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Senate Reg chair says no more workshops for gambling bill, just a vote

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:30:32 +0000

TALLAHASSEE -- Watchers of the destination casino bills are eagerly waiting for the filing of a strike-all amendment to the first version of the bill, with Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, releasing tidbits of the new version to reporters from the Sun-Sentinel , Palm Beach Post and Florida Current. But the senator also told the Current that she may ask Senate Regulated Industries Chair Dennis Jones , R-Seminole, to workshop the new version instead of immediately amending the bill and having the committee take a vote on it, as was originally planned. The committee is the first test for the bill and spent two three hour meetings work shopping the bill prior to the holidays. Jones, in an interview with the Sentinel, said there will be no workshop though, saying that his committee has a number of other bills to work on that won't get the time that has already been allotted toward the destination casino bill. "These issues aren't new," he said, adding that the destination casino bill was filed the year before and committee members were familiar with the issues. The meeting is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Monday in the Senate office building.

After a Year in Office, Gov. Scott says Florida Heading in Right Direction

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:07:09 +0000

Gov. Rick Scott thinks Florida’s economy has turned the corner after his first year in office.

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Florida does well at requiring good wages for corporate tax breaks

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:53:00 +0000

TALLAHASSEE -- Good Jobs First , a Washington-based non-profit that watches corporate tax subsidies, has given Florida relatively high marks for its efforts to ensure that companies scoring tax-incentives actually pay decent wages. Florida was tied with Rhode Island at 8th place among the 50 states, with four of the five state subsidy programs setting wage-requirements for the jobs required although none required employers to offer health-benefits. Florida's overall grade was a 58, good for a 'C' under the report's scoring methodology. A state had to score a zero -- with no requirements for wage-standards or health-care -- to get an 'F,' and none did. Still, fewer than half the individual subsidy programs analyzed had no such wage requirements nationwide. Florida is spending $93 million this year on tax-incentives to businesses and Gov. Rick Scott wants to bump that up to $230 million next year. The state's economic-development efforts have been totally revamped in the last year, and it was revealed this fall that many of the jobs promised over the past 16 years' of economic-development deals haven't materialized. The report released Wednesday doesn't evaluate how successful the programs were at creating jobs, but did evaluate whether programs had job-related performance safeguards in place. In Florida, state records have shown the vast majority of jobs not created were specified in contracts inked since the economy collapsed in 2007, and the Department of Economic Opportunity has said very few dollars -- less than $20 million -- were paid to companies that didn't meet their job-creation targets. "This study provides a roadmap for Florida legislators and economic development officials as they attempt to require more accountability from corporations receiving job subsidies," said Alan Stonecipher , communications director of the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, a liberal Tallahassee-based think tank that collaborated with Good Jobs First on the report. "All of the state's approximately three-dozen economic development programs should incorporate the standards recommended by Good Jobs First," he said in a statement. "When companies receiving tax-funded subsidies are required by law to provide high-quality jobs, Floridians can feel more confident that the money is not just given away with little public benefit." Read the full report here.

Rick Scott to RGA: Florida Democrats are ‘frustrated’

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:57:58 +0000

Gov. Rick Scott told an audience of Republican state officials from around the country Thursday that his first year in office had been a success, and Democrats were “shocked” he had kept campaign pledges to go after teacher tenure, cut taxes and scale back state regulation. The Republican Governors Association is hosting its annual meeting at Disney this year, and Scott shared the stage with other conservative-yet-controversial first year governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio and Bill Haslam of Tennessee. Lke Scott, those governor have pushed to disband public unions, crack down on teacher-tenure, and scale back lawsuits against businesses. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels opened the session saying he had given the new governors last year a bit of advice to “move quickly, move decisively, [and] do those things you know need doing without equivocating." He then referenced a line from his favorite country song: “If I shot you when I should have, I’d be out of jail by now.” “If anybody took that advice to heart, it’s Rick Scott,” Daniels said. Although Scott's plan to eliminate the corporate income tax has slowed, his pledge to drug-test welfare recipients and privatize prisons have been blocked by courts, and his rule-repeal was rebuked by the Florida Supreme Court, Scott said the proof of his success was the job-growth Florida has experienced since he took office. Unemployment has fallen in Florida thanks largely to restaurants, bars and tourism establishment hiring, falling from 12 percent unemployment last year to 10.3 percent in October, a net increase of 93,000 jobs this year. “Democrats, they’re really frustrated that I did what I said I was going to do. They were just shocked,” Scott told the crowd. "For the first time in 20 years, we started paying down our debt.” There are a few former staffers for former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush in the crowd, so it might be interesting to hear their take on whether Bush ran up debt during his eight-year tenure as governor that ended in 2007. Scott also joked with the crowd that he hoped no one had come to Florida to ride high-speed rail. “We killed that,” he said, predicting California would never be successful in its plan to build a high-speed line in part with money Florida forfeited by abandoning its Tampa-to-Orlando line. “We did those things and they worked. Jobs are coming back,” he said. “Our tourism is up 7 percent. The biggest thing is jobs are coming back.” Most of the hour-long discussion by the panel focused on economic-development efforts, the inability of Washington to balance its budgets and reduce debt, and Medicaid reform. "If they would give us the flexibility to manage Medicaid, I have no doubt we would cover more people with better outcomes," Kasich said. "If you can't do anything else, let our people go." He added the resistence to converting Medicaid into a blck-grant program would result in "more pain for poor people." Scott piped in on the subject -- Florida has been negotiating for months with the federal government to reform its $22 billion program -- saying Washington thought the spending was "free money." Kasich then said they should launch an "Occupy Washington" movement. The RGA this week announced its leadership for the next year and its executive committee membership -- and Scott was noticeably not among the names on the list. The RGA had devoted more than $1 million to defeat Scott in his primary last year against Bill McCollum and Scott was none too pleased afterward with former RGA chairman Haley Barbour . Asked at the end what he had learned in his first year, Scott said that as a first-time officeholder, virtually everything about the lawmaking process was new to him. “All the politics of people in the House and Senate. How many like and dislike each other and why. That would have been nice" to know, he said.

