Gov. Charlie Crist Signs New Unemployment Benefit Legislation

With the state's unemployment rate still over 12 percent, Gov. Charlie Crist today signed into law Senate Bill 1736 to extends eligibility for the Extended Benefits (EB) program.

The EB program is for job seekers who have exhausted all other benefits and qualify for the extension.

"As Florida's economy continues to recover, these federally-funded benefits will provide critical financial assistance to job seekers and their families," said Crist. "These funds will also provide a significant impact to Florida's economy, infusing millions of dollars to our local communities."

The new law provides for payment to individuals through June 5, and was funded through the federal stimulus package. It's value is estimated at $128 million.

"These Extended Benefits will provide financial support to more than 100,000 Floridians in need," said Agency for Workforce Innovation Director Cynthia Lorenzo. "This new law will also strengthen the reemployment focus of Florida's workforce system by allowing our agency to better link unemployment compensation beneficiaries with job opportunities."

Garden Helps Jacksonville City Leaders Provide Dignity, Respect to the Dead

Last fiscal year, 241 people were ultimately approved for the program and became indigents of the city. That included 213 adults and 28 infants.

Once indigents are cremated, their names are held for at least four months to allow family members to claim them.

It costs Jacksonville more than $1,100 for each indigent cremation and another $35 if the remains have to be scattered. The money comes from the city's general fund. They also take care of final respects for many veterans, but their family has the choice of having them buried or cremated.

Crist signs red light camera bill

Gov. Charlie Crist signed a red light camera bill into law on Thursday that will allow Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford to install red light cameras at some of the most dangerous intersections in the city.

Crist's decision to sign the law was never really in doubt. Groups like AAA Auto Club South opposed the bill, arguing that it was more of a revenue grab than a safety issue. The state will get at least 50 percent of the revenue from people fined, it's more on a state road, even though the local governments will actually be installing the cameras and enforcing the law.

Rep. Corrine Brown Introduces Legislation to Ban Offshore Drilling Near Florida

Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., on Wednesday introduced a bill to the U.S. House of Representatives to "permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico."

The "East Coast and Gulf Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2010" comes on the heels of a massive oil spill spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf near Louisiana each day.

Personal conflicts biggest cause of murders in U.S.

Guns are the most commonly used weapons in both murders and suicides, according to the analysis of data from 2007 released on Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The pattern that stands out the most is we see a lot of intimate partner violence, mental health problems and substance abuse," said the CDC's Debra Karch, who led the study.

Some of the findings from the report:

* Firearms were used in more than 50 percent of suicides, with hanging or suffocation accounting for 23 percent and poisoning 18 percent.

* Firearms were used in 66 percent of homicides and 80 percent of murder-suicides.

* Suicide rates were higher among people aged 45 to 54 -- a shift from previous years when the highest rates of suicide were among those over 80.

* Murder rates were more than three times higher among males than females. One third of women who were murdered were killed by a current or former spouse or partner, compared to five percent of men killed by intimate partners.

* Blacks made up the majority of homicide deaths and had the highest rate of homicide of any racial or ethnic group.

* Military suicides were frequently linked to a physical health problem.

Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950

Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found.

Individual tax rates vary widely based on how much a taxpayer earns, where the person lives and other factors. On average, though, the tax rate paid by all Americans — rich and poor, combined — has fallen 26% since the recession began in 2007. That means a $3,400 annual tax savings for a household paying the average national rate and earning the average national household income of $102,000.

Wal-Mart Gives $2 Billion to Fight Hunger

The Wal-Mart Corporation announced plans Wednesday to contribute $2 billion in cash and food to the nation’s food banks, one of the largest corporate gifts on record.

Over the next five years, the giant retail company will distribute some 1.1 billion pounds of food to food banks and provide $250 million to help them buy refrigerated trucks, improve storage and develop better logistics.

Study: 1 in 7 U.S. Babies Born to Moms 35+

While most women giving birth are doing it within the context of marriage, researchers said a record 41 percent of births were to unmarried women in 2008. That's up from 28 percent in 1990, according to the study, "The New Demography of American Motherhood." The trend crossed major racial and ethnic groups.

Nearly 14 percent of mothers of newborns were 35 or older two years ago - and only about 10 percent were in their teens. The age trend was reversed in 1990, when teens had a 13 percent share of births.

Today, one in seven babies is born to a mother at least 35 years old. In 1990, one in 11 had a mother in that age group.

Most mothers of newborns (54 percent) had at least some college education in 2008, an increase from 41 percent in 1990. Among mothers 35 or older, 71 percent had at least some college education.

32,000 Duval properties owe $65 million in taxes

Jacksonville's 2009 property taxes came due April 1, and a month later, the owners of some 32,000 properties still hadn't paid. That means there's a 3 percent penalty on their tax bills, and if they don't pay by May 26, their tax debts can be sold as "certificates" to investors. Here are the top 10 biggest delinquent tax bills:

Owners of more than 32,000 Duval County properties fell into delinquency when they missed the April 1 deadline to pay a combined $64.8 million in property taxes.

The delinquent bills ranged between $17 and $516,000, according to records obtained by the Times-Union.

The top 10 in delinquent Duval County property taxes owes $2.9 million for the 2009 tax year. Of the 10, six are apartment complexes.

Ranked by who owes most, developer Jay McGarvey's Old San Jose on the River project is No. 1, with $561,109 in overdue property tax.

Jacksonville may hire private company for building inspections

About 85 Jacksonville building inspectors could be the next group of city employees replaced by private contractors.

A city committee will decide Thursday whether to send out proposals to see if any businesses could provide the same service at a lower cost to taxpayers.

The proposal is part of a sweeping look at city services that Chief Administrative Officer Kerri Stewart has said could result in hundreds of city jobs being outsourced.

The building inspection division has about 100 employees and a budget of just more than $10 million, Skipper said.

The Information Technology contract, Dix says, will be $200,000 a year more expensive. City officials say they’ll save $300,000 the first year.

Eight Business-Busting Oil Spills

Damages from the spill, Kotok said, could run between tens of billions to hundreds of billions of dollars.

At least some of the cleanup costs should be covered by the $1.6 billion Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, a fund created in 1986 and funded through a tax on oil companies since 1990, following the Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster.

Only two were in the US.

