Off the radar, but very important to the City of St. Petersburg, was a ruling on Wednesday by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upholding much of the city’s ordinances targeting homelessness.

Chait thinks the New Jersey governor would test the GOP: The deeper question a Christie run would raise is what, exactly, Republicans are looking for. The Congressional Republicans have pursued a strategy of opposing everything Obama proposes, even positions Republicans had endorsed. How much of this represents the Party moving substantively right — actually changing its mind [...]

A multitude of topics, a multitude of takes on where sh*t really stands.  If you want the news, read a newspaper; if you want to know where sh*t stands, read SaintPetersBlog. Bob Buckhorn’s performance, and there really is no other word for it, at Suncoast Tiger Bay on Wednesday was simply masterful.  Think about it, [...]

Brandon Larrabee of the News Service of Florida reports: Opponents of the state’s new redistricting standards on Thursday appealed a judge’s ruling upholding the amendments to Florida’s Constitution, all but ensuring the legal battle over the rules will extend beyond the once-a-decade redistricting process in 2012. The move was announced by House Speaker Dean Cannon, [...]

Amid uncertainty about a critical funding program, the state Agency for Health Care Administration asked Thursday for another extension in talks with the federal government about Florida’s Medicaid managed-care pilot program. The pilot, which requires most beneficiaries in five counties to enroll in HMOs or other managed-care plans, was scheduled to expire June 30. But [...]

As a new legislative session begins, one-by-one, proposed bills are starting appear; and, as always, over the next several months we can expect that many, many more will be filed. Some are needed changes to existing statutes, and others are just campaign advertisement fodder. One such bill is HB 31, and I will let the [...]

Michael Peltier of the News Service of Florida reports that new restrictions on expert witnesses, minors seeking abortions, and local governments with gun ordinances kick in Saturday as new bills passed by lawmakers earlier this year go into effect. In all, 29 new laws go on the books Oct. 1, the first day of many [...]

A new Florida law dealing with “sexting” that takes effect Saturday will apply a new set of more reasonable penalties to minors convicted of electronically sending inappropriate pictures and videos. Representative Joseph Abruzzo (D-Wellington) sponsored House Bill 75, which is among 28 bills from the 2011 legislative session that become law on Oct. 1 in [...]

A new SurveyUSA poll in Florida finds Mitt Romney leading the Republican presidential pack with 27%, followed closely by Herman Cain at 25% and Rick Perry at 13%. The remainder of the field: Newt Gingrich at 6%, Pon Paul at 5%, Michele Bachmann at 5%, Jon Huntsman at 3% and Rick Santorum at 2%. Also, 51% of [...]

Undoubtedly, there are numerous boards and committees deserving of one’s blood, sweat and tears.  Charities, community groups, neighborhood associations…like I said, there all of numerous, if not countless organizations worth being a part of. For me, Suncoast Tiger Bay is one of the organizations I hold to be deserving and worthwhile.  If for nothing else, [...]