
Food Research and Action Center.
|
June 17, 2015 06:45 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Environmental groups are reacting angrily to
Tuesday's news of a budget deal in Tallahassee
that spends far less on conservation than voters
expected.
|
Posted June 15, 2015 08:41 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Activists are protesting tax breaks for the $3
billion private prison industry, which runs
seven facilities in Florida. They protested at a
real estate conference in New York last week
about a loophole that lets private prison
companies claim to be in the real estate
business, which lets them pay less income tax.
|
June 10, 2015 05:15 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Activists today announced a massive petition drive
to put medical marijuana on the Florida ballot. They'll
need 700,000 signatures to put a constitutional
amendment to a vote in 2016.
|
June 9, 2015 06:55 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Scammers who use Internet dating sites to prey on
victims in Florida and across the nation are
stealing millions of dollars each year. The AARP
Fraud Watch Network has posted tips on how to
avoid online scams.
Watch the video: How Dwayne stole Amy's heart
and $300K (link in the orange box).
|
Posted June 3, 2015 04:30 am
LIVE OAK,
FL - In 2005, Scott and Billie Rooney bought the first
53 acres of their now 80-acre farm in Suwannee
County, east of Live Oak. Ten years later,
the Rooney farm is divided into six acres of
four varieties of “Rabbiteye” U-pick
blueberries, a quarter of an acre of one variety
of U-pick blackberries, 25 acres of fenced-in,
pasture land for their sheep and a few cattle,
and five acres of long leaf pine trees which are
beneficial to the natural habitat.
|
June
2, 2015 12:35 pm | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - This week marks the beginning
of the 2015 hurricane season in the U.S., and
with the significant risk of hurricane damage in
Florida - from the state's extensive coastline
to the interior - insurance experts say it's a
good time for Floridians to do a check-up on
their insurance policies.
|
Posted June 1, 2015 06:45 pm
ORLANDO,
FL - The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), in
a public-private partnership with GEICO
Insurance, unveiled a statewide safety campaign
to tackle the problem of distracted driving on
Florida's roads. Florida has designated 64 Rest
Areas, Welcome Centers and Turnpike Service
Plazas throughout the state as "Safe Phone
Zones."
|
Posted May 26, 2015 07:15 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - High school graduation rates
are up in Florida by almost five percent from
2011 to 2013, according to the 2015 Building a
Grad Nation report. While the new numbers put
Florida in the top 10 in an increase of high
school graduates, the state's 75.6 percent
graduation rate is still below the national
average of 81 percent.
|
May 19, 2015 08:55 pm | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - According to a report released Tuesday by
the Annie E. Casey Foundation, of the more than
18,000 children in Florida's foster care system,
86 percent are placed within a family setting -
slightly higher than the national average.
|
Posted May 18, 2015 07:20 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Florida postal workers have more on their minds
this morning than the heavy load of Monday mail.
The American Postal Workers Union contract is
set to expire this Wednesday. "There are people
out there who want to privatize the Postal
Service, so they're starving it of funds and
driving down service so that the profitable
routes can be picked off by private businesses
who stand to make a buck." ...
|
Posted April
28, 2015 06:10 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - New research suggests a team approach
is best when it comes to treating kids with Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A new study
from the American Academy of Pediatrics found an
approach involving parents, clinicians and doctors
significantly improves the impulsiveness, social skills
and overall behavior of ADHD patients.
|
Posted April 20, 2015 12:25 pm
WASHINGTON - Today marks the five-year
anniversary of the worst environmental disaster
in United States history. The BP Deepwater
Horizon oil disaster claimed the lives of 11
workers and spilled more than 200 million
gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, wreaking
havoc on communities, economies, fisheries and
wildlife.
|
Posted April 16, 2015 06:55 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida ranks 49th in the
country when it comes to the rate of uninsured
parents, and a majority of them are employed.
That's according to a report released this week
by Kids Well Florida and the Georgetown
University Center for Children and Families.
|
Posted April 9, 2015 05:55 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Colon cancer, vision problems and myths about
vaping, or using e-cigarettes, are featured in the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new Tips
From Former Smokers campaign. CDC Senior Medical
Officer Dr. Tim McAfee says smoking-related health
damages beyond the heart and lungs are not well-known,
although scientifically proven.
|
Posted April 6, 2015 06:55 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Only weeks after the Florida House of
Representatives overturned a ban on gay
adoptions, that same branch of government is
trying to pass a law that grants private
adoption agencies the right to steer children
away from same-sex couples based on religious
beliefs. The so-called "Conscience Protection"
bill is sponsored by state Representative Jason
Brodeur (R-Sanford), who wants to protect
religious freedom and says it holds up
constitutionally.