Bills that passed in 2010 Florida Legislature

Legislation that passed during the 2010 session of the Florida Legislature, which ended Friday, would:

ABORTION

- Require women seeking an abortion in the first trimester to pay for an ultrasound exam and view the live image unless they can prove they are victims of rape, incest or domestic abuse.

BALLOT ISSUES

- Place on the ballot a state constitutional amendment to loosen class size limits by requiring them on a school average basis.

- Place on the ballot a state constitutional amendment sponsors say will clarify, but opponents argue would undermine, a pair of citizen initiatives that would curtail gerrymandering of legislative and congressional districts.

- Place on the ballot a state constitutional amendment that would bar Floridians from being forced to obtain insurance coverage, a measure inspired by the new federal health care overhaul although legal experts say it cannot override federal law.

- Place on the ballot a nonbinding straw poll asking if the federal government should balance its budget without raising taxes.

BUSINESS & CONSUMERS

- Exempt from sales tax books, clothing, shoes, wallets and bags costing less than $50 and school supplies costing less than $10 during a three-day back-to-school sales tax "holiday" Aug. 13-15.

- Roll back an increase in the unemployment compensation tax paid by employers, though that will mean borrowing millions from the federal government to cover jobless workers - money that will have to be paid back in the future.

- Give financial aid to the ailing space industry and tax breaks to the film and entertainment industry and buyers of yachts, aircraft and machinery; offer a tax credit to businesses for hiring jobless workers.

- Reinstate parental waivers that exempt theme parks, go-cart tracks and other businesses from liability if their children are inured after the Florida Supreme Court had prohibited the waivers because there was no law allowing them.

- Make it harder to win slip-and-fall lawsuits by requiring a victim to prove a business knew or should have known a dangerous condition had existed for a sufficient time to have it fixed or removed - or that it was a foreseeable hazard.

- Crack down on rogue debt collectors by making it easier to regulate the industry and increasing punishments.

CRIME

- Bar sex offenders from coming within 300 feet of schools, day care centers, parks and playgrounds and prohibit them from wearing Santa Claus suits or other costumes attractive to children while preventing the state from labeling someone a sex offenders for having consensual sex with a minor if there was less than a four-year age difference between perpetrator and victim.

- Tighten screening of caregivers who work with children, the elderly and disabled to weed out convicted criminals.

- Add homeless people to the list of victims covered by Florida's hate crimes law that can result in increased penalties for attacks.

- Require youth sports coaches to undergo criminal background checks.

DRUGS

- Require retailers to track over-the-counter sales of ephedrine, which can be used to make methamphetamine.

- Require commercial pain management clinics to register with the state and let only doctors with special training dispense controlled substances.

- Ban the sale of smoking pipes, bongs and other paraphernalia commonly used for smoking illegal drugs as well as tobacco except at stores that mostly sell tobacco products.

EDUCATION

- Expand a private school voucher program for low-income students supported through business tax credits by increasing its annual spending cap, adding more revenue sources and increasing the value of each scholarship.

- Expand eligibility for private school vouchers for disabled students.

- Require middle school students to take a civics class and pass an end-of-course test.

- Increase high school graduation standards by requiring more math and science and replacing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, for those subjects with end-of-course exams.

- Encourage, but not require, school districts to hold ceremonies, assemblies or other academic scholarship signing day events to match the hoopla that surrounds the signing of college scholarships by football players and other athletes

- Bar schools from infringing on religious freedoms of teachers, staff and students.

- Prohibit schools from using mechanical or manual restraints on disabled students that restrict their breathing or secluding them in rooms that don't meet fire marshal's rules.

ELECTIONS

- Revive and repair a law ruled unconstitutional last year that required certain nonpolitical organizations to register with the state and comply with financial reporting requirements if they simply mentioned a candidate or an issue.

ENVIRONMENT

- Ban the personal ownership of Burmese pythons and six other species of nonnative giant reptiles.

FIREARMS

- Prevent adoption agencies from asking prospective parents if they have firearms in the house.

- Prohibit lawmakers from raiding a trust fund for the state's concealed weapons permitting program.

GAMBLING

- Endorse a 20-year compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that guarantees the state about $1.3 billion over the first five years and more later in exchange for the expansion of gaming at the tribe's casinos.

GOVERNMENT

- Enact a state budget of $70.4 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

- Ask Congress to call a constitutional convention to pass a federal balanced budget amendment.

- Raise liability limits for the state and local governments from $100,000 to $200,000 per person and from $200,000 to $300,000 per incident on claims that can be paid without legislative approval.

- Cap fees of outside lawyers hired by the attorney general's office at $50 million.

MOTOR VEHICLES

- Authorize the use of cameras to ticket red light runners.

- Create new specialty tags that support surfing ("Endless Summer"), fishing ("Catch Me, Release Me") and horse enthusiasts ("Florida Horse Park"), as well as the Fraternal Order of Police and the Florida Diversity Foundation.

New taxes coming to tanning salons

To help pay for health care reform, tanners will be taxed 10 percent of the total cost of any indoor tanning service - whether it be in a tanning bed or booth - that uses one or more UV lamps to induce skin tanning.

A late addition to the federal health care bill, the "tan tax" is estimated to collect $2.7 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

For regular tanners such as Cheryl Robinson, who visits Four Seasons Tan a few times a week, the tax means the monthly package she purchases, which runs about $40 and allows her unlimited access to the salon's beds, will cost about $4 more.

Crist wants federal government to run high risk health insurance pool

Gov. Charlie Crist will leave it to the Obama administration to run the federally subsidized high-risk health insurance plan that is to cover people unable to buy such insurance in the private market due to preexisting conditions such as cancer or diabetes.

In a letter late Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Crist said he agreed that states and the federal government must cooperate in expanding healthcare for Americans but said ``unfortunately Florida is not in a position to authorize new financial obligations.''

``We are in the process of balancing our budget on the final day of the 2010 legislative session,'' he wrote. ``As governor of Florida, I cannot commit any state resources to participate in the federal temporary high-risk health insurance program.''

``However, I understand you can . . . create a new high-risk pool at the federal level, where eligible Floridians can participate. We stand ready to assist you,'' he added.