North Miami Beach High Senior T-Shirts Squashed By School Board After Uproar

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:30:58 +0000

When Stephanie Kienzle, a North Miami Beach activist and blogger, saw the official senior class shirts that the proud grads of 2012 would be rocking around NMB High’s hallowed hallways, she di… Continue reading “North Miami Beach High Senior T-Shirts Squashed By School Board Read More

Jason Starkman, Epicure Owner, Taken To Court Over $1.2 Million Gambling Debt

Francisco Alvarado — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

When it came to betting against the Seminole Tribe of Florida, prominent businessman Jason Starkman didn’t know when to walk away — yet so far he has still come out even. Last week, the Semino… Continue reading “Jason Starkman, Epicure Owner, Taken To Court Over $1.2 Read More

Miami Dolphins midseason report: Awards, honors and superlatives through the first 8 games

Beach Blogger — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:08:16 +0000

Everyone else in the country is doing midseason awards and superlatives now that the NFL regular season is halfway complete, so why can’t we jump into the ring, too? The Dolphins are 1-7, so the awards will tend to skew toward the negative. But there have been good performances mixed in with the bad, and some memorable moments so far this year. So here is a look at our midseason awards and superlatives for the Dolphins: Best moment of the first half: Tony Sparano’s post-game speech after last week’s win over the Chiefs. After seven frustrating weeks, it was good to see the Dolphins finally have something to smile about. “You were supposed to win today!” a fiery Sparano told his players. “That’s what it’s about. You believing in you. Nobody else matters.” Worst moment of the first half: When Matt Prater kicked a 52-yard field goal in overtime to complete the Broncos’ miraculous 18-15 comeback victory over the Dolphins on “Gator Day.” That kick punctuated a bizarre, embarrassing day in Dolphins franchise history. Team MVP: Punter Brandon Fields. Seriously, can you think of anyone else who has played consistently well through the first eight games? Cameron Wake does have 5.5 sacks but was mostly quiet in early-season losses. Karlos Dansby, Kevin Burnett and Yeremiah Bell have been playing lights out in recent weeks, but were terrible to start the season. Jake Long has allowed five sacks, Brandon Marshall has dropped at least five touchdowns and Reggie Bush was invisible for four games. Fields, meanwhile, is eighth in the NFL with a 48.6 average, 40.7 net and 17 of his 40 kicks landing inside the 20. Biggest disappointment: CBs Vontae Davis and Sean Smith. Davis said in training camp that they were the best tandem in the league, but they’ve been anything but. Neither has an interception this year, and they have just two combined since the beginning of the 2010 season. Davis has missed three games with a hamstring injury and one game to suspension for not acting like a professional. Smith, meanwhile, has allowed opposing quarterbacks to compile a 105.7 passer rating when targeting him this year. They Are Who We Thought They Were award: RT Marc Colombo. Though he’s had a solid 10-year NFL career, he clearly lost a step last year in Dallas after coming off a broken leg, and the Cowboys cut him in July, to little surprise. The Dolphins got the benefit of the doubt when they signed him to play right tackle – maybe Sparano knows something we don’t? – but Colombo has played to form, allowing three sacks, eight quarterback hits and 22 pressures through eight games. Most intriguing player: RB Reggie Bush. He started slowly as both he and the Dolphins tried to figure out exactly how to use him. But Bush has put together two strong games in a row, gaining 262 total yards. Against Kansas City, Bush had runs of 17, 18 and 28 yards and a catch of 27 yards. Against the Giants, runs of 35 and 28 yards. The Dolphins, meanwhile, have six touchdown in their last two games. If he can continue to gain big chunks of yards, the Dolphins could make some noise in the second half. Best rookie: C Mike Pouncey. The rookie class has done well for the most part – Daniel Thomas rushed for 202 yards in his first game before being hampered by a hamstring injury, Charles Clay is averaging 18 yards per catch and Jimmy Wilson has been a great find in the seventh round as both a cornerback and special teams contributor. But Pouncey has been a solid anchor on the line – Pro Football Focus ranks him 15th among 37 centers this year – and is finally the long-term answer at center the Dolphins have spent four years looking for. Quietest rookie: WR Clyde Gates. The fourth-rounder out of Abilene Christian was supposed to be the speedy vertical threat that the Dolphins’ offense has sorely lacked. But he has just one catch for eight yards this year, and ranks just 25th in