|
Posted March 31, 2015 09:05 am | Public News
Service
HOMESTEAD, FL - With the passage of Amendment
One in the November election, Florida now has
the funds to protect the Everglades and the
state's water supply. Lawmakers appear to be
losing their resolve to purchase land the sugar
industry agreed to sell in 2010. Progress
Florida is circulating a petition asking
lawmakers to buy the critical land. "This was a
great thing for press releases for the sugar
industry, but now that voters have said, 'Yeah,
this is exactly how we want our money spent,'
this issue has gotten mired up in the
legislative process," says Filer. "At this
point, sugar is actively lobbying to kill this
deal."
|
Posted March 27, 2015 10:15 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - A bill that would make the process of selecting
university and Florida College System presidents
private advanced Tuesday through its third state
House committee. Opponents fear that House Bill
223, if passed, would shut the public out from
the process of selecting some of the
highest-paid positions in the higher-education
system.
|
March 23, 2015 05:35 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - Even as university presidents, campus police and
student government leaders rose up against it,
the Florida Senate's Higher Education Committee
has given its approval to a controversial bill
(SB 176) that would allow concealed firearms on
college campuses.
|
Posted March 16, 2015 09:45 am
FLORIDA – March
15 through March 21 is the 10th anniversary of
Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week is an annual
national celebration of access to public
information and what it means to your community
and you. Reporter Glenn Marston was looking for
a good story. He came across the issues that
folks have obtaining public records from
Florida's Lake Shore Hospital Authority, located
in Columbia County.
|
Posted March 16, 2015 07:15 am
MIAMI,
FL - In the shadows of - and in contrast to - the city's
new multimillion-dollar condominiums, hundreds of
Miami's homeless can be seen seeking shelter in tents.
To address what he calls "safety concerns," City
Commissioner Mark Sarnoff is proposing an ordinance
designed to remove those tents by outlawing camping on
public property.
|
March 11, 2015 09:53 am | Public News Service
TAHASSEE, FL - A new law being proposed in
Florida has the state's transgendered community
concerned and angry. The proposed legislation,
mandates that public same-sex restrooms in the
state be restricted for use by biological
gender.
|
Posted March 10, 2015 06:35 am | Public News
Service
LABELLE,
FL - Some Hendry County residents can breathe a sigh of
relief as a lawsuit filed on their behalf regarding the
building of a secretive monkey breeding facility now
moves forward. Christopher Berry with the Animal Legal
Defense Fund is the lead attorney representing residents
who filed a complaint against the county for approving a
monkey breeding facility on approximately 50 acres
without informing the public. Hendry County moved
to dismiss the complaint filed by residents, but Circuit
Judge James Sloan refused to dismiss it.
|
Posted March 6, 2015 05:45 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last night's meeting of the County
5 saw the introduction Wendy Bragdon, the
Florida Department of Health's (DOH), Columbia
County Division, new Health Education Consultant
and Healthiest Weight Coordinator. Ms. Bragdon
told The County 5, "This is not just a job for
me, this is a passion. I've lost over a hundred
pounds. I want to encourage the members of our
community to live healthier lives."
|
Posted March 2, 2015 05:59 am | Public News
Service
BARTOW,
FL – Once the centerpiece of agribusiness in Florida,
the state's citrus industry is now in crisis.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
crop forecast estimates for oranges, which
supply most of the nation's orange juice, call
for only 103 million boxes to be produced this
year.
|
Feb. 27, 2015 04:59 am | Public News Service
TAMPA,
FL – Poverty intervention programs are lifting half a
million children out of poverty in Florida.
That's the findings of a report released
Wednesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that
uses a relatively new method of quantifying
poverty to illustrate the difference federal
assistance makes in the lives of children.
|
Feb. 23, 2015 08:50 am | Public News Service
ORLANDO,
FL – President Obama called for it in his State of the
Union address last month and now there's legislation in
Congress to help the 43 million American workers who
can't earn time off for sick days.
|
Posted Feb. 17, 2015 09:25 am | Public News Service
PENSACOLA, FL – You've heard of "Inherit the
Wind," but what about importing wind? Gulf Power
of Pensacola is hoping to harness the power of
wind for Florida by importing it from Oklahoma.
|
February 16, 2015 06:05 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Center for Medicare and
Medicaid Services has told Florida it will cease
funding for poor and uninsured hospital patients
at the end of June. It's a move that could cost
the state $2.2 billion. Bruce Rueben is
president of the Florida Association of
Hospitals. He says the impact of the potential
cuts would be a nightmare for the state's health
care facilities.
|
Posted February 05, 2015 12:45 pm
HOLLYWOOD, FL – As the world marks the 70th
anniversary of the liberation of Nazi death
camps in Europe, South Florida's Holocaust
Documentation and Education Center is expanding
while it continues gathering stories and
artifacts to document the horrors of the
Holocaust.
|
Posted February 02, 2015 08:25 am | Public News
Service
MIAMI, FL –
Conservation groups are celebrating some
progress in the longstanding battle to restore
the Florida Everglades. In November, 75 percent
of the voters who went to the polls in Florida
approved a constitutional amendment allocating
one-third of the state's excise taxes to acquire
sensitive lands for land and water conservation.
Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg calls
it a major victory for restoration efforts in
the famed River of Grass.
|
Posted January 28, 2015 10:05 am
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Last Thursday's North
Central Florida Regional Planning Council
meeting featured the Planning Council's Tourism
Task Force showing off its new N FL tourism map.
Tourism is Florida's number one industry and the
Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) funded
the printing of 192,500 maps featuring places to
visit everywhere in N. Central FL, except the
three counties in the Suwannee River Valley. An inquiry to DEO gave up nothing but
bureaucratic double speak.
|
Posted January 26, 2015 08:47 am | Public News
Service
TALLAHASSEE,
FL – Just months after being elected to a second term,
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is embroiled in a
controversy surrounding his handling of the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). A
nonpartisan, government watchdog group,
Integrity Florida, is asking for an
investigation, claiming Scott improperly used
the FDLE to do some political dirty work.
|
January 23, 2015 07:29 am | Public News Service
MIAMI,
FL – With more than 1,300 miles of low-lying coastline,
Florida sticks out as one of the world's most
vulnerable places to climate change and the
sea-level rise that's a consequence of rising
temperatures. According to a United Nations
report last year, southeast Florida has the most
to lose because of high population density.
|
Posted January 21, 2015 09:35 am | Part II
COLUMBIA - HAMILTON - SUWANNEE COUNTY, FL –
The saga of the Suwannee Valley TA continued
this past Friday. Since 1999, Columbia,
Hamilton, and Suwannee Counties have been
designated as Rural Areas of Critical
Economic Concern (RACEC). RACEC's were
created by Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida
Legislature. The conditions in these areas
are: areas of persistent poverty; lowest
educational achievement, low household
income; depressed economic activity, etc.
Two commissioners from each of these three
counties met to plead
nolo contendere and accept the OIG report and
its findings unopposed, with an answer which
represented a mini Corrective Action Plan.
|
Posted January 20, 2015 10:50 am |
Part I |
Part II
COLUMBIA - HAMILTON - SUWANNEE COUNTY, FL –
The saga of the Suwannee Valley TA continued this past
Friday as two Commissioners from each of the three
counties met for the second time to come up with an
answer to the Florida DOT's OIG (Office of the
Investigator General) Report. After an hour of
conversation the commissioners agreed to plead
nolo contendere and accept the report and its
findings unopposed with an answer which represented a
mini Corrective Action Plan. But first: Who's Who?
What's What? Who was watching the store?
|
Jan. 20, 2015 08:45 am | Public News Service
PENSACOLA,
FL – The third and final phase in the civil trial over
the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico begins Tuesday and will determine
the penalties which British Petroleum (BP) will
ultimately receive for violations of the Clean
Water Act.
|
January 15, 2015 08:35 am | Public News Service
TALAHASSEE,
FL – Florida is one of only five states with laws
that prevent consumers and businesses from
buying solar power from companies other than
utility providers. A broad coalition – including
business owners, renewable energy advocates and
conservatives – is banding together to put an
initiative on the 2016 ballot to change the law
and open up the free market for solar.
|
Posted January 5, 2015 11:55 pm | (1
comment)
COLUMBIA - HAMILTON - SUWANNEE COUNTY, FL –
The Suwannee Valley TA (SVTA) fandango continues
unabated. The constants are Columbia County Commissioner
Ronald Williams, who has been the Chairman of the SVTA
for as long as anyone can remember, and a North Central
Florida culture of cronyism and back room decision
making that has apparently gone on forever.