Regardless of who runs the pools, the Obama administration has promised a $5 billion one-time subsidy to help make the insurance affordable. Each state's share would be based on population and need, not on who would run the pools, an HHS spokeswoman said Friday.

Florida's share of the $5 billion is $351 million.

Analysis: Congressional earmarks to colleges $2 billion

Colleges, universities and other academic organizations received just shy of $2 billion in grants directed to them by individual members of Congress in the 2010 fiscal year, an Inside Higher Ed analysis shows.

A review of appropriations bills, Congressionally mandated disclosure forms and lawmakers' news releases revealed grants to 875 institutions, totaling $1,982,532,150. (That total may be incomplete; while required disclosure of earmarks has been strengthened under federal law, and many lawmakers like to boast about the money they bring home to their local colleges and other constituents, it is still difficult to follow the flow of money with perfect precision.) That's roughly one-eighth of the overall amount of $16.5 billion earmarked by Congress in 2010, according to an estimate by Citizens Against Government Waste.

Zillow: Homebuyers fail to adequately research loans

Americans spend more time researching which car to buy than they do researching options for a home loan, according to a survey released Thursday by Zillow.

The Seattle-based online mortgage marketplace found that borrowers who obtained a home loan in the past five years spent just five hours reviewing their options and got just three quotes. Thirty-one percent spent two hours or less, despite the fact that a home is one of the largest investments people make in a lifetime, Zillow pointed out.

Suspended Drivers Continue to Drive

Authorities say the number of people who drive with a suspended license, or with no license at all, is growing. One judge says offenders do not take the law seriously.

Four days a week at Duval County Traffic Court on Beach Boulevard, offenders step before a judge to enter a plea for driving with a suspended or revoked license.

They are people from all walks of life who authorities pulled over for one reason or another only to find the drivers had no valid license.

For three days, First Coast News observed traffic court proceedings and witnessed 49 people go before two different judges:

An unemployed woman who did not have car insurance and could not pay for a citation; an undocumented worker caught speeding who never could obtain a license to begin with; a man with a number of past of traffic violations which led to his driver's license being taken away.

Each sentencing carried a message from the judge:

"No driving means no driving!" said Circuit Court Judge James Ruth. "If you have a bad record, you could face jail time."

The penalties for driving with a suspended or revoked license range from a $200 to $300 fine to jail time and felony conviction.

Many of the offenders were accompanied by drivers and others stopped to call for a ride. Others never left court: the judges sentenced several to serve jail time.

Despite the potential consequences, of the 49 drivers First Coast News saw go before the judges, three walked out of the courtroom and into their cars and drove away.

In 2008, Florida law enforcement agencies cited 226,560 people for driving with a suspended or revoked license. More than 25,000 of those people were cited on the First Coast.

Navy to Allow Women to Serve on Submarines

The first U.S. women allowed to serve aboard submarines will be reporting for duty by 2012, the Navy said Thursday as the military ordered an end to one of its few remaining gender barriers.

The cramped quarters and scant privacy aboard submarines, combined with long tours of up to 90 days at sea, kept them off-limits to female sailors for 16 years after the Navy began allowing women to serve on all its surface ships in 1994.

Crist Makes it Official: No Party Affiliation

Gov. Charlie Crist made it official this afternoon: He is leaving the Republican Party and running for the U.S. Senate as an independent.

By doing so, he will bypass the Republican primary, where polls have shown he trails Marco Rubio by a large margin.

"It's the right thing for America; it's the right thing for Florida," said Crist, defending his decision in a speech in his hometown of St. Petersburg.

Sheriff John Rutherford Approves of Red Light Camera Bill

The sheriff is pleased that the state senate passed the bill allowing cameras at intersections to catch drivers running red lights.

Sheriff John Rutherford released the following statement this afternoon in response to the bill that awaits Gov. Charlie Crist's signature after being passed by the senate overwhelmingly Tuesday:

"I am very pleased about the Legislature's passage of the bill allowing red light cameras to be installed in Florida, and look forward to the Governor signing it into law.

"I've stated publicly that my support for red light cameras includes the use of 'crash avoidance' technology. It gauges or detects when a driver is coming into an intersection at a high rate of speed (when the light is changing to red) and
then delays the other traffic signal(s) from changing to green, for just a few seconds, thereby preventing a crash.

"We will support the Department of Transportation as they develop the specifications for the approved traffic control systems and camera devices, and hope that this life saving technology is allowed for or incorporated into their rules.

"Once the Department of Transportation has developed these rules, we will review our most current crash data and other factors and determine exactly which intersections will be outfitted with the devices. These intersections will be
identified publicly and we will educate the public.

"Regardless of where the cameras are installed in Jacksonville, it is my hope that drivers will treat all intersections as if they are outfitted with a camera, and drive defensively and carefully. We'd like to see the number of traffic fatalities continue to decline."

Sheriff John H. Rutherford

Good Samaritan Left for Dead on City Sidewalk

A psychologist believes there could be several reasons why people didn't offer to help Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, 31 -- whose fate was captured on a grainy surveillance video -- perhaps including our culture's desensitization to violence from so much exposure in movies, video games and music.

"We love violence in this culture," said the psychologist, Michael Bradley. "We have this kind of 24/7 pounding of violence. We now know that that pounding of violence actually causes brain changes where people start to not distinguish between real violence and cyberviolence. We're actually rewiring our brains to not react to violence and pain the way we should."

Bradley said there are several explanations for why passersby may not have taken action.

For one thing, he said, people tend to copy the behavior of others, so if one person ignored the injured man, then others were likely to do the same thing.

People also think it's someone else's responsibility to intervene, so they won't do anything because they assume another person will call for help.

Scouts must pay man $18.5M

An Oregon jury's decision to award a man $18.5 million in punitive damages in his case against the Boy Scouts of America will likely be the first of many financial hits the Scouts will take as it prepares to defend itself against a series of sex abuse lawsuits.

The jury on Friday ordered the Scouts to make the payment to Kerry Lewis, the victim of sex abuse by a former assistant Scoutmaster in Portland in the early 1980s.

The case was the first of six filed against the Boy Scouts in the same court in Oregon, with at least one other separate case pending. If mediation fails to settle the other cases, they also could go to trial.

