General State & Local Gov't News
May 11, 2012 Deerfield Employees Can Earn $100 for Reporting Crimes- Criminals, beware the gardener.
This city has a new way of fighting crime: Employees who are out and about, trimming trees or picking up litter on the beach, are officially on the lookout for signs of a crime.
A group of about 70 landscapers...
May 09, 2012 Gov. Rick Scott's top adviser arranged $5 million no-bid contract in Senate- TALLAHASSEE — When the Florida Senate was looking for someone to put its
budget data online, it set aside $5.5 million and turned to the
business partner of a close friend of the Senate's chief of staff at the
time, Steve MacNamara.
May 08, 2012 For Remote Keys Island Without Electricity, First-time Power is In Line for Summer- Commercial power lines to the off-the-grid Lower Keys island off Big
Pine Key could be in place this summer if the Utility Board of Key West
approves a pair of contracts Wednesday for Keys Energy Services to
construct them.
Read more here:...
May 07, 2012 Redrawn Florida Congressional Maps Mean Competitive Elections for First Coast- TALLAHASSEE — The once-a-decade process of redrawing the state's political lines has left a big footprint on the First Coast.
May 07, 2012 Miami-Dade Health Department Wins State’s Sterling Award- The Miami-Dade Health Department on Monday was named a recipient
of the prestigious Governor's Sterling Award and the Sustained
Excellence Award. A second award winner was the Florida Memorial Medical Center in Daytona, recognized with the...
May 06, 2012 Gov. Rick Scott's Biggest Failure: His Chief Of Staff- Rick Scott’s biggest failure as governor has a name: Steve MacNamara. An
at-times ethically challenged Tallahassee insider, MacNamara was hired
by the neophyte governor as his chief of staff to avoid the very type of
major embarrassment...
May 02, 2012 Alvin Brown's Downtown Bill Raising Questions for Council About Old 'Redevelopment Areas'- To judge pieces of Mayor Alvin Brown’s downtown legislation,
Jacksonville City Council members may need a history lesson on some past
redevelopment bids.
May 02, 2012 State Clerk's Offices Warn Of Backlog from Budget Cuts- Court clerks statewide are preparing for budget reductions as they try
to work with legislators to prevent an approximately $30 million budget
cut to clerks' offices throughout Florida.
May 01, 2012 Auditor: Broward Too Loose With 'Other People's Money'- Broward County
loosened controls on the public purse to the point that checks were
paid with no documentation proving they should be, the county's
independent auditor found.
April 25, 2012 Senate Considers State And Local Taxes- The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing Wednesday on tax reform and its impact on state and local tax and fiscal policy.
Among the topics covered were sales taxes on Internet purchases and downloads, and the interplay between federal, state...
April 23, 2012 Counties Lose Another Round In Effort to Collect Hotel Taxes from Online Companies- TALLAHASSEE --
A Leon County circuit court judge dealt the latest blow to Florida
counties hoping to fill their budget gaps with taxes paid by online
travel companies.
Read more here:...
April 16, 2012 Northeast Florida Nonprofits Rethinking Fundraising Efforts- When Cheryl Townsend was hired as community outreach manager by the Jacksonville Children's Commission in 2007, fundraising was not one of her duties.
But it is now.
Townsend oversees the Jax Kids Book Club, a literacy initiative for...
March 29, 2012 Developing Homegrown Energy Not Easy or Cheap for JEA- In Gainesville, construction is under way on a $500 million biomass
plant that will produce one-fifth of the electricity consumed by
Gainesville Regional Utilities customers by 2015.
March 29, 2012 Scott Must Decide Future Of Pensions Bill- TALLAHASSEE --
On the last day of the 2012 session, state lawmakers voted to
reduce contributions to the retirement accounts of 100,000 public
employees, many of whom work in higher education or law enforcement.
Read more here:...
March 26, 2012 Florida Has Key Role As Supreme Court Health Care Case Opens - Florida brings its argument against health care reform to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in a challenge to the law's mandate for individuals to purchase insurance.
Florida is the lead plaintiff in the case and Attorney General Pam Bondi filed...
March 22, 2012 Florida Senate Passes Redistricting Plan; Critics Cry Foul Again- The Florida Senate on Thursday passed its response to a court rebuke of its once-a-decade drawing of new district maps, despite objections that the Republican-controlled body was still engineering itself a permanent majority.
Some of the chief...
March 20, 2012 Redistricting Rewrite Before Florida Senate Panel- TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --
The Florida Senate Reapportionment Committee is taking another stab at redistricting the chamber.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/20/2703341/redistricting-rewrite-before-florida.html#storylink=cpy
March 19, 2012 Drug Testing: Florida Aims to be First to Test Public Workers- Florida ,
which already tests welfare recipients for drug and alcohol abuse, is
poised to extend drug testing to state public employees – a
first-in-the-nation move that lawmakers from other states may copy, even
as labor unions, civil...
March 19, 2012 Integrity Index Gives Florida Politics a C-- The first time Florida Sen. Chris Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat, ran for office, he was just three years out of law school — a 28-year-old who still believed in the power of his lucky navy blue suit. As Smith puts it, he was a...
March 16, 2012 GASB Proposes M&A Standards for Government - GASB issued for public comment Friday a proposed statement that aims to improve accounting and financial reporting by providing standards for combinations and disposals by state and local governments.
Under the proposal outlined in the exposure...
March 08, 2012 Miami Marine Stadium Renovation Moves Step Closer With Commission Vote- Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/08/2681631/city-to-finally-vote-on-private.html#storylink=cpy
February 28, 2012 Florida Zoos Could be Allowed to Breed Herds Of Giraffes, Rhinos And Elephants On State Land - Florida's state-owned lands already are coping with pythons, monkeys and
walking catfish. So how about adding some rhinos, a few giraffes, maybe
even some elephants?
February 28, 2012 More Tax Breaks, Rules- Palatka officials say creating a downtown business historic
district is a powerful tool for community revitalization, economic
development and tourism.
February 27, 2012 4-H'ers Skeptical Of Navy Federal Land Purchase- The hostility was palpable Monday night as young 4-H members and their
parents made clear that they hope to derail a multi-million land deal
that could bring thousands of jobs to Escambia County.
February 27, 2012 Capitol Preview: What to Expect this Week In Florida Politics- With regular committee meetings coming to an end both chambers will have lots of floor time this week. But there also may be budget conference committees.
The conference process to work out a compromise budget now that the House and Senate have...
February 26, 2012 Study: Local Roads Grow Ever Safer, But Not for Cyclists, Walkers- Metro Orlando roads are becoming far more safe for motorists — but not for pedestrians and bicyclists, a new study has found.
Traffic fatalities have fallen consistently during the past seven years, although there was an uptick in 2011,...
February 24, 2012 State House, Senate Ready to Spar Over Florida's Budget- TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Senate passed a $71.2 billion budget bill Thursday
to set the stage for negotiations on differences with the House during
the final two weeks of this year's regular legislative session.
February 23, 2012 Mayor Alvin Brown Promises Jacksonville Pension Reform, but The 'How' Remains Elusive- Dig through the history of Jacksonville civic life, and you can find the
warnings going back decades: Something has to be done to the city’s
pension system.
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