Associated Press - page 633

As Florida lawmakers take a break from debating legislation to revamp the state’s gambling laws, new numbers released Wednesday show the state’s eight Indian casinos again increased non-gambling revenue by 25 percent in 2012, far and above the 2.7 percent increase among Indian facilities nationwide. It was the second consecutive year of a double-digit non-gambling increase, driven by the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s two Hard Rock hotels and casinos in Tampa and Hollywood, said Alan Meister, an economist with Nathan…

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People who’ve started applying for health insurance but aren’t able to finish before the March 31 enrollment deadline will get extra time, the Obama administration announced Tuesday. “We are experiencing a surge in demand and are making sure that we will be ready to help consumers who may be in line by the deadline to complete enrollment, either online or over the phone,” Health and Human Services spokesman Aaron Albright said. The White House is scrambling to meet a goal…

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A person with knowledge of the deal says Steve Masiello is leaving Manhattan to become the basketball coach at South Florida. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because neither school has announced the agreement. Masiello just completed his third season at Manhattan with a 71-64 loss to Louisville in the second round of the NCAA tournament. What made the game even more meaningful to the 39-year-old Masiello was that he was facing his former coach and mentor in Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer…

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Florida State and Stanford play in the second round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament tonight. It’s the first time the teams have met since Florida State beat Stanford in the second round in 2007 on the Cardinals’ home court. That also was the last time Stanford failed to make it to the Sweet 16. The teams have the same seeds as in ’07, with Florida State a No. 10 and Stanford a No. 2. The Seminoles (21-11) advanced to…

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President Barack Obama isn’t giving up his BlackBerry — at least not for now. The White House is shooting down the notion that Obama’s device is caught up in a pilot program designed to transition away from BlackBerry smartphones. The pilot program is being carried out by the White House Communications Agency. It’s part of the Defense Department and is responsible for making sure Obama has communications capabilities wherever he goes. But White House spokesman Jay Carney says the Executive…

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Looking out to a theater full of motivated college students, Hillary Rodham Clinton said their generation showed great promise as “open-minded and tolerant” Americans ready to step forward for an important cause. “We are going to make sure the millennial generation really is the participation generation,” Clinton said in a speech at Arizona State University, hosting more than a 1,000 students for the annual Clinton Global Initiative University conference. As she considers a 2016 presidential campaign, Clinton has appeared at…

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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday the partisan divide isn’t as wide when it comes to improving the nation’s higher education system as it is in many other areas. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who like Bush is often mentioned as a potential 2016 president candidate, accepted Bush’s invitation to appear at a conference he is co-hosting on global higher education issues. It begins Monday in Irving, Texas. “This isn’t a political conference,” Bush, a Republican, said in a telephone interview…

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