Florida stimulus saved 33,000+ paychecks

The federal stimulus package created or saved roughly 33,200 Florida jobs in the first quarter of 2010, Governor Charlie Crist’s office reported.

Aside from the full-time jobs saved and created, the federal program also helped nearly 74,700 people who didn’t work the full three months or were paid partly through other sources, according to state statistics.

The state said about 153,000 jobs were created or saved in Florida since February 2009 through stimulus spending. Of the $19.5 billion Florida expects to receive in stimulus funding, about $13.5 billion has awarded, About $8.8 billion has been spent of that.

Key Vote: Continuing Extension Act of 2010

Continuing Extension Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (59-38, 3 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this measure that would extend for two months federal unemployment benefits, flood insurance programs, increased payment rates to Medicare providers and COBRA health care premium assistance. It was then sent to the House.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted Not Voting......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Clean Estuaries Act of 2010

Clean Estuaries Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (278-128, 24 Not Voting)

The House approved this bill that would authorize $50 million annually through fiscal 2016 for the EPA's National Estuary Program and would require the EPA to evaluate estuary management plans every four years. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Continuing Extension Act of 2010

Continuing Extension Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (289-112, 29 Not Voting)

On Thursday, the House passed this legislation that would extend for two months federal unemployment benefits, flood insurance programs, increased payment rates to Medicare providers and COBRA health care premium assistance. It was then sent to the President, who signed it into law later that night.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (56-43, 1 Not Voting)

The Senate approved this bill that would make changes to the 2010 health care overhaul law and revise student loan procedures. The Senate made minor changes to the bill, sending it back to the House.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

- Vote Passed (93-0, 7 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this measure to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration through FY 2011 and expedite the transition to a new air traffic control system. The bill was sent to the House.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act

Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act

- Vote Passed (246-178, 5 Not Voting)

The House passed this legislation to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, extend the Build America Bonds program, and provide other infrastructure job creation tax incentives. It now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act of 2010

Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (239-175, 1 Present, 14 Not Voting)

The House approved this measure that would provide funding for disaster relief, summer jobs and small business programs. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act

- Vote Passed (276-145, 8 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration through FY 2011 and expedite the transition to a new air traffic control system. The bill now heads to the White House for the President’s signature.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (220-207, 3 Not Voting)

On Thursday night, the House agreed to Senate amendments to this legislation that would make changes to the 2010 health care overhaul law and revise student loan procedures. It now goes to President Obama, who is expected to sign it on Tuesday.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

- Vote Agreed to (68-29, 3 Not Voting)

On Wednesday the Senate passed this job creation bill, which would provide tax relief to businesses hiring unemployed workers. The President signed it into law the next day.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

- Vote Passed (219-212)

On Sunday the House passed this bill that would overhaul the nation's health insurance system and require most individuals to buy health insurance by 2014. The President is expected to sign the legislation into law on Tuesday.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Reconciliation Act of 2010

Reconciliation Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (220-211)

The House also passed this bill that would make changes to the health care overhaul measure they just passed and revise student loan procedures. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Tax Extenders Act of 2009

Tax Extenders Act of 2009

- Vote Passed (62-36, 2 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this bill that would extend unemployment insurance and COBRA health care subsidies through December 31 and would prevent a cut in physicians’ Medicare reimbursement rates. The bill now goes to the House.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Impeaching Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. for high crimes and misdemeanors

Impeaching Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. for high crimes and misdemeanors

- Vote Passed (423-0, 7 Not Voting)

The House impeached Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. of Louisiana with four charges: that he accepted gifts in exchange for official actions, falsified and withheld information during a bankruptcy proceeding, made false statements as part of his Senate confirmation and received money from lawyers involved in a case that he oversaw. Unless the judge resigns, the Senate will hold a trial. A conviction on any of the four counts would remove Judge Porteous from office.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Afghanistan War Powers Resolution

Afghanistan War Powers Resolution

- Vote Failed (65-356, 9 Not Voting)

The House rejected this resolution that aimed to set a withdrawal timeline for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Jacksonville councilman Clay Yarborough takes turn at answering questions

Do you believe the words “under God” should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag?
“No, I do not believe those should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. And I don’t believe 'In God We Trust’ should be removed from public structures and buildings. And I don’t know if you saw Dr. Ahmed’s responses, but what led me to vote in the affirmative in the rules committee is that I believe he answered the questions satisfactorily, in line with where I am on those things.”

Do you believe homosexual marriage should be permitted in Florida?
“No, I don’t believe it should be permitted. I don’t believe it’s right. ... That doesn’t mean you hate someone who is doing it. That’s not what I’m advocating. But it’s not something that needs to be perpetuated in our country. It’s not good. It’s not right.”

Do you believe prayer is acceptable in a public building?
“Absolutely. Our nation was founded on Christian principles. It’s all intertwined in our founding documents to where there was recognition of the creator and of Judeo-Christian beliefs. Those are foundational in the laws we have.
“People continue to bring it up, and I still can’t find something lending to the separation of church and state in the Constitution. So that kind of throws me for a loop sometimes. Some base it on what Thomas Jefferson might have written somewhere else, but I still have a disagreement on that.
“It’s intertwined in the founding of the country and the laws that we have, that we need to acknowledge God and we need to uphold what honors him. And the public building or the public square, I couldn’t fathom trying to restrict the ability of the public to do that. We shouldn’t keep trying to push God out of country and out of our government.”

Do you believe Muslims should be able to hold public office in Florida? Some of those who have criticized your questions have wondered if that’s what you were getting at ...
“That wasn’t the intention of the questions.”

OK, but do you believe Muslims should be able to hold a public office in Florida?
“I would have to think about that. I would have to think about that. What kind of office? An elected office? Would you consider the human rights commission to be a public office?”

Just in general, do you believe Muslims should be able to hold any public office in Florida?
“I don’t know.”

Do you think homosexuals should be able to hold a public office in Florida?
“I would prefer they did not.”

When, and for what reasons, is it acceptable to alter the Pledge of Allegiance?
“Your question is a little confusing.”

Well, “under God” was not in the pledge originally. So when and for what reasons do you believe it is acceptable to change the pledge?
“I don’t believe it’s acceptable to change it, especially those two words.”
(Note: the Pledge of Allegiance has been changed four times since it was written, most recently with the addition of the words “under God” in 1954.)