|
|
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Repealing
ACA Would Be "Devastating" for Florida:
In the Works for 4 yrs North Florida Has a
Regional Water Supply Plan – Finally
North FL Econ Development Partnership
Higher Education for Florida's Undocumented Students at
Risk Again
Florida Horse-Slaughter Arrest Increases Push to Protect
Them
220x178_P5133931.jpg)
SVTA Administrator/Comish Sessions
-
Ignoring the Law Is Nothing New At the SVTA
FL DOT, Dist 2, Schedules 12 Cnty Public
Wkshop 3hrs Before Polls Close on Elec Day
Medical
Marijuana Could Be Big Election Winner in Florida
Amid Political Turmoil,
ACA Open Enrollment Set to Begin
Federal Judge Mark Walker Extends FL Voter
Registration Through Tuesday, Oct. 18
Gov Scott Looks Hurricane Mathew in the Eye
N
FL Regional Water Supply Plan Ready for
Public Comments
Environmental
Groups Sue FPL Over Pollution at Turkey Point Nuke
Clean Energy Plan Will Cut Electric Bills
Union Cnty Farmers Employ BMPs
to Increase Yield & Help Environment
Coalition Calls for Spec Leg Session on Gun Control
Airport
Workers Call Job Conditions Dangerous, Unsafe
Real Economic Development Comes to Melbourne Florida:
Embraer Begins Expanded Production
Florida
Gateway College Bachelor of Science Nursing
Program Receives National Accreditation
High-Tech
Tool Turns Up Dozens of Natural Gas Leaks in Florida
City
Push Is On to Restore Voting Rights to 1.5 Million
Floridians
Advocates
Fuming Over Oil Testing Plans in Big Cypress Preserve
As
Election Nears, Equal Pay Top Priority for Women
Higher
Sea-Level Projections: An "Opportunity" for Florida?
Groups Want Protections For FL Black Bears
FDOT's "Roo" Petithomme, Spending Federal
Dollars to Improve North FL's Quality of Life
Affirmer
or Denier? Activist Issues Climate-Change "Litmus Test"
Leading
the Nation In New HIV Cases, FL Leg Considering Pilot
Needle Exchange Program
Thousands
of FL Seniors Die While Waiting for State Services
FL's
Battle Over Public-Records Access Heats Up
Activists
Ready to "Awake the State"
Is
the Death Sentence Dying Out in Florida?
New
Report: Knight Foundation Needs Greater Focus on Equity
Florida Leads the Nation in Obamacare Signups
Anti-Immigrant Bills Pile Up at Florida Capitol
SVTA: County Commissioners Nash and Bashaw Vote
to Cover-Up Hijacked Minutes
Animal Advocates Go to Court to Stop Bear Hunt
FL
Workers Left Out of Economic Boom
Motorists to Save $1.4 Billion at the Pump Labor Day
Weekend
Miami-Dade
Approves ID Cards
Defund Planned Parenthood Vote Today
GasBuddy Predicts $1.98 Florida Gas for Christmas
Benefits of Childhood Medicaid:
Medicaid Turns 50
UF/IFAS Hydroponic Veggie Workshop
Activists Blasting Oil Drilling in Everglades
Florida Solar Initiative Moving Forward
Sturgeon Are Leaping in the Rivers of North FL Running
Into Them Can Cause Injury or Death
Controlled
Burns Threaten Rare FL Butterflies
Coal Fired
Power: National
Mercury Limits
Remain. Supremes
Remand Case Back
to Court of
Appeals
Florida Health Activists Cheer ACA Decision
Defenders
of Wildlife Call on FL to Recommit to Panther Recovery
June
Is LGBTQ Pride Month: Our Tomorrow Campaign Identifying
Issues
Florida Summer Meal Program: Reaching Out
Activists
Protest Private Prisons
Medical
Marijuana Petition Drive Launches in FL
Online
Romance Scammers Steal Millions
Sustainable
Farming Works at Rooney's Suwannee County Blueberry Farm
Hurricane Season: Insuring Against Worst-Case Scenarios
Every Kid Needs a Family: Annie E. Casey Foundation
Contract
Expires This Week for Postal Workers
5
yr Anniversary of BP Oil Disaster Highlights
Risks of Offshore Drilling in New Areas
Indiana-Style
Discrimination in Florida?
FL
Bills Propose Making University Job Searches Private
FL
Legislature Considers Controversial "Campus Carry Bill"
Associated
Press Features Trouble With Public Records at the Lake
Shore Hospital Authority
Miami
Considers Law Aimed at Expelling Homeless
"Bathroom
Bill" Alive in FL Legislature
"Secretive" Monkey Breeding Facility Lawsuit Moves
Forward
FL
DOH's Wendy Bragdon on Healthiest Weight: "This is not
just a job for me, this is a passion."
Florida
Children Benefit From Anti-Poverty Programs
Floridians Battle for National Paid Sick Leave Law
Wind
Power Coming to the Sunshine State?
Florida
Could Lose $2.2B in Hospital Funding
South
Florida's Holocaust Education Center Expanding
Gov.
Scott's First Big Challenge of New Term: FDLE Legal
Scandal
