Associated Press - page 620

Florida’s education commissioner on Tuesday rejected an assertion by a state lawmaker that a standardized testing organization aims to make public school students homosexual. American Institutes for Research is administering new statewide tests for students in Florida. The testing aligns with the nationwide Common Core standards that some states have accepted while others have rejected. Republican Rep. Charles Van Zant, of Keystone Heights, has said the testing company has a pro-homosexual agenda because it has done research on lesbian and…

Keep Reading

Gov. Rick Scott is getting ready his veto pen. The Republican-controlled Legislature on Tuesday formally delivered a record $77 billion budget to Scott’s desk. That starts the clock ticking for the governor. He has until June 4 to decide which spending items in the budget should be vetoed. But there’s a good chance that Scott won’t wait that long to act. The new budget is 3.5 percent higher than last year’s budget and includes a boost in money for schools,…

Keep Reading

Officials in Miami have nixed David Beckham’s initial first choice for a Major League Soccer stadium site in Miami. Miami-Dade County commissioners voted 11-1 Tuesday against a stadium at PortMiami. PortMiami had been the Beckham group’s preferred site. But Miami Beckham United announced Monday they were pursuing locating the stadium at the site of a downtown boat slip instead. The Miami Herald reports county commission chairwoman Rebeca Sosa called for Tuesday’s vote. She said it was unfair to give Beckham and…

Keep Reading

The Florida Legislature is defending a year-old state law that allows elected officials to place their assets in a blind trust instead of reporting each investment publicly. Attorneys for the Legislature on Monday filed a brief with the state Supreme Court that says the new law is constitutional. A lawsuit filed last week contends that using a blind trust goes against the “Sunshine Amendment” that was adopted by the state’s voters in 1976. The amendment marked the first time Florida…

Keep Reading

Florida had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate in April, even though it was lower than the same time last year. The research firm RealtyTrac reported last week that Florida’s April foreclosure rate was the highest in the nation, despite being down 9 percent from April 2012. RealtyTrac says one in 400 Florida homes had a foreclosure filing in April. Among U.S. metro areas with populations of more than 200,000 people, 11 of the 20 cities with the highest foreclosure rates…

Keep Reading

The future of Florida’s film and television industry is uncertain after lawmakers failed to approve funding for a tax credit program that is broke. That has studios looking at moving production to other states with aggressive incentive programs. Graham Winick, the city of Miami Beach’s film coordinator and a past president of Film Florida, said it was disappointing when the Legislature didn’t approve additional funding last year, but industry advocates were confident they could win over lawmakers during the recently…

Keep Reading

The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to help Central American farmers fight a devastating coffee disease — and hold down the price of your morning cup. At issue is a fungus called coffee rust that has caused more than $1 billion in damage across Latin American region. The fungus is especially deadly to Arabica coffee, the bean that makes up most high-end, specialty coffees. Already, it is affecting the price of some of those coffees in the United States.…

Keep Reading