Do you believe all kinds of prayers are acceptable in public buildings? If not, which prayers are acceptable?
“The scripture teaches that unless one prays in the name of Jesus Christ, and since he is our only way to the Father, that that is how one should pray. And that is what I believe.”

Do you believe you can be a good American and not be Christian?
“Yes, I believe you can be a good American and not be Christian.”

Do you believe America has become too secular?
“Yes.”

After Sept. 11, some said the attacks were partly because of this. Because America had become too secular and too sinful, God had lifted a “veil of protection” from our country. Do you believe that?
“I would say that when I read Romans Chapter 1, I see striking resemblances between where Rome was just prior to its fall in comparison to where America is today. There are striking similarities in what we allow in our societies. Rome did not fall from an outside attack, whether it was military or otherwise. It fell from within because it was morally bankrupt.
“And I believe we have been treading in that area for a while and the more that we do not embrace that which honors the Lord, we shouldn’t be surprised if the blessings do not continue on our land ...
“Of course a lot of folks will say it’s not because of that, that you can’t control the stock market, you can’t control finances. There’s storms, earthquakes, pestilences, what have you. But everything is for a reason.”

Article VI, Section 3 of the Constitution says “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any public office or public trust under the United States.” What do you believe this means?
“I think it means what it says. You don’t have a religious test or qualification to seek a public office.”

Do you believe Parvez Ahmed should be appointed to the human rights commission?
“I supported the nomination on April 5. Since that time, I have been inundated with tons of e-mails and calls and have gotten some documents that are outside of just 'oh, please don’t vote,’ or 'please do vote’ for Dr. Ahmed. It has given me cause to have reasonable doubt because of some of the issues that have been raised. I do have some more questions that will be asked Monday in the rules committee. I’m weighing right now what I should do. But I’m very concerned. I will put it that way.”

Cold War Nuclear Fears Now Apply to Terrorists

It has become conventional wisdom, repeated by President Obama at the nuclear summit meeting this week, that the cold war danger of huge strikes by thousands of nuclear missiles has given way to a new threat: terrorists killing tens of thousands of Americans with a stolen or homemade nuclear device. A broad range of security experts agree that nuclear terrorism may well be the most serious danger the United States faces today.

But it is not new. In fact, almost from the invention of the atomic bomb, government officials were alarmed by the threat that compact nukes would be smuggled into the United States by Soviet agents and detonated.

“Officials regard the possibility of atomic sabotage as the gravest threat of subversion that this country, with its virtually unpatrolled borders, has ever faced,” The New York Times reported in 1953, telling readers that the Eisenhower administration was preparing to alert the public to the danger from “valise bombs.”

Hundreds of pages of declassified documents from the 1950s, obtained by The New York Times from the F.B.I. under the Freedom of Information Act, lay out a strikingly familiar story, in which Communist agents played the role of today’s Al Qaeda.

Then, as now, investigators searched for agents they feared were in the United States awaiting orders to attack. Then, too, the government spent millions to install radiation detectors at airports and seaports despite doubts about their effectiveness. (In those days, false nuclear alarms were set off by radium watch dials, once hidden in a woman’s corset.)

Nor is the worry in recent years about nuclear material crossing the permeable Mexican border new. An F.B.I. memo from 1953 warned that “a saboteur could easily pose as a Mexican ‘wetback’ and get into the country without detection, presumably carrying an atomic weapon in his luggage.”

Auditor: Proposed deal for Jacksonville's Trail Ridge landfill costs $37 million more than Peyton's

The settlement agreement between Jacksonville and Waste Management would cost taxpayers $37 million more than the proposal the City Council rejected last year, according to a just-released analysis by the Council Auditor's Office.

The settlement would allow Waste Management to continue operating Trail Ridge landfill for roughly 26 years, not including options to renew. The cost is estimated at $459 million, according to the auditor's report.

Last year, the council rejected Mayor John Peyton's proposed contract extension and directed city attorneys to pursue competitive bidding, a decision that led to a Waste Management lawsuit that is set for trial in December.

The court forced both sides into mediation, which resulted in the proposed settlement that was negotiated by city attorneys and the company.

The council must decide by the end of the month whether to accept it.

Council members have said they would be inclined to vote against settling the case unless the proposal would save significantly more money than what the mayor negotiated in 2008.

According to the auditor's analysis, the existing contract would cost taxpayers $488 million over 26 years, which is $29 million more than the proposed settlement. If the city loses the case, it could be forced to keep the existing contract in place until the landfill site reaches capacity, which could be another 35 years or more.

The mayor's proposed contract extension would have cost $422 million.

The report said the cheapest known option would be for the city to run its own landfill, with a price tag of $405 million over 26 years. Neither the mayor's office nor council members have expressed interest in reversing privatization of landfill operations, but Sherman says it should be part of the discussion.

Obama signs bill extending unemployment benefits

President Barack Obama has signed a bill extending unemployment benefits through June 2 and restoring full Medicaid payments to doctors.

The bill cleared both houses of Congress on Thursday night. The House passed the bill 289-112 just two hours after it emerged from the Senate on a 59-38 vote that capped an unusually partisan debate.

Republicans largely chose to take a stand against the legislation for adding to the $12.8 trillion national despite backing it by wide margins in December and again recently.

People who lost out on the additional weeks of benefits after exhausting their state-paid benefits will now be able to reapply and receive those checks retroactively.

Obamas earned $5.5 million in 2009

President Obama and his wife Michelle made $5.5 million last year and paid nearly $1.8 million in federal income tax, the White House revealed Thursday.

The Obamas gave $329,000 to charities. That included $50,000 each to CARE and the United Negro College Fund.

The president also donated his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize award to 10 charities.

Gov. Charlie Crist Vetoes Senate Bill 6, Many Celebrate a Victory

Parents, teachers and students celebrated today after Governor Charlie Crist vetoed Senate Bill 6, a bill that would financially reward teachers based on students' test scores.

Republican Senator John Thrasher sponsored the bill, also known as the merit pay bill.

With the spring legislative session ending in two weeks, the veto likely kills the plan until next year.

Gov. Crist said after listening to an outpouring of feedback on the bill, he became convinced it was not in the best interests of Floridians.

The governor's office received about 120,000 calls, e-mails and letters on the issue, and virtually all of it was opposed.