kickoff return average (22.1 yards). Worst luck: Chad Henne. In a make-or-break year, suffers a season-ending shoulder surgery on a busted running play in Week 4. The injury ruined his chance to prove whether he can be the team’s quarterback after this year, and now his Dolphins career is probably over. Biggest enigma: WR Brandon Marshall. His very first catch of the season was an acrobatic 31-yard sideline catch over a defender against the Patriots. And at times he looks dominant, with three separate 100-yard games this year. But as we all know, he’s dropped at least five touchdowns and has disappeared in the Red Zone. And he leads the NFL with nine drops this year. He’s one of the most physically dominant receivers in the NFL, but his inconsistent play leaves Dolphins fans shaking their heads. Worst loss: The Denver loss certainly was embarrassing – not only because they lost to the worst starting QB in the league (Tim Tebow), but because they became the first team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to blow a 15-point lead in the final 3 minutes of regulation. But we’ll give this award to the Week 3 loss at Cleveland for letting Colt McCoy (Colt McCoy!) drive 80 yards in the final two minutes and score the game-winning touchdown to seal a one-point loss for the Dolphins. Miami dominated that game for 58 minutes and had no business losing to a poor Browns team. Most to prove: QB Matt Moore. Was fantastic against the Chiefs, and not-so-fantastic against the Jets, Broncos and Giants. If he continues to play well, he could potentially enter next season as the starting quarterback. If not, he could find himself on the cutting block this spring, along with 15-25 of his teammates. Name to forget: Andrew Luck. Sorry Dolfans, it isn’t happening. Start researching Landry Jones, Matt Barkley or Robert Griffin. What Happened To These Guys? award: LT Jake Long and ILB Kevin Burnett. Long has already allowed five sacks (career high is six in a season) and is ranked just the 18th-best left tackle this year by Pro Football Focus, though he did have a fantastic game last week in shutting down the Chiefs’ Tamba Hali. Burnett has been lights out the past two weeks, leading the Dolphins with 23 tackles and 1.5 sacks, but he was awful in the beginning of the season, missing tackles left and right and getting beaten in coverage. We’ll see if their recent strong performances is a sign that they’ve figured things out. Best coaching move of the year: There haven’t been many, but moving Tyrone Culver in the free safety spot has brought stability to the defense. Reshad Jones and Chris Clemons have been hurt for most of the season, and Jones committed several costly communication errors early in the season. Worst coaching move of the year: Not putting more run stuffers on the defensive line for Tim Tebow’s two-point conversion, especially since every coach and player said they “knew” Tebow was going to run. So load up the box and dare him to throw the ball. Quote of the Year 1: “I know one thing about these guys: They’re not going to stop quitting.” – Chad Henne after the loss to Cleveland. A slip of the tongue turns into the funniest quote of the year and gives the “Suck for Luck” crowd some hope. Quote of the Year 2: “That quarter-and-a-half I’m out there, I’m going to play like a monster.” – Brandon Marshall, explaining to reporters that he was going to get fired up and eventually kicked out of the Monday Night game against the Jets. Anyone with half a brain knew that Marshall was joking, and for some reason, this part of the quote is really funny to us. Quote of the Year 3: “We were up 15 points with what, five minutes left to go? And we couldn’t win it? It’s disgusting. Right now, this team stinks.” – Reggie Bush after the loss to Denver. We appreciate the blunt honesty.

PSL 2-day shopping event offers bargains

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:22:54 +0000

With more than 100 businesses signed up to participate in the first annual Community Days citywide shopping event, Port St. Lucie is helping residents find great bargains as the holiday shopping season begins.

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Offshore lease sale set for December

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:06:00 +0000

The Department of Interior says it has set a December date for the next Gulf offshore oil and natural gas lease sale – the first such sale since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and BP oil spill.

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Wis. Mining Committee Schedules First Meeting

Beach Blogger — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:31:53 +0000

A special Wisconsin state Senate committee created to study whether the law ought to be changed to allow for a new iron ore mine to open is meeting for the first time.

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