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Gov. Rick Scott is set to introduce new policies focused on small businesses and entrepreneurs. On Tuesday, Scott will be in Miami to start a two-week statewide tour highlighting his proposals to reduce corporate filing fees for small businesses and increasing funding for export marketing programs. He’ll also announce a $10 million “Risk Taker Award” that he says will reward entrepreneurs and small businesses for developing solutions to specific issues with private capital. Scott also proposes establishing annual business competitions…

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Two people were shot and eight were taken into custody after a chaotic series of shootings that rattled Memorial Day beachgoers Monday evening on Clearwater Beach. Hours after the shootings began outside the Clearwater Beach Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa, police were still trying to unravel what happened and determine whether anyone involved was still at large. The inbound spans of the two bridges to the beach were kept closed to all but local residents until about 10 p.m. “Even…

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 Gov. Rick Scott is calling on Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign after a Florida newspaper reported that a veteran died of bladder cancer that was misdiagnosed at a VA hospital. In a statement Sunday, Scott said Horace J. Lalley’s case at the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center in Bay Pines illustrates problems experienced by veterans nationwide. The Tampa Bay Times published an account of Lalley’s case on Friday. A spokesman for the facility told the newspaper that hospital…

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At a recent meeting, the Tampa Bay Young Republicans recited the Pledge of Allegiance, prayed and then tackled the night’s topic: marijuana. Their guest? Personal injury lawyer John Morgan, a huge Democratic Party donor campaigning to legalize medical marijuana in Florida. Months earlier, the same group supported a Supreme Court opinion that was a victory for gay marriage advocates even as Republican leaders insisted marriage should be between only a man and a woman. The group illustrates a growing generational…

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Democratic candidates are trying to figure out whether to embrace or avoid President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul — or land somewhere in between. The president says his party shouldn’t apologize or go on the defensive about the Affordable Care Act. Candidates aren’t so sure. Two top recruits for Senate races — Michelle Nunn in Georgia and Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky — won’t say how they would have voted when the Senate passed the bill in 2010. Their refusals…

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 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved a $1.9 billion plan for central Everglades restoration projects, after weeks of criticism over its review process. Environmentalists had hoped the Central Everglades Planning Project would be included in a federal water projects bill that now awaits President Barack Obama’s signature. It’s been seven years since the last water projects bill, and Everglades advocates worry that the slow pace of restoration will stall in congressional gridlock. The Miami Herald reports that after…

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The Florida Bar Board of Governors has agreed on 10 recommendations for Gov. Rick Scott to increase diversity among judges in the state. The board unanimously approved a report Friday from an 11-member task force. The first recommendation was for Scott to fill 78 vacancies on the Judicial Nominating Committee with “diverse appointments.” The Bar also asked Scott to stress to the committee that diversity is a priority. The committee constructs a list of possible judges for the governor. “It…

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