The governor said the bill was rushed through the Legislature. He compared it to the health care legislation in Washington, which he described as being jammed down people's throats.

Crist also said the bill infringed on the authority of local school boards, did not accommodate the needs of special education students and used arbitrary methods to determine a teacher's effectiveness.

"So let me be clear: I veto Senate Bill 6 because this bill is contrary to my firmly held principle to act in the best interests of the people of Florida. I am confident that my decision today is the right one because I know it is the right thing to do for the people of Florida.

"Senate Bill 6 places teachers in jeopardy of losing their jobs and their reaching certificates without a clear understanding of how gains will be measured and without taking into account circumstances beyond the teacher's control.

"Finally I veto this bill because of the process by which it was passed. This legislation sped through committees without meaningful input of parents, teachers, students, superintendents, and school boards. It was troubling to learn that the bill would not be amended after it passed in the Senate, particularly when more and more concerns were coming to light."

"I would like to applaud Governor Crist for standing up for teachers all over the state of Florida with the veto of Senate Bill 6," said Jacksonville Democrat Rep. Mia L. Jones. "Governor Crist made the right decision today, and sent a clear message that the democratic process still works. To our teachers and students who became actively involved in this process, I commend each of you. To the people of the State of Florida who stood up for what they believed in and made sure their voices were heard, I urge you to remain engaged in the process. I believe that this bill included a number of things that would undermine the success of the public education system resulting in its ultimate demise. It is my hope that now all of the stakeholders can come together to create legislation that will be beneficial to our teachers and children for many years to come."

Analysis: Pension funds for teachers are short billions

The multibillion-dollar pension funds that promise to pay lifetime benefits to millions of the USA's retired teachers are more than $900 billion in the red, a new analysis shows. The shortfall could put taxpayers on the hook for nearly three times as much as the funds say they need to balance the books.

The analysis, released Tuesday from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and the Foundation for Educational Choice, finds that all 59 funds that cover most teachers face shortfalls.

Collectively, the researchers say, the funding gap equals more than $932.5 billion, or about $600 billion more than the funds themselves claim in financial statements. The researchers attribute only $116 billion of the discrepancy to turmoil in the stock market. Much of the difference, they say, is a result of funds lowballing the cost of paying future benefits, under the assumption that stock values will rise "much higher" by the time they have to pay out benefits.

Study: 1 in 4 heart doctors order tests due to malpractice fears

A substantial number of U.S. heart doctors — about one in four — say they order medical tests that might not be needed out of fear of getting sued, according to a new study.

Nearly 600 doctors were surveyed for the study to determine how aggressively they treat their patients and whether non-medical issues have influenced their decisions to order invasive heart tests.

Most said they weren't swayed by such things as financial gain or a patient's expectations. But about 24% of the doctors said they had recommended the test in the previous year because they were worried about malpractice lawsuits. About 27% said they did it because they thought their colleagues would do the test.

Doctors who treated their patients aggressively were more likely to be influenced by malpractice worries or peer pressure than those who weren't as aggressive, the study determined.

FDLE: Crime in Florida hits 39-year low

Crime in Florida hit a 39-year low in 2009 after years of record-breaking violence, state officials announced Wednesday.

That's 60,000 fewer crimes than the year before, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which released the information in Kissimmee.

"This is extraordinarily good news for Florida," Gov. Charlie Crist said, before thanking law enforcement for their "great efforts."

The nearly 7 percent drop in 2009 is the lowest number since FDLE began tracking crime numbers in 1971, he said.

Violent crimes — murder, forcible sex crimes, robbery, aggravated assault — dropped 10 percent from the previous year, according to the report. Nonviolent crimes — burglary, larceny and motor-vehicle theft — declined by 6 percent.

Jax loses 14,200 jobs in past year

Only 13 markets experienced relatively mild declines of less than 2 percent between February 2009 and the same month this year. Jacksonville suffered a drop of 2.74 percent, losing 14,200 jobs between February 2009 and February 2010, for a rank of 32nd among the 100 markets.

Florida says challenge to healthcare reform widens

The joint lawsuit led by Florida and now grouping 18 states was filed on March 23 by mostly Republican attorney generals.

It claims the sweeping reform of the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system, pushed through by Democrats in the Congress after months of bitter partisan fighting, violates state-government rights in the U.S. Constitution and will force massive new spending on hard-pressed state governments.

The Florida-led lawsuit says the health overhaul -- which expands government health plans for the poor, imposes new taxes on the wealthy and requires insurers to cover people with preexisting medical conditions -- violates the Constitution's commerce clause by requiring nearly all Americans to buy health insurance.

"On behalf of the residents in Florida and the states joining our efforts, we are committed to aggressively pursuing this lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary to prevent this unprecedented expansion of federal powers, impact upon state sovereignty, and encroachment on our freedom," McCollum said in a statement released by his office.

Study Finds More Woes Following Foster Care

Only half the youths who had turned 18 and “aged out” of foster care were employed by their mid-20s. Six in 10 men had been convicted of a crime, and three in four women, many of them with children of their own, were receiving some form of public assistance. Only six in 100 had completed even a community college degree.

The dismal outlook for youths who are thrust into a shaky adulthood from the foster care system — now numbering some 30,000 annually — has been documented with new precision by a long-term study released Wednesday, the largest to follow such children over many years.

About one-fourth of the people in the study, mainly women, are receiving public aid and struggling to raise their own children, usually without a high school degree. Researchers found that one in five in a second group, mainly men, are badly floundering, with multiple criminal convictions, low education and incomes and, often, mental health or substance abuse problems.

Records Show Upper Big Branch Mine Amassed Scores of Safety Citations, Thousands in Fines

The West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 25 workers and left another four unaccounted for in the worst mining disaster since 1984 had amassed scores of citations from mining safety officials, including 57 infractions just last month for violations that included repeatedly failing to develop and follow a ventilation plan.

The federal records catalog the problems at the Upper Big Branch mine, operated by the Performance Coal Company. They show the company was fighting many of the steepest fines, or simply refusing to pay them. Performance is a subsidiary of Massey Energy. Another Massey subsidiary agreed to pay $4.2 million in criminal and civil fines last year and admitted to willfully violating mandatory safety standards that led to the deaths of two miners. The fine was the largest penalty in the history of the coal industry.

The nation's sixth biggest mining company by production, Massey Energy took in $24 million in net income in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company paid what was then the largest financial settlement in the history of the coal industry for the 2006 fire at the Aracoma mine, also in West Virginia. The fire trapped 12 miners. Two suffocated as they looked for a way to escape. Aracoma later admitted in a plea agreement that two permanent ventilation controls had been removed in 2005 and not replaced, according to published reports.

Study: Breast-feeding would save lives, money

The lives of nearly 900 babies would be saved each year, along with billions of dollars, if 90% of U.S. women breast-fed their babies for the first six months of life, a cost analysis says.

The findings suggest that there are hundreds of deaths and many more costly illnesses each year from health problems that breast-feeding may help prevent. These include stomach viruses, ear infections, asthma, juvenile diabetes, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and even childhood leukemia.

The $13 billion in estimated losses due to the low breast-feeding rate includes an economists' calculation partly based on lost potential lifetime wages — $10.56 million per death.

Broken trust: How promises to revive Jacksonville's depressed Northwest side fell short

The unfinished projects are glaring examples of costly meltdowns marring the $25 million Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Trust Fund.

The fund, aimed at sparking private investment in a long-neglected part of town, helped win African-American support for Mayor John Delaney's far-reaching $2.2 billion Better Jacksonville Plan in 2000.

The key findings:

- The program failed to meet its goals as a job-generator. Forty-seven percent of the companies receiving trust fund money either didn't create the number of jobs promised or failed to provide any proof of doing so - a program requirement. A review of records could find evidence of only 923 jobs spawned by the fund.

- The city gambled big on risky startups and lost. The failed bistro and car dealership-related ventures alone swallowed $5 million and haven't created a single job.

- Oversight was lax and requirements laid out to safeguard taxpayer dollars often were ignored. A $1.7 million facade grant program was under the control of one employee who ended up doctoring documents from contractors and forging signatures to steal $95,000.

JTA allocates $9 million of stimulus funds to park-and-ride program, new buses, shelters

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced this month that JTA was being awarded $9.3 million as part of a new batch of federal stimulus awards that distributed more than $600 million throughout the country.

The JTA money will go toward buying new buses, purchasing new fare collection equipment, a hybrid electric cooling system for buses, bus shelters, operating assistance for bus routes and a regional park-and-ride hub in Clay County.

Arrington estimates about nine buses, with about $3.1 million of the stimulus money. The 40-foot buses will look the same as the current vehicles but use a cleaner-burning diesel fuel.

Obama Signs Health Care Overhaul Bill, With a Flourish

“The bill I’m signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see,” Mr. Obama said, adding, “Today we are affirming that essential truth, a truth every generation is called to rediscover for itself, that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations.”

Jacksonville ranks 39th for cybercrime risk

Jacksonville ranks No. 39 on Norton from Symantec's list of 50 cities most vulnerable to cybercrime.

The rankings were determined through a combination of Symantec Security Response data on cyberattacks and potential malware infections, and third-party data about online behavior, such as accessing Wi-Fi hotspots and online shopping.

Jacksonville jumps five places in population rank

Jacksonville's population was 1,122,750 in 2000, ranking 45th, and that rose to 1,328,144 last year for 40th place.

State tax collections down $67B in ’09

State government tax collections in 2009 totaled $715.2 billion, down 8.6 percent — or $66.9 billion — from 2008.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections also showed that taxes on individual income totaled $245.9 billion, an 11.8 percent decrease, while general sales taxes were $228.1 billion, down 5.4 percent. Corporate net income taxes — which made up 71.9 percent of all state government tax collections nationally — totaled $40.3 billion, down 20.7 percent.

Florida took in $31.95 billion in total taxes in 2009, including $19.2 billion in general sales taxes and $1.83 billion in corporation net income taxes.

Rethinking Sex Offender Laws for Youth Texting

“Generally this should be an education issue,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania American Civil Liberties Union. “No one disputes that sexting can have very bad consequences, and no parent wants kids sending out naked images. But if you’ve got thousands of kids engaging in this, are you going to criminalize all of them?”

One recent survey found that about one in five teenagers reported having engaged in sexting. Another found that almost half the boys in coed high schools had seen a picture depicting a female classmate nude.

Obama signs $17.6 billion jobs bill

President Barack Obama signed into law a $17.6 billion jobs bill on Thursday and sounded an optimistic note about the U.S. economy, saying it may soon begin adding jobs instead of losing them.

The legislation would exempt businesses from paying the 6.2 percent payroll tax on new employees who had previously been out of work. Employers would also get a $1,000 tax credit if those workers were still on the job a year later.

Obama said that while the jobs bill "is absolutely necessary, it is by no means enough. There is a lot more we need to do to spur hiring in the private sector and bring about a full economic recovery."

The bill also subsidizes state and local construction bonds and allocates $19.5 billion to shore up a highway construction program and extend it through the end of the year.

The bill's costs, other than the highway fund, are offset by a crackdown on offshore tax shelters.

Barriers Found to College Degrees for Hispanics

In the study, the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit research organization, examined graduation rates for students who entered college in 1999, 2000 and 2001, and found that 51 percent of those identified as Hispanic earned bachelor’s degrees in six years or less, compared with 59 percent of white students.

The researchers also found that Hispanic students trailed their white peers no matter how selective the colleges’ admissions processes.

For example, at what the researchers considered the nation’s most competitive colleges — as a yardstick, they aggregated institutions using the same six categories as a popular guidebook, Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges — the institute calculated that nearly 83 percent of Hispanic students graduated, compared with 89 percent of white students. Among colleges identified as “less competitive,” the graduation rate for Hispanic students was 33.5 percent, compared with 40.5 percent for whites.

Jax aviation has $2.9 billion impact

Jacksonville's four commercial and general aviation airports have a nearly $2.9 billion annual impact, according to a Florida Department of Transportation study.

Jacksonville International Airport, Cecil Field, Craig Municipal Airport and Herlong Airport employ nearly 29,900 people, according to the "Florida: Statewide Aviation Economic Impact Study." The state's aviation industry has a $114.7 billion impact through its 19 commercial airports, 102 general aviation airports and 11 military airfields.

The industry supports about 1.2 million jobs, which have an annual payroll of $38.8 billion. Commercial and general aviation in Florida has a $97 billion annual impact and creates about 1 million jobs.

Jacksonville can’t afford mandatory study of small-business program

The city’s Small and Emerging Business program was schedule to end Sept. 30, 2009. But the city isn’t able to clearly outline whether the program reached race- and gender-conscious goals for its contracts. Therefore, a disparity study to determine the availability and use of businesses owned by various racial minorities and women is now required by the 2004 ordinance that created it.

Devin Reed, the city’s director of procurement, said that will cost between $750,000 and $1.2 million. It’s money the city doesn’t have.

City Council President Richard Clark has pledged to find the money. A long-time critic of the city’s procurement policies, he said the council and minority contractors must be given all the facts about how the program is working.

“We need to find out if we’re meeting the goals and if indeed we need to go to a race-conscious JSEB program,” Clark said. “And we will find the money.”

The city’s goal was that collectively, small businesses would land 20 percent of its contract money. In the 2007-08 fiscal year, that figure was 24 percent.

But an independent audit of the program released in February said the city couldn’t identify whether the goals for women and minorities were reached. Instead, the city focused on the overall success of the Small and Emerging Business program, which is open to all small businesses regardless of whether they are owned by a woman or minority.

Fla. voucher expansion bill advancing

Sellers of beer, wine and liquor would be added to the list of businesses that can get tax credits for donating to a private school program for low-income children as part of a bill that also increases the value of the vouchers.

The measure that easily cleared the Senate Finance and Tax Committee on Tuesday pits a couple old adversaries: former Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union.

The union was part of a lawsuit that overturned a voucher program Bush started for students from what the state deemed to be failing public schools. The Florida Supreme Court struck down the "opportunity scholarships" that allowed those students to attend private schools at taxpayer expense.

Patricia Levesque, executive director of Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future, argued the state would save money by expanding the Tax Credit Scholarship Program because it would still pay less than what it costs to send children to public school.

Union lobbyist Lynda Russell told the committee this isn't the time, with the state in a financial squeeze, to take more money out of public education.

The voucher program is supported by credits businesses can get against their corporate income taxes and insurance premium taxes for every dollar they donate to the program.

The bill (SB 2126) would add credits for alcoholic beverage and gas and oil severance taxes as well as a form of sales tax paid by some businesses.

The bill also would raise a $118 million cap on the program to $140 million during the budget year starting July 1 and allow for automatic increases after that if the program raises at least 90 percent of the capped amount in a given year.

For the next school year, the bill would increase the vouchers, currently worth $3,950, by about $140 to equal 60 percent of what it costs to send a student to public school. It eventually would grow to 80 percent, or at least about $5,500, in the future.

The committee approved the bill 4-1 with only Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg opposed. The only other Democrat on the panel, Sen. Jeremy Ring of Margate, voted for it.

Report: Jacksonville retail vacancy to top 12%

Jacksonville’s retail market faces tough times ahead in 2010 with the vacancy rate expected to climb above 12 percent and the average asking rent expected to fall to 2003 levels, according to the 2010 National Retail Report by Marcus & Millichap.

The report estimates that the lingering effects of the recession will cause a jump of 100 basis points in the local vacancy rate to 12.3 percent this year and rents will slide 3.4 percent to $14.12 per square foot.

Jacksonville ranked No. 43 in the report’s annual National Retail Index, which ranks 44 retail markets based on a series of 12-month, forward-looking supply and demand indicators. The city’s ranking was up one from last year.

Teenagers in need of direction can turn to apprenticeships

Make sure to read the full article to understand how our education system should be working.

Apprenticeships is a great common sense idea that went away in the 20th century in America.

Jacksonville AIrport had Fewer Passengers in 2009

According to the JIA website, it had more than 395,000 fewer passengers in 2009 than in 2008. In 2008, JIA had 6,002,698 passengers. In 2009, that was down to 5,605,934. Those numbers are also down from 2007, which saw 6,319,016 passengers.

Of the 50 largest airports in the United States, only four showed growth in passenger traffic in 2009.

Overall, U.S. airports saw 704-million domestic and international passengers in 2009. That's 5 percent less than in 2008.

$729M in education stimulus part of $3.7B overall to Florida

Florida will get an extra $729 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The state recently reported that recovery dollars have been used to provide funding for more than 24,000 education jobs from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2009, while also supporting programs that drive education reform.

In addition to the nearly $729 million announced today, the Education Department said the Recovery Act has provided $3.71 billion through 10 different state programs as well, including $1.98 billion in State Fiscal Stabilization funds, $671.25 million in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funds, $8.25 million in Work Study funds for students attending schools in Florida, $32.16 million in Vocational Rehabilitation Funds and $30 million in Education Technology Grants.

To date, Florida has received $4.44 billion in stimulus money.

Key Vote: Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act

- Vote Passed (217-201, 14 Not Voting)

The House approved this bill that would provide $13 billion in payroll tax relief over 10 years for employers who hire unemployed workers and extend through 2010 a law that allows small businesses to deduct up to $250,000 in qualified expenses. The bill goes to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act

Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act

- Vote Passed (262-153, 16 Not Voting)

The House passed this legislation that would establish the first federal safety standards on seclusion and restraint in schools, allowing for restraints in cases when there is immediate danger to the student or others. The bill now heads to the Senate.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Temporary Extension Act of 2010

Temporary Extension Act of 2010

- Vote Passed (78-19, 3 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this bill that provides short-term extensions of a number of programs that expired February 28, including unemployment benefits and federal health care subsidies for jobless workers. The bill was quickly signed by the President.

Sen. Bill Nelson voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Sen. George LeMieux voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010

- Vote Passed (235-168, 29 Not Voting)

The House passed this intelligence authorization bill after stripping out controversial language on interrogation techniques used by U.S. personnel. The bill now has to be reconciled with a Senate version (S. 1494) in conference committee.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted NO......send e-mail

or see bio

Key Vote: Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act

Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act

- Vote Passed (406-19, 8 Not Voting)

The House voted to end an exemption from federal antitrust law for health insurance companies. The bill now goes to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain.

Rep. Ander Crenshaw voted YES......send e-mail

